Planting
Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous
A Heart for Duns actively supports Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous (KDBM), a local initiative to set up and maintain community planting schemes in the town’s park and streets. The community planting project started in April 2015 with a handful of friends and has developed into a team of 40 volunteers. Originally responsible for 1 community bed, KDBM now maintains 12 beds, 11 planters, 9 boxes, 8 small troughs, 2 large veg boxes, 2 small wildflower areas, 4 ‘Welcome to Duns’ signs and a large tractor tyre.
Funding and support
Many national and local organisations, local businesses and individuals support KDBM activities and projects. A grant from Awards for All in December 2016 enabled the purchase of a community polytunnel, a shed and various gardening tools. In January 2019 we purchased, with funding from BCCF Environmental, ‘Billy Bowser’ — a Polaris Ranger electric vehicle for watering the plants around town.
In the Spring of 2021 The Woodland Trust supplied a ‘small copse’ of tree saplings for Duns Primary School, and this year the project was continued as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy, with a variety of 16 trees being planted. These trees were bought locally and donated to the town by an anonymous local resident. Seven more trees were also added to the public park by our local Community Council.
This year, with help from Duns Girlguiding, local volunteers and artisans, we transformed a storm-damaged area of trees, flowers and shrubs in the centre of Duns into a Gruffalo-themed wildlife garden, complete with bug house, den, signpost, interpretation board and a wood carving. With volunteer help we also ‘flowered-up’ the Volunteer Hall with new planters, plants and a lovely floral mural.
Our local authority Scottish Borders Council (SBC) is very supportive and regularly helps out with offers of topsoil, extra mulch, decorative slate, the moving of bins and providing machines for heavy lifting.
Annual Events
Each year KDBM has a plant sale to fund the purchase of plants for the town’s beds and planters. In the Autumn AHFD Harvest Festival, organised by KDBM in partnership with Abundant Borders, includes a plant and produce sale, swap shops for children’s and adult’s outdoor clothes, and craft sessions.
KDBM has also entered some annual national events and competitions:
Scotland’s Open Gardens Scheme: Duns Open Gardens Day on Sunday 21 August, from 12(noon) to 5pm. £5, children free. Tickets and route maps are available from the Volunteer Hall, tea and coffee will be available and there will be a small plant sale. 12 gardens in Duns will be open with an opportunity to see the community beds, planters and wildlife area. Visit our What’s on Page for more details.
Keeping Scotland Beautiful Competition: Walk around judging on Thursday 11 August. Click here for more information and watch out for further details on KDBM Facebook including the judges’ route, and how you can help tidy areas along the route.
Greener Gateway Community Awards Competition: The judging will take place in August/September for the Greener Gateway Community Awards, previously known as ‘Floral Gateway Competition’. The competition involves local authorities from all over the UK that take pride in their local environment and gives them the opportunity to celebrate their contribution to civic pride whilst also acknowledging their efforts to make the region more sustainable and environmentally friendly. You can take a look at our presentation that we’ve submitted for the awards, created with support from the Berwickshire Association for Voluntary Service.
