Paisley is set to benefit from a new community garden after the town landed top slot in a prestigious competition.
Barshaw Park will be the location for the feature after funding was earmarked when the town was named the only Scottish winner in the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden Day contest.
UK winners, which also included Huntingdon in England and Randalstown in Northern Ireland, were unveiled on the BBC's popular One Show by JJ Chalmers.
All four nations - including an as-yet-to-be named Welsh winner - will be handed funding to create the new community site.
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Paisley's garden will see the creation of a new space which pays tribute to the town's past link with the textile industry, and will feature the world-renowned Paisley Pattern design, created through curved and accessible raised beds - which will be specially-designed to accommodate a wheelchair comfortably.
Local distillers' recycled barrels will be used to create the scene, which will also feature extensive trellis work, which will frame the entry way and offer fruit and flower training to help create an inviting and sociable space.
The community garden, which will be on the site of the park's former Nature Corner, has been designed by landscape specialists Nicola Semple and Susan Begg, of Semple Begg and will be managed by volunteer organisation Friends of Barshaw Park, who will receive an additional £15,000 over the course of the next three years for investment in the garden and the group’s work within the community.
Irene McDonald, Chair of Friends of Barshaw Park, said: "Community gardens are all too often formal affairs, fenced off from the very people wanting to access them.
"The redevelopment of our space prioritises creating a warm welcome with benches for socialising, or simply observing, with fragrant, colourful climbers for inspiration and relaxation."
She added: "The moveability and versatility of the raised and border beds means everyone should have the chance to learn and bestow new gardening skills in Barshaw Park and we’re excited to open it to the public this spring.”
The group will run a series of workshops from the space, such as the harvesting and cooking of crops and will promote a gardening buddy system to help with hands on learning and operate a tool library, filled with equipment, to inspire and facilitate gardening beyond the confines of the site.
Residents will also be able to take home fresh produce and cut flowers grown in the garden.
Angela Smith, RHS Development Officer for Scotland, said: "Friends of Barshaw Park are an energising and inspiring group of gardeners who are helping to restore their namesake space to its former glory.
"The creation of a new community garden will serve as a local hub, enabling the group to even more freely share their skills with residents and inspire many more people to get growing."
The space will be framed on all sides by walls made from larch sleepers sourced and grown on the Isle of Bute, espalier fruit trees of local varieties, and edible hedges with Scottish berries. Natural composting, wormery and extensive rainwater collection underpin the garden’s green credentials.
Karen Anderson, Sustainability, Place & Assets Manager at Renfrewshire Council, said: "We’re delighted for the Friends of Barshaw Park group that they have been successful in their bid for a new community garden and I’m sure families and parkgoers will be delighted at the new, inviting space within the park as the designs look fantastic.
"We work closely with the group to enhance this prominent public park in Renfrewshire at every opportunity and we will continue to support them however we can to bring the new garden to life."
For more information about the Garden Day Competition, Garden Day and National Gardening Week visit www.rhs.org.uk
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