Four designs from three schools win national competition and go on to build pocket gardens for display.
| N-P4 | Castle Douglas Primary | Threave estate – mini me garden | Dumfries & Galloway |
| N-P4 | Rephad Primay School | Curling, football and community | Dumfries & Galloway |
| P5 – S2 | Castle Douglas Primary | Traditional Scottish food | Dumfries & Galloway |
| N-P4 | Dunscore Primary School | Our landscape is our heritage | Dumfries and Galloway |
The amazing winners of the 2025 annual Pocket Garden Design Competition have been unveiled by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful and four are from Dumfries and Galloway.
The winners include two entries from Castle Douglas Primary, one in the nursery to P4 category called Threave estate – mini me garden, and one in the P5 – S2 category with the title Traditional Scottish food. There were also winners from Rephad Primary School with its design Curling, football and community in the nursery to P4 category, and Dunscore Primary School with an entry called – Our landscape is our heritage.
Earlier this year, in partnership with Garden for Life Forum, nursery and school pupils, aged three to 18, were invited to design a miniature pocket-sized garden which included food for people, were good for wildlife and reused something.
More than 130 entries from 18 local authority areas across Scotland were submitted, representing the work of whole classes and schools, all capturing fantastic imagination and creativity linked to the 2025 ‘Our Heritage’ theme.
The designers of the 32 winning entries – many of which told stories of traditional crafts, food and local monuments – have now been invited to build and grow their garden at school before filming or photographing it to be displayed as part of an online garden showcase in June where people will be able to vote for their favourite.
Eve Keepax, Education and Learning Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said, “We’ve been running the Pocket Garden Design Competition for a decade, and were excited to introduce Our Heritage as a new theme this year to inspire pupils’ imaginations. Our heritage can tell a powerful story about our places, communities and what we choose to protect or remember.
“The entries this year told moving stories of pupils’ connection to the intangible heritage of language, myth and music as much as their natural heritage and physical buildings of industry, and life long ago. The standard of design was even higher this year yet still as full of creativity and humour.”
“Congratulations to the winners – I’m already looking forward to seeing the designs transform into real mini gardens.”
The competition provides a great way to connect children and young people with food, nature and their heritage, while creating a focus for Learning for Sustainability.
Pocket Garden Design Competition aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Four, Learning for Sustainability and is run as part of our Climate Action Schools framework which supports schools towards achieving Target 2030, Scotland’s learning for sustainability action plan. It also gives pupils and educators a creative focus for learning for sustainability, STEM skills, and the Curriculum for Excellence while learning more about the climate and nature emergencies and having fun learning outdoors.
Further information and inspiration from past years can be found at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/pocketgarden . The online showcase will be open for visitors and voting from 13 – 22 June 2025.
