We wanted our garden to represent life on our island home of Islay. We put beach pebbles around it to represent the shoreline. We used empty oyster shells in between plants to help to stop weeds growing up and also because there is an oyster farm on Islay. We have used scallop shells to cover the planting pockets in the vertical part of the garden. We have included an old lobster and crab creel to represent our fishing heritage and it can also be a hill in the garden to represent the heathery hills and moorlands on Islay. The bird feeder uses deer horns. We have included a pair of old yellow wellies to represent the RNLI and Islay Lifeboat and because fishermen’s boots are yellow.

We have lots for wildlife in our garden design including a really good minibeast hotel in the back base built from old slates, bricks, sticks and pots.   We had the idea of putting silver, solar fairy lights around the garden, to attract moths to the garden but also to represent 25 years of Keep Scotland Beautiful. The lights don’t show up in the photographs because we took the photos in daylight, but they do show up when it gets dark. We are all in bed, but the moths will hopefully be out and about.

All our plants have come from Islay. We did not buy any plants. The nasturtiums were grown from seed collected from last year’s plants. The strawberry plants have been grown from last year’s ‘runners’. The flowers came from local gardens by splitting clumps of perennials.

The slugs LOVE our strawberries so it is always a race to get to them first! We never use pesticides at school because we want to be environmentally friendly and they are not safe for children or good for wildlife. Slugs are the greediest animals in our school garden so we hope if we grow the strawberries higher up we won’t have to share so many with the slugs!

Our school is in a really windy place and although the low down plants were ok,  the strawberry plants which were at the top of the pallet got really bashed.  Our friendly RSPB assistant warden came to the rescue. She built a sort of mini fleece tunnel that fits over the strawberry plants.  We can take the fleece cover off when it is not windy, but put it on when it is windy and it has worked really well to protect the strawberry plants and they have set some fruit.

The children will continue to look after the garden. We are going to put up some windbreak material on a fence nearby to help to protect it from strong winds in the winter. All the plants in the base of the garden we are planting straight into the ground, rather than pots, so they should just keep growing.

We like the garden so much and it has been so successful and fun making it that we want to make another pocket garden next to it next year.