Bo'ness and Larbert youngsters win national garden design contest

Children at Larbert Day Nursery earned high praise from judges for their garden design (Picture by Michael Gillen)

Kinneil Primary and Larbert Day Nursery youngsters were among a select group of little ones whose entries wowed the Design a One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden judging panel.

Run by the Keep Scotland Beautiful environmental charity, the eco-friendly project tasked entrants with  producing designs for a green space featuring plants which can be eaten and attract  biodiversity, as well as reused materials which would otherwise be thrown away.

The competition placed an emphasis on developing children’s awareness, skills and understanding of food and the environment in a fun, hands-on and informal manner.

Judges were taken aback by the work of Kinneil Primary pupils (Picture by Michael Gillen)

Entries were submitted across 24 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas and the Falkirk district youngsters were among just 22 finalists that industry professionals named as winners.

Their hard work will be  repaid with the chance to plant and grow their winning designs as part of a Garden for Life area at the 2018 Gardening Scotland exhibition in  Edinburgh this June.

Eve Keepax, food and environment officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “For the third year running, we have been so excited by the diverse and inspiring entries to our annual One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden design competition and everyone’s interpretation of this year’s new theme, the United Nations Global Goals.

“This competition is a practical, yet fun, way to learn about growing food sustainably and why it is important.

“We look forward to working with the pupils from  Larbert Day Nursery and  Kinneil Primary and seeing their designs create the Garden for Life.”

Three overall winners will be chosen during the  Gardening Scotland event for Best Garden for Wildlife, Best Garden for One Planet Picnic theme and Best Garden for Global Goals theme.

Jenna Lowe, of Gardening Scotland, added: “It’s inspiring to see all these fantastic schools participating in this competition, coming up with wonderful designs which have real standing within the  United Nations Global Goals.”