Gartmore Walled Garden Project
The site
The Gartmore Walled Garden Project is a new horticultural project which has been running for less than a year and which will offer apprenticeship-type placements for school leavers with learning disabilities. Placements will generally last for 3 years, with an objective to develop life skills and work skills such as self-confidence, work ethics, consequence of actions and dependability among the trainees. It is anticipated that some trainees will find employment within the horticultural sector following the end of their placement. However, the project, while using horticultural work as its focus is primarily aimed at helping trainees to become better equipped with adult life at this transitional stage in their lives.
The project
Gartmore Walled Garden is situated near the village of Gartmore, a couple of miles from Aberfoyle in the beautiful Trossachs. The garden has fallen into a state of disrepair over a number of years, with a lot of work having been carried over the last 9 months to prepare it for its new use. The project would benefit from help with the following projects:
The creation of a duck pond in one corner of the garden. This will provide a habitat for birds while also enhancing the biodiversity of the site. The work to create the pond will include the digging out of a large hole, the laying down of a pond liner and the shaping of the levels of the pond.
The creation of a series of raised beds. This will provide the trainees with an area which can be planted with a mixture of flowers and vegetables and will mean that there is an area which is accessible for disabled trainees. Work will include gathering stones for the building of the raised beds, the cementing of these stones into position and the filling of the beds with soil.
The creation of a footpath. This footpath will link up different areas of the walled garden and will make wheelchair access to much of the site possible. The work will include the digging out of a trench, followed by the barrowing of aggregate and whin dust to make a strong and hard-wearing footpath surface.
