PUPILS from Musselburgh Burgh Primary School are in the running for a top garden design accolade.
They showed their “imagination and creativity” as finalists in the eighth annual Pocket Garden Design competition, inspired by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful.
Now their environmentally friendly miniature garden will be created and grown for a national online showcase, when people will vote for Scotland’s favourite pocket garden from June 7 to 19.
The miniature gardens use edible plants, plants that attract wildlife and things that would otherwise have been thrown away.
Following the “great success” of the competition and “popular” online showcase and vote in recent years, secondary, primary and nursery pupils were once again invited to design a colourful and sustainable garden reflecting the interlinked themes of A Garden of Celebration, One Planet Picnic and Wildlife Gardening.
Burgh Primary School’s design is a celebration of the town of Musselburgh, both past and present.
The colours of the flowers are the Honest Toun’s colours of blue, white and yellow.
The town’s mussel beds will be represented in decoration using shells from the beach and there will be a water feature for the harbour.
Musselburgh leeks will be grown beside borage, marigolds, alliums and courgettes.
Musselburgh Burgh Primary School's design for a pocket garden
The 2023 Pocket Garden Design competition, run in partnership with Garden for Life Forum, attracted nearly 200 entrants from budding garden designers from schools across 28 local authority areas in Scotland.
The 42 designs selected this year represent the “very best entries” and the winners from across 21 local authority areas have now been invited to build and grow their garden at school before filming or photographing it to be displayed as part of an online interactive showcase garden which will be made available to the public to visit in June.
Eve Keepax, education and learning officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “This year’s new theme of A Garden of Celebration has opened the door to an outpouring of ideas of what children want to celebrate and what they value.
“It is a reminder in difficult times that we still have many reasons to celebrate.
“It’s even better when the way that the pocket gardens are created will be helpful for local wildlife and provide a bite to eat for people too.
“Well done to everyone that entered the competition and we hope that all schools decide to bring their designs to life.
“I’m already looking forward to seeing the transformations from design to real garden.”
The competition aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and forms part of Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Climate Action Schools framework.
It gives pupils and educators a creative focus for learning for sustainability, STEM skills, and the Curriculum for Excellence.
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