| Silver Birch Scotland Community Garden |
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Silver Birch Scotland (SBS) was established in 1996 to provide work experience for adults with learning disabilities. This mainly involves screening, drying and bagging mushroom compost and bark for sale to the public.
SBS is keen to develop the former agricultural landholding they occupy to expand the training opportunities by creating a vegetable garden and orchard, which will provide more varied learning and work experiences, and generate a small income by selling the produce in a local or on-site farm shop.
CSFT was approached in 2008 by SBS to assist with developing ideas for the garden which will be created on a fairly flat 2 hectare field which is currently used for grazing horses. It is a long narrow site with marshy grassland and wetland along the southern boundary, with some remnants of a field hedge and the odd mature boundary tree. The main aim of the project was to create an attractive greenspace for the clients and visitors to enjoy. Some of the work to create the garden, eg tree and wildflower planting, was carried out by the clients, with the ongoing site maintenance, eg weeding, thinning and mowing, providing the clients with practical woodland management and horticultural experience. The project includes:
Total cost £89,000 funded by: Biffaward East Dunbartonshire Council Kelvin Valley LEADER People’s Postcode Trust The Tree Council
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