A group of parents and children, mainly from Hillhead Primary School used to come to the Botanic Gardens, and some of the children came up with the idea of trying to do a bit of gardening. They approached the Botanics who agreed to doing some gardening as an experiment.
The Children’s Garden was successfully piloted in 2003 on a bit of ground in the Uncommon Vegetable Garden of the Botanic Gardens.
John Hancox – one of the parents – spotted a good site in the Botanics – which seemed to be unused. This is the area of the Botanic Gardens where the Children’s Garden is now, which used to be a plant nursery area – the Reserve Garden. It was carefully chosen by a wise old Victorian gardener – to give the new plants their best start in life.
The parents formed a volunteer committee to raise funds and to manage the project, and Glasgow City Council agreed to let the Children’s Garden use the reserve garden for free. The Children’s Garden Committee is mainly made up of parents and others who are keen to help children who live in the city to learn how to grow stuff.
The Committee raised funds to pay for work and the Council’s Land Services apprentices built the garden for us. Landscape architect Mike Hyatt did the design, and helped oversee the work. We are grateful for ongoing help and support from the Botanic Gardens management, without whose support this wouldn’t have happened.
Before the garden was there:
During construction:
