Sight, sound, touch and smell all make the new garden at Grangemouth's Oswald Avenue Day Centre a haven for therapy and relaxation.

It was opened on June 25 by Falkirk Council Head of Service Community Care Marion Reddie.

According to the council the original garden at the centre - which provides services to adults with learning disabilities - "lacked any interesting features" and was rarely used.

Three years ago they decided to change all that and the Oswald Avenue Garden Project was born.

Trellis, the Scottish charity which supports, promotes, and develops the use of horticulture to improve health, well-being and life opportunities for all, provided useful advice and direction for the Centre to follow in creating the new garden.

The funding and resources for the project came from a variety of sources. Local businesses and organisations donated money and materials, the Oswald Avenue Donations fund contributed a sum of money and the Council's Criminal Justice team organised a workforce to do the more intensive landscaping.


The Centre's service users contributed their thoughts and ideas about what they would like to see in the garden and about how the garden would be used. It was important that it would be accessible to all, so wide paths and raised beds were created.

The project was not intended as just a garden makeover but a working garden where service users could learn and practice their gardening skills - weeding, pruning, dividing and propagating plants as an ongoing activity.

Specific plants have been used to stimulate the senses and also to create restful areas for relaxation and reflection. The wildlife area is a more natural environment to encourage birds, bees, butterflies and mini-beasts.

It's hoped that the garden will also be used and enjoyed by other groups in the Falkirk area.

Councillor Gerry Goldie, Convener of Housing and Social Care, praised everyone involved in the project: "This has been a great undertaking and everyone involved in the creation of this beautiful garden can feel very proud of what they have achieved.The therapeutic benefits of gardens are well known and the Oswald Avenue project has added a valuable new dimension to the lives of service users."

Mike Hamilton, of Trellis, said: "The garden at Oswald Avenue is a wonderful example of a sensory and wildlife garden that will provide much learning and enjoyment for service users, workers and visitors alike.

"The service users here will join the thousands of people throughout Scotland who daily experience the fantastic social and health benefits that gardening brings."

(GK/JM)