Beechgrove Garden-2008
a welcoming community garden
In 2008 we were invited to design a community garden space for the Beechgrove Garden, Scotland's premiere gardening programme. This was not only an enormous privilege, but quite a challenge too!
Silverburn is a small village nestled in the Pentland Hills South of Edinburgh. Situated 1,000 feet above sea level the village is exposed to cold winters and strong winds.
the brief
The villagers had recently purchased an old water storage building located at the heart of Silverburn which they had converted into a community hall.
Twig was commissioned to design a welcoming garden meeting the needs of all the community members and the challenges of the site.
The Beechhgrove Garden Silverburn Community project
gallery
click on the pictures below to enlarge.
the new garden design
- rock garden :: - we braced the sloping lawn with a dry stone wall at the front of the garden breaking it up at the near end into a large dynamic rock garden. Boulders were collected from the local quarry and arranged to mimic the natural land forms in the area thus echoing the surrounding landscape.
- alpine planting :: alpine plants creep through the rocks and the shingle top dressing. A large stone carved by a local artist celebrating the project takes pride of place.
- the lawn :: the only flat area on site, the lawn was levelled to provide outdoor entertaining space and a safe place for children to play.
- white walk :: a white walk, designed to overflow with white blossoms in mid summer was incorporated into the plan as a perfect backdrop for future weddings to be held at the hall.
- wildlife thicket :: a thin strip of land at the back of the hall was densely planted with British natives to form a wildlife thicket. Bird boxes and shelters for hedgehogs and beetles were arranged by the local children.
- BBQ area :: if there's one thing the villagers of Silverburn really excel at it's knowing how to party! A social area was created containing plenty of tree seats centered around the village BBQ. Surrounded by herbs and bright colourful planting we suspect this will become the most well used part of the garden!
the garden before we began the project
before....
