LIFE’S A BEACH AT GARDENING SCOTLAND 2008


A tropical beach hut with superfast Broadband, on-demand TV and stacked high with gadgets, is set to be the centrepiece of Scotland’s national gardening and outdoor living show.
The hi-tech holiday getaway, created by BT, will be surrounded by sand dunes and exotic planting including palm trees.
The beach scene is just one of the fantasy gardens which is set to greet visitors to Gardening Scotland 2008 when it opens on Friday, 30 May.
Others include a kitchen scene with fork and trowel ‘cutlery’, a living worktop made out of alpine plants and a water feature in place of a sink from composting charity Waste Aware Scotland and the recreation of an Aberdeenshire hilltop, complete with sunken Pictish dwellings by designer Karen Laing.
In total, a record 15 gardens will be on show to the public – almost three times as many as has been seen at any previous show.

A further 88 new exhibitors will also be taking part elsewhere in the Showground.
Last year Gardening Scotland judges stirred up controversy when they awarded the ‘Best Show Garden’ title to a garden made entirely from rubbish.
The ‘Reuse, Recyle & Relax’ garden, created for horticultural charity Perennial by staff and students at Oatridge College near Edinburgh, featured plant pots made out of old tyres and an entire wall constructed from Irn Bru cans.
Jim Jermyn, Show Manager of Gardening Scotland, says that the huge growth in show gardens this year reflects the twin interests of gardeners in Scotland in design and the environment.
“Almost every garden in this year’s show will have a strong environmental theme, from composting to water recycling, but at the same time the designs themselves are highly contemporary,” he said.
One eye-catching feature is set to be a 10-foot high stainless steel and copper thistle, made by sculptor David Wilson, for an exhibit by Beautiful Perth (formerly Perth in Bloom).
The giant ‘flower’ will dominate the many thousands of blooms that fill the Dobbies Floral Hall and help to make Gardening Scotland the biggest plant sale of its kind in the country.
Other attractions will include The Big Back Garden, featuring barbecue expert Billy Walker as well as garden games for kids; The Living Garden, with hands-on exhibits from more than a dozen environmental organisations, and the Pallet Gardens, where more than 50 schools and gardening clubs will compete for the Klondyke Garden Centres prize for the best garden in a space no bigger than one square metre.
Up to 30,000 visitors are expected to attend this year’s show and for the first time in four years those travelling from Fife and beyond will not be affected by closures on the Forth Road Bridge, which is set to remain open throughout the three days of the show.

Gardening Scotland 2008 runs from Friday, 30 May until Sunday, 1 June at The Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh. Advance tickets cost £12/10. Kids go free.
Call 0131 3330965 or visit www.gardeningscotland.com