We've Only Gone and Repeated Our Green Flag Awards!!

Beautiful Perth is celebrating prestigious awards for two of the gardens maintained by our wonderful volunteers. 

The Green Flag Community Award is the UK benchmark for first-class parks and green spaces managed by volunteers. 

The accolades have been awarded for the second consecutive year for the regenerated Heather Garden and adjacent Compassionate Friends Garden in the Riverside Park. 

The Heather Garden now comprises 15 beds containing 500 varieties and over 16,000 heather plants, all maintained and managed by Beautiful Perth volunteers. Included in this garden is the National Collection of Erica Carnea heathers and now nurtures several endangered varieties. Work is underway to improve plant identifation signage and crucially, we have stepped-up an extensive mapping programme spearheaded by Tayside firm Kilmac. This innovative programme aims to identify all the heather varieties in the garden and provide an on-line detailed description of each. 

The Compassionate Friends Garden was developed to create a picturesque, peaceful haven for reflection and contemplation following a request from Compassionate Friends UK, a charity that supports bereaved parents, siblings and grandparents. A small, round, turreted stone building dating back to the 1800’s provides a key focal feature, with the surrounding space planted in sustainable pollinator plants.

Both gardens provide year-round colour and interest as well as being a haven for insects. 

Euna Scott, chair of Beautiful Perth, said: “Everyone is obviously thrilled to have again been nationally recognised with a Green Flag for both gardens – it’s a horticultural benchmark. Our team of volunteers work tirelessly to maintain the high standards required for the Award. 

“It is well deserved recognition and reward to everyone who puts in hours of volunteer work. This has been a tricky year to manage the gardens, with soaring temperatures over summer, and we had the added pressure by the fact that this year the assessment by the judges was termed a "mystery shop" so we had no idea when the judges would be visiting so the gardens had to be maintianed to a very high standard all year round as we didn't see or meet the judges.  

Of course, we always aim to do that and importantly for us, always appreciated by the many visitors and reflected in the kind comments we receive.” 

The Compassionate Friends hold their annual gathering in Perth, with a visit to the garden planned for September 12. 

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