Pocket Garden
Pocket Garden
Pocket Garden
Pocket Garden Design Competition is OPEN FOR ENTRIES
We invite to pupils aged 3 - 18 to design a pocket-sized garden which includes food for people, is good for wildlife and is inspired by the theme of Fresh Water. Designs could focus on the role fresh water plays in sustaining life, or the amazing technology people have invented to find, store, use and clean it.
2026 is the Pocket Garden Design Competition's 10th birthday! In recognition of a decade of Pocket Gardens entrants are also being invited to include the number 10 somehow in their designs.
Full details are in the competition brochure.
HAPPY DESIGNING!
What is a Pocket Garden?
A Pocket Garden is a miniature garden that uses edible plants, plants that attract wildlife, and that reuses something which would otherwise have been thrown away.
Each year, we invite young people from schools across Scotland to send in their designs for a colourful and exciting environmentally friendly, pocket-sized garden. Pupils who send in the winning designs are then invited to build and grow their gardens to display. Download full competition details and inspiration in the Pocket Garden 2026 Brochure.
Scotland's Chief Medical Officer recognised the health benefits of taking part in Pocket Garden in his Annual Report 2023 -2024. He said it "connects children with their food and with nature."
Previously, Pocket Gardens have been displayed at Gardening Scotland in Edinburgh, where they have been visited by the BBC Beechgrove Garden team, the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. You can see winning designs from 2025 transformed into fabulous gardens in our online Pocket Garden Showcase.
To support you to plan a garden that will be looking it's best in early June, here's a downloadable .pdf with top tips for planning and getting growing.
Have a look at stories from previous years for ideas and inspiration. The children’s designs are often playful, informal, celebratory and full of clever surprises and innovative ideas.
Growing and harvesting can include digging, but here we invite you to a different kind of dig – into our cultural past! This resource booklet introduces some of the cultural heritage, traditions, folklore, custom and crafts associated with harvest and the growing year in Scotland.
Here is some further information to engage and inspire your pupils. Nature is amazing!
Have a look at the design brochure for instructions on how to build your own Pop Up Pocket Garden at Home.
Lots of activities around the competition themes for children to try at home. Use it to inspire ideas for a Pocket Garden design.
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