Trees which will become part of the landscape of Scone Palace in the coming years have been planted by local people.
To celebrate 50 years as a visitor attraction, the palace is planting 50 young maple trees, one for each year it has been open to the public.
Members of the local community, young and old, were invited to plant trees including the head girls and head boys from Perth High School, Perth Grammar, St John’s Academy and Perth Academy.
The special ceremony on Friday was attended by representatives from the National Tree Collections of Scotland (NTCS) who donated all 50 trees for the project.
Provost Liz Grant, representatives from the Forestry Commission Scotland and the Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust also planted trees.
One tree was planted by Jenny Milne who is the longest-serving tour guide at Scone Palace, having worked at the historic visitor attraction for 28 years, and the youngest planters came from Robert Douglas Memorial Primary School.
Other planters included Scone Palace chief executive, Sarah Butler, and head gardener, Brian Cunningham, who developed the idea of a special planting ceremony to mark Scone Palace’s 50th anniversary as a visitor attraction.
The 50 trees will be planted by the end of this month and Mr Cunningham said of the project: “At Scone Palace, we have been looking for ways to further develop our autumn foliage colours and 50 maple trees will certainly deliver autumnal colours over the next few decades.
“I would like to thank, on behalf of Scone Palace, the National Tree Collections of Scotland for donating the 50 trees which will significantly add to the design landscape of our gardens.
“We are also delighted to be welcoming so many people from the local community to be part of the planting. Particularly the school pupils who represent the next generation of potential gardeners and visitors to our historic palace and gardens.
“This planting can act as legacy for those future generations.”
Scone Palace first opened to the public in 1966.
