Green-fingered Border pupils asked to design a garden for a national competition

The environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful, is searching for green-fingered, innovative young designers to take part in this year’s Design a One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden Competition.

School pupils from all over Scotland are being encouraged to design a garden suitable for Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology using plants that can be eaten, that attract biodiversity and which reuse something which would otherwise have been thrown away.

The winning schools will be selected by members of the Garden for Life Forum.

All winning entries will be created and brought together to form the main feature of the Living Garden area at the national Gardening Scotland event in June. 

The garden is usually a top stopping point for the BBC Beechgrove Garden team, the Scottish Government Minister for the Environment, the Scottish Government Minister for Education and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, plus winners will also receive free tickets to the event.

Eve Keepax, Food and Environment Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “We’re delighted to be running the One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden Competition for a second year following the success of last year’s competition which attracted almost 100 entries.

“This is a practical and fun way for young people to use their skills and utilise their knowledge in growing food sustainably which is central to a low carbon future.

Jenny Mollison, Acting Chair of the Garden for Life Forum, added: “The Pocket Garden Competition is a wonderful initiative and one which Garden for Life members are thrilled to be involved with.

“We’re excited to see how school children interpret the brief which links our food and plant culture with Scotland’s Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology and look forward to judging this year’s competition entries.”

The deadline for entries is Friday, February 10.

For more information, visit: www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/pocketgarden.