TWO young Rosneath Primary School pupils appeared on the BBC's hugely popular Beechgrove TV gardening show this week – and their teacher has been telling the Advertiser exactly how it all happened.
P2 pupil Bobby Baker and Lucy Gillon from P1 were inspired to create their own miniature gardens at home during the coronavirus lockdown – after the school as a whole was successful in a competition to design a ‘pocket garden’ earlier in the year.
The school’s P2/1 class, and their teacher Lorna Gillespie, entered their design in the Keep Scotland Beautiful garden competition for this year’s Gardening Scotland show, which should have taken place at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh at the end of May.
Mrs Gillespie said: “There were over 100 entries across 21 local authority areas, and in March, we were delighted to be informed that our entry was successful.”
The school was then told that a space had been allocated for its ‘One Planet Picnic’ pocket garden in the ‘Garden for Life’ section of the annual exhibition – and Mrs Gillespie and her pupils had planned to spend the early part of the summer term putting the garden together for display at the Ingliston venue from May 29-31.
READ MORE: Young Rosneath duo's 'pocket gardens' feature on Beechgrove TV show
Sadly the pandemic wrecked Rosneath’s plans, and saw Gardening Scotland’s 2020 show completely cancelled – while Gardening Scotland itself has since ceased trading after going into liquidation as a direct result of the Covid-19 crisis.
But that was far from the end of the story as far as Rosneath’s pupils were concerned.
Mrs Gillespie continued: “I was later contacted by Eve Keepax, education and learning officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, who told me the production company for Beechgrove Garden were keen to show off everyone’s hard work.
“Eve informed me that the production company would like a film of a young person talking about what their ‘vision’ is and how they’re bringing it together.
“As many of the themes in the pocket garden competition were already a focus for our school community, lots of children and staff were keeping busy making bird feeders at home, planting herbs to enjoy with lunch and flowers to attract bees and butterflies.”
READ MORE: Beechgrove Garden legend Jim McColl chats about his Helensburgh roots
In particular, Bobby and Lucy took the original winning design and used it as the starting point to create their own gardens at home – and their efforts were featured on the hugely popular show on the BBC Scotland channel on Thursday, July 9.
Mrs Gillespie added: “I am so proud of the children and their hard work and engagement throughout this whole process. They have been amazing and their families have been incredibly supportive.
“My thanks also to Eve Keepax at Keep Scotland Beautiful for her support and guidance throughout this exciting process.”
Speaking ahead of Thursday night's broadcast, Rosneath’s head teacher, Emma McDermid, added: “The Pocket Garden competition, coupled with Mrs Gillespie’s continuous virtual learning and teaching, provided the platform for our children to be adventurous in their own experiences outdoors.
“This kindled their enthusiasm of their environment.
“We are really proud of the children’s hard work and can’t wait to watch their TV debut.”
READ MORE: 'Pocket garden' design is a blooming good win for Hermitage Academy pupil
The programme is available now on the BBC's iPlayer catch-up service – click here to watch it (UK users only).
This isn’t the first time Helensburgh and Lomond’s talented young gardeners have caught the eye of the Keep Scotland Beautiful competition judges.
A drought-resistant design by Hermitage Academy S1 pupil Isabelle Gibrat scooped the ‘best water garden’ prize in the organisation’s 2019 pocket garden contest, and was displayed to thousands of visitors at Gardening Scotland last year.
The Beechgrove Garden team has been sharing handy hints with Scotland’s gardeners since 1978.
Its longest-serving presenter, Jim McColl, who retired in April 2019 after more than 40 years fronting the show, lived in Helensburgh with his family after his dad, Tom, was appointed head of Helensburgh Town Council’s parks department in 1954.
And one of the programme’s current presenters, Brian Cunningham, visited the town earlier this year to talk to members of the Helensburgh and Gareloch Horticultural Society about his ‘day job’ as head gardener at Scone Palace in Perthshire.
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