Portlethen Moss Conservation Group was formed 19 years ago to preserve Portlehen Moss which was once a much larger  lowland raised peatbog…work what carries on today. The group also created a community woodland on a separate site in Portlethen and manage it in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council. The Community Wildlife & Sensory Garden project is the newest project for the group.

The below image shows the location of the 3 projects that the group have been involved in

Community Wildlife & Sensory Garden

The creation of a Community Wildlife & Sensory Garden in partnership with the Kincardine & Mearns Ranger, to address the need for a green space for vulnerable groups and the wider general community including schools, nurseries and childrens/community groups, while adding biodiversity. With funding from various sources, our major sponsor was Rock Rose Energy Ltd (Viaro) it enabled the completion of the garden in just over 6 months.

An official garden opening event was held on 7 August 2024.

The site is owned by Aberdeenshire Council and the Council was very supportive and gave permission to develop the site. The site many years ago had 2 cottages on it which had been demolished and much of the concrete foundations were just covered over with a thin layer of soil. While in these areas made planting some things difficult, the poor soil was good for wildflowers.  

The project kicked off with a fairly detailed planting plan and the group stuck to it. 

Community Garden Planting

The detailed planting plan was the foundation of this project. By sticking to it, it guided work on planting days when it could have been easy to forget the plan. The only problem we encountered was the concrete under the top level of soil in some areas which made it difficult to dig, but by moving along a metre or so the soil was fine. 

A contractor was brought in to create a wheelchair friendly circular path, put up gates and fencing and the rest of the work was done by a dedicated group of volunteers. 

The sensory garden is made up of planters for herbs, edibles and sensory plants, an orchard walkway, wildflower areas, a rain garden, sensory trail, raised sensory planter and a story corner with a wooden carved story throne.

This project has been very well received by the community and given a sense of pride.

People stop to say how lovely the garden is and how it’s improved the area. The location is ideal being very close to schools and an assisted living complex and while it’s created a space for reflection and mindfulness it’s also a place for nature projects and story telling. 

Before and After...

The creation of the community garden has transformed the space as can be seen in the following before and after images...

In the first few months the increase in biodiversity has been amazing. We created a heather border that has been covered in bees all summer. The group ran a successful a children's bug hunt as part of the garden opening ceremony and recorded 24 different species of pollinators and insects. 

Building Community

The success of the project is rooted in the local community through their support and involvement. The  group has 2 very active Facebook pages which are followed by most of the community and wider community and posts were also shared on other local community Facebook pages. We put notices up advising the community of our project and when volunteers can be involved. We met with schools and nurseries to discuss their needs from this project. An article is submitted for every edition of our community magazine the Clochandighter which is delivered to every household in our area on a quarterly basis. 

Keeping the community informed ensured that everyone knew what the group were working towards as soon as the first shovel went in the ground.

The next step for the project is to create a new large sweeping lavender border in early spring 2025. This will add to the sensory trail leading from the herb planters to the raised sensory planter and provide a rich food source for pollinators.