'Outstanding' Gairloch garden's reputation continues to grow from strength to strength
A Wester Ross community garden has again achieved the rare accolade of being awarded a top national award.
Keep Scotland Beautiful, for the fourth successive year, has given its highest "Outstanding" award to the Sitooterie Wildlife Observation Garden in Pier Road, Gairloch, under the It's Your Neighbourhood scheme.
The Sitooterie began in 2015 when members of the local community funded the clearing of a small area amid the totally overgrown gorse that dominated the verge alongside Pier Road. Since then the garden has steadily expanded to become its current 206-metre length.
Visiting assessor Agnes Harvey, of environment charity Keep Scotland Beautiful, said that the volunteers had created a garden "that is much valued by the local community and the many visitors who make good use of it".
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She praised the group for the garden being "a uniquely beautiful space of re-purposed land", and for the Sitooterie's social media page having nearly 2000 followers, as well as for the excellent five-star reviews posted on Trip Adviser.
The Gardening Achievement Section of the report highlighted the fact that the Sitooterie is a well-established high-quality garden area. "The quality of plants and planting is excellent, she said. "The planting variety provides great attraction for wildlife in particular butterflies, bees, and birds."
Assessor Agnes Harvey summed up at the end of the report: "The horticultural expertise contributed is evident throughout the garden and is of the highest quality - itself worthy of a 'gold' accolade."
"The whole team that are part of the delivery, maintenance and support of the Sitooterie together bring the synergy that all successful ventures display.This culminates in a most successful achievement that gives immense pleasure to the many people who visit and benefit from your efforts, in so many ways."
"You have a winning formula which you can hopefully pass on to other generations to ensure the longevity of the Sitooterie, for years to come. It was a pleasure and honour to meet you all."
Sitooterie co-ordinator, David Carruthers said that he was delighted with the result, adding that it was a fitting tribute to the Sitooterie's dedicated and hard-working volunteers and financial supporters.
