Design a One Planet Picnic
Pocket Garden 2022
Many of us have recently discovered joyful and practical learning through growing plants and connecting with our communities. The 2022 One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden Design Competition builds on this, linking garden design, sustainability and the 2022 Year of Stories. It provides a great opportunity for pupils aged 3 – 18 to tell a story through their design and to consider how stories can influence our ideas, culture and behaviour. It’s also a focus to develop creative design skills. We are looking for exciting and unusual designs that use edible plants, plants that attract wildlife, and that reuse items which would otherwise have been thrown away. This competition allows pupils to plan and design, using plants as a key element. It will build transferable
skills to design growing spaces and develop your school grounds. The competition themes link to your Eco-Schools Scotland work on food and the environment, biodiversity, school grounds, climate action, health and well-being and your participation can be part of your Green Flag application. The competition provides a context for Learning for Sustainability within Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes – see pages six and seven for more detail. Winners will be invited to display their Pocket Garden in the online showcase where people across Scotland can enjoy it and vote for their favourite three. You may have seen Pocket Gardens featured on the BBC television programme, Beechgrove Garden last year. Previously, the Pocket Gardens have been
displayed at Gardening Scotland in Edinburgh, where they have been visited by the BBC Beechgrove Garden team, the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. All winners will also be judged for three discretionary awards: Interpretation of the themes, Wildlife friendly and Food for people.
What is a Pocket Garden?
A Pocket Garden is a miniature garden that uses edible plants, plants that attract wildlife, and that reuses something which would otherwise have been thrown away.
Each year, we invite young people from schools across Scotland to send in their designs for a colourful and exciting environmentally friendly, pocket-sized garden. Pupils who send in the winning designs are then invited to build and grow their gardens to display.
Many of us have recently discovered joyful and practical learning through growing plants and connecting with our communities. The 2022 One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden Design Competition builds on this, linking garden design, sustainability and the 2022 Year of Stories.
Previously, Pocket Gardens have been displayed at Gardening Scotland in Edinburgh, where they have been visited by the BBC Beechgrove Garden team, the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh.
Competition Details 2022
Timescales:
5pm Friday 25 February 2022 – deadline for competition entries.
w/c 28 February – winners will be notified and can begin to grow and build their garden.
5pm Friday 27 May – winning schools deadline for images and words to show finished gardens.
9am 8 June – 9am 20 June – National online showcase and public voting.
From 20 June – enjoy your garden
Competition Categories:
Please let us know which category you are entering:
Nursery – P4
P5 – S2
S3 – S6
Guidelines & Advice:
Garden for Life Forum organisations can provide you with lots of useful information and advice to help you. Visit www.gardenforlife.org.uk for more information and helpful links.
Materials used (e.g. compost etc.) should be sustainably sourced / manufactured. Please use peat free compost and locally sourced materials where possible.
Where plant materials are being used, these should not be collected from the wild and must not contravene any laws. F1 hybrids should not be used.
If possible, a beneficial after-use for the materials should be sought, e.g. installing as a feature in the school grounds or return of plants to original supplier.
The Pocket Garden showcase voting in 2021 attracted 50,000 views and thousands of votes. You can take inspiration from 2021 Pocket Gardens www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/pocketgarden
If you are not a winner, we would encourage you to build your garden in the school grounds / community so everyone can enjoy it – and do send us photos for sharing.
