GREYFRIARS Garden in Jedburgh is a bit of a secret garden. To find it you need to go through the Co-op supermarket car park and through a gate.

From here you have a view over the excavated remains of the Friary. Within it the central garden is laid out with herb plants. The lines of the ancient walls are visible between bands of grass.

Rooms and areas within the buildings are marked with signage. A second seating platform provides another vantage point to view the outline of the remains. Pear trees grow on the outside edge of the garden.

During Health week recently, as part of a visit to also learn about local archaeology, teacher Lynne Milligan and Jedburgh Grammar school pupils and other staff, joined me to revamp the herb garden. The plants are arranged in a quadrangle with a different herb at each of the four corners of a square, bounded by box hedging.

There was a healthy eating message and interesting fact for each herb. Rosemary can make roast lamb taste really good and sage is used in stuffing, Thyme has antiseptic properties, scented herbs enhance your memory of an occasion and marjoram is related to oregano so could be used in pizza or spaghetti bolognese.

Fruit such as pears can be part of your “five a day”. Jedhart pears were once sold in markets in London, and were worth a lot of money to the town. Walking to the garden and spending time weeding and planting was a little bit of fresh air and exercise. Some pupils seemed to really enjoy crawling under the viewing platforms and pulling out litter, and others by clearing bits of moss from the little signs marking the walls and areas within the old building.

Quite a few of the pupils had not been in the garden before and the weather was surprisingly kind to us until the rain came to water in the newly planted herbs as we finished. After our day of giving the site some attention, it does look fine.. Other activities in Health week for the pupils included Aromatherapy, time at the coast at Coldingham , a walk and picnic to Timpendean Tower and a 5km obstacle race around Lothian Park.

Around 60 pupils have now had a scented garden experience in part of Jedburgh history to remember. Greyfriars garden is part of Jedburgh Town trail. Look it up on www.scotborders.gov.uk/walking Susan Kevan Countryside Access Ranger Scottish Borders Council