Rattray Community Garden set to grow as donors stump up £45k

The volunteer team behind Rattray Community Garden have transformed an unloved patch of land into something very special

By Morag Lindsay

January 29 2025, 6:00am

Rattray Community Garden has quickly become popular with locals. Image: Blairgowrie & Rattray Development Trust.

A Perthshire gardening group has won a £45,000 boost to help it grow stronger still.

The Rattray Community Garden team will use some of the money to renovate a building on the land.

The plan is to create a secure storage shed, a general-purpose room, toilets and a small kitchen.

It will also pay for the demolition of a derelict building to make space for parking and more storage.

Rattray Community Garden is based in a former walled garden for Mount Ericht House, just off Balmoral Road.

Blairgowrie and Rattray Development Trust (BRDT) bought the land with support from the Scottish Land Fund in 2021.

Boarded up single storey building at Rattray Community Garden — The Rattray Community Garden volunteers have big plans for this outbuilding. Image: Blairgowrie & Rattray Development Trust.

The project was one of the top wishes to emerge from a community action plan consultation in 2020.

And in the short time since it opened, the garden has become a meeting point for locals, as well as a place where people can develop gardening skills and observe wildlife.

It also grows produce that can be sold at subsidised prices in the trust’s BaRI Food and Refill Store.

Around £180,000 has been raised towards the transformation of the site.

And volunteers have worked tirelessly on the project, from clearing the ground, installing a water supply, drainage and electricity and creating a network of paths to tending produce in the polytunnels, greenhouse and raised beds.

Open gate with 'Blair in Bloom' sign on it, leading into courtyard at garden site — Blair in Bloom is part of the Rattray Community Garden success story. Image: Blairgowrie & Rattray Development Trust.

The community garden is also home to award-winning environmental group Blairgowrie and Rattray in Bloom.

Funds will benefit everyone who visits Rattray Community Garden

A share of the new funding has come from the Gannochy Trust, which has awarded the garden £27,500.

Perth and Kinross Council’s Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) fund is providing another £17,707.

Community Garden volunteer and Blairgowrie and Rattray in Bloom chairman William Wilson said it would help to take the project to the next level.

“The garden is currently open twice a week, as well as for open days and events and other activities, and has cultivated a real community feel over the last year or so,” he said.

“The completion of this project will provide additional facilities that will benefit everyone who uses and visits the garden, and will enable us to offer a wider range of activities to more people.”

The garden is open every Wednesday and Saturday from 10am to 1pm.

To find out more, follow its Facebook page or visit the website.