When I moved to Tayport a few years ago the back garden of my house was what might be described as ‘traditional’- a fair-sized lawn with a flower border round it. To me, it seemed a ‘good’ garden until I became a volunteer at Tayport Community Garden. As I worked with PLANT it soon became evident that my garden could be so much more productive for, not just me, but the wildlife I shared it with.
The first thing I did, after the Tayport Fruitfest in the autumn of 2015, was to plant five fruit trees and, hey presto, my garden became an orchard. I learnt that the criteria for qualifying as an orchard is to have the minimum of five fruit trees and I was thrilled that my garden was put, literally, on a map of orchards in Scotland.
The second task was to intersperse my flower borders with soft fruit bushes. Having one big patch for the fruit didn’t appeal to me; this way I have my colourful flowering plants and my black and red currants.
Finally, I gave over a third of the lawn to a vegetable patch. PLANT was a great source of advice and help, on what to plant, and when. So far this summer I have enjoyed peas and potatoes; parsley and mint. So much more productive than grass!
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