A photo gallery of beds before KDBM took over their management.
There is a history for each bed below the gallery.
Rotary Welcome Bed
In 2017 this bed was looking in a sad and neglected state. As the landmark entrance to our beautiful market square something had to be done. Duns Rotary, who also sponsor our team workwear, kindly stepped up to the challenge and agreed to adopt and maintain this bed as one of their funding projects. Nigel Warren who is a member of Duns Rotary used his landscape gardening skills to design a planting scheme and select the plants. ‘Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous’ then got on with the work of planting and ongoing maintenance. Six years later and many of those shrubs have grown significantly. The bed is once again ready for an overhaul. Duns Flowerbed Trail has provided us with the ideal opportunity to refresh the bed and incorporate some new plants.
Castle Corner
In 2015 this bed was in a sorry state. It was extremely neglected and overgrown. We approached the Scottish Borders Council and asked if it could be cleared by them so that we could take it over. They were very happy to assist and hand over the ongoing upkeep to ‘Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous’. With the help of local garden designer Terri Hopkins we planted this bed with the beautiful Hakonechloa aureola grasses and variegated Cornus along with other shrubs and herbaceous plants. The soft swaying grasses provide a beautiful edge to these two beds and are always admired for the tactile and visual spectacle they provide throughout the year.
Clouds
2016 found us once again approaching Scottish Borders Council to ask for help clearing yet another overgrown and untidy bed. The tangled old shrubbery had become a magnet for litter. Scottish Borders Council happily helped us and yet another flower bed was taken over by ‘Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous’. This time our renovations were kindly supported by Duns Probus. This is a retired professional and business persons’ club. Gaining funding from Duns Probus enabled us to buy an initial number of new plants to map out the structure of this bed. This bed has had a number of additions and subtractions but remains one of our most popular and attractive beds throughout the seasons.
Potentilla Patch
In 2018 we approached Scottish Borders Council to ask if we could upgrade the two corner beds at the Newtown Street end of Willis Wynd. They agreed to this and cleared the untended old shrubs away for us. As Duns is twinned with Zagan in Poland we initially tried planting this bed with a red and white theme to reflect the Polish colours. Sadly we soon discovered that some of our plant choices were unsuitable to the soil quality and road proximity. In the winter spraying of road salt and sand damaged the plants. Gardening is all about trial and error and ‘right plant right place’ and we are all still learning all of the time. Learning from our mistakes is part of the fun. We also noticed that it was impossible to avoid stepping on the beds when parking cars in the adjacent spaces. Duns and District Men’s Shed came to the rescue! They kindly built two triangular wooden planters for the centre of the two beds and surrounded them with slate chipping edging provided by Scottish Borders Council. We hoped to soften the edges of the planters with hardy perennial plants but sadly our local dog population had other ideas. This year we have replaced the dying plants with low growing but dense Cotoneaster. Hopefully this will be a little tougher and survive further canine damage. Fingers (and dog’s legs) crossed!
Herby Hillock
In 2019 the construction of Duns’ Jim Clark Museum was well under way. Our thoughts turned to the sad old bed of tired Hebes opposite the site. Again we approached the Scottish Borders Council to request that they clear the bed and let ‘Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous’ take it over. We then approached the County Council to see if they had any thoughts on planting schemes to complement the museum. The builders working on the museum construction supplied 3 raised beds for us. These gave the bed some structure and protection from road salt and sand. The Council’s suggestion of a floral impression of a Lotus car was beyond our gardening capabilities but we did try to write ‘Lotus’ using green and yellow Begonias and then we tried forming the shape of a Lotus badge.. Unfortunately these attempts could not be classed as a winning formula. As we said earlier gardening is as much about failure as success! Back to the drawing board. We selected a yellow and green planting theme using hardy low growing Thyme. We later added tall swaying Verbena bonariensis to introduce height without obscuring the road and traffic. The simplest ideas are often the best and our local bee and butterfly population adore the herbs and Verbena. You will see from the plaque and logo on this bed that Berwickshire Housing Association now kindly sponsor the largest planter annually. We have previously planted the box up with their bedding plant choices. This was firstly to celebrate the NHS during the Covid pandemic and then to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Berwickshire Housing Association. This year they fully supported our move towards sustainable planting schemes. The bed now contains Heathers and Candelabra Primulas and is underplanted with stunning orange Tulips and yellow Daffodils.
Herbaceous Hide
In 2016 we took over the planting and maintenance of part of this bed. It was initially tended by the Scottish Borders Council but sadly its location on a very busy thoroughfare meant that it was not looking at its best. Fund raising started in earnest to support our purchase of bedding plants from a former nursery near Stichill. Our very popular Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous Plant Sale was born as one of our key annual fundraising events! Along with other sources of local and national funding we were able to continue planting. By 2018 we were able to move to permanent and sustainable planting which is continuing to evolve. Throughout this time Scottish Borders Council continued to plant the lower section with bedding plants until 2019 when we took it over. With the help of Duns Rugby Club and Bert Grigg we dug over the bed and undertook a major overhaul. In early 2020 we were given shrubs from the Scottish Borders Council. We were able to lay out the bed as you see it now, with the addition of any kindly donated herbaceous perennials left over from our plant sales.
Remembrance Bed
In 2017 this was a sorry sight, barren and weed filled. We cleared it out, added lots of fresh compost and filled it with bulbs and then bedding. The former old Legion building stands behind this bed, alongside the volunteer hall. In 2020 upgrading began to convert the hall into a drill hall for the Army Cadets. We therefore decided to turn this bed into a ‘Remembrance’ bed for fallen soldiers. We planted a beautiful red rose called ‘Remembrance’ which was ideal. We have since added two white roses. These are complemented in the Summer by beautiful white lilies and additional bedding plants. The beautiful aluminium planter in this bed is a recent addition. This planter was originally part of the ’Tree of Trees’ Sculpture at Buckingham Palace. This sculpture was designed by Thomas Heatherwick as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. The original ‘Tree of Trees’ sculpture was 21 metres high and made up of 350 Rowan, Silver Birch and Alder trees. After the celebrations the sculpture was dismantled. The trees were all sent to permanent homes within community groups. Jeanna Swan Lord Lieutenant for Berwickshire and Harry Frew the Vice Lieutenant successfully applied for one of the trees. A multi stem Rowan in a silver planter was awarded to Duns. The tree is now planted in the garden area next to Duns Volunteer Hall. The silver planter was used for a new Queen Elizabeth rose and placed in the Remembrance Bed.
Cotoneaster Bed
In 2018 Scottish Borders Council undertook a review of all their flower beds in each Scottish Border town. For some beds they considered three options:- grass over, pave over or plant permanent sustainable planting with very hardy lower maintenance shrubs.In 2019 we again approached them and proposed that Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous took over the responsibility and maintenance of this bed, along with the two adjacent beds now called ‘Crab Apple Tree’ and Barn End’.Once this was agreed we decided to leave the beautiful Cotoneaster in situ and use seasonal pruning techniques to encourage it to flower and berry. It is now covered with beautiful red berries over Winter. As Cotoneaster is popular with pollinators and birds we decided to continue this theme. We have planted this bed up with plants for pollinators including many semi wild flowers.
Crab Apple Tree Bed
This bed was originally a sorry tangle of overgrown shrubs, wild brambles and self-seeded Ash saplings with poor soil quality. With the help of the Scottish Borders Council we first removed all the old tired shrubs. Duns Rugby Club players then came along and helped us to dig in lots of manure and top soil. We invested in two beautiful Crab Apple Trees to add some height and stature to this bed. These two trees were kindly funded by Chris Ditcham (Chris the Barber) who is credited on the plaque in this bed. Unfortunately our initial progress was halted by the Covid pandemic. We were fortunately able to continue to order plants online. Once Covid restrictions eased we were able to convene some socially distanced planting events and put these plants in situ. Paddy Glynn, one of our supporters from MacPlants was able to supply us with a wonderful variety of small herb and pollinator friendly plants so you will see great variety in this beautiful bed. We have repeatedly attempted to edge this bed with hardy shrubs to protect the bare soil but unfortunately large vehicles and our local dog population eroded and damaged these plants with their tyres and urine. We now protect the edges with large stones and boulders with some success.
Barn End Bed
When we took over this raised bed it was full of weeds, overgrown Ivy and huge Hypericum shrubs. We decided it would be good to keep this bed relaxed and create a wildlife haven in contrast to our other more cultivated beds. We used the Hypericum and Ivy as the starting point for our wildlife friendly planting, along with two gorgeous beautiful flowering Cherry trees already in situ. We left the wild flowers in place and added Lavender hedging for the bees. Murray Henderson, our local Scottish Wildlife Trust bird expert kindly made us two bird nesting boxes to put in the trees. Murray tends to all the bird boxes on the Duns Castle Estate. We were delighted when a little blue tit checked one out as a potential nesting site on the very first day of installation! Sadly in 2020 we noticed that one Cherry tree did not blossom and by 2021 it was looking very unhealthy and did not survive the brutality of Storm Arwen. Scottish Borders Council agreed that the resulting timber trunk could be used to create a carved wood sculpture for the site. A local wood carver and sculptor Kevin Brack – The Whittling Pup created the stunning owl and Green Man sculpture that you see today. Unfortunately the original cherry wood was too diseased for carving. A local Holly tree, also felled by Storm Arwen, was acquired as a replacement.Our local Duns Girlguiding group came up with ideas to encourage local children to enjoy this bed. They painted stone charms and built a bug hotel and wildlife pond. Local graphic designer Neil Watson – Watson Consultancy, designed the QR code linked information boards. The bed is enhanced by a magical children’s story board that recounts the tale of Storm Arwen and the good forces of biodiversity and community spirit.The story was written by Lorraine Turnbull a judge in the annual Keeping Scotland Beautiful awards. Lorraine was inspired to write the story after seeing this bed when she was judging our entry into the awards.
Park Bed
It all started with the Park Bed! This was the first bed that took our interest way back in 2014. It had been cleared but remained unplanted and untended for several seasons. With the support of Scottish Borders Council and Duns Community Council we agreed on an initial design that would prevent the bed from being paved over. Duns and District Scottish Women’s Institute agreed to take shared responsibility for four triangular sections of this design. Duns Community Council kindly covered the cost of the first bedding plants.With these small beginnings our new gardening group was formed under the umbrella of the charity status of ‘A Heart for Duns’. Liz Brown from A Heart for Duns came up with our new name ‘Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous’ and so our work began! Sadly in 2017 the Duns branch of the Scottish Women’s Institute ceased and we took over the Park Bed. In 2018 Scottish Borders Council came into line with current sustainability legislation and decided to no longer use seasonal bedding plants. We decided to follow their lead and move towards shrubs and herbaceous perennial planting. Plants were ordered but the Covid pandemic in 2020 curtailed our progress. The bed was sadly lying empty, close to our Polish and British war memorials. We asked local people of all ages to make a flower from recyclable materials to place in the bed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May. This was a great success. The empty bed was filled with wonderful imaginative flowers of all shapes and sizes. The wooden statue you see today was designed and made by a local man and remains there as a tribute to those lost to World War II. Our new plants were finally placed in situ in August 2020 when Covid restrictions relaxed. The design of this bed is constantly evolving as plants need to be replaced or relocated.
Wojtek
Wojtek was an Iranian bear cub found and ‘adopted’ by Polish soldiers in the Second World War. Wojtek became very tame and worked alongside the soldiers for a number of years. When the war ended he was brought back to Duns with the Polish soldiers and lived at Winfield near Hutton. Wojtek was moved to Edinburgh Zoo where he lived out the rest of his life. In 2016 the statue to Wojtek was erected.If you wish to learn more about Wojtek there is plenty of information in Duns library. Local businesses Thorburns and Farne Salmon kindly donated the funds to purchase the two planters alongside the Wojtek statue. An amalgamation of smaller donations from several other local businesses funded the purchase of the rest of the Market Square planters. These generous supporters of Keeping Duns Blooming Marvelous are all acknowledged on panels on the side of each planter. In addition Scottish Borders Council kindly funded an additional two planters outside the Council offices. You can also see the Duns crest on these planters. They are in the traditional Duns colours of black and red.They are usually filled with colourful bedding but we are gradually trying to move towards using more sustainable planting in all of our planters..
Tammy Tyre
In 2021 we approached Neil Redpath of local company Redpath Tyres and asked if we could acquire a very large old tyre to place on the grass at the entrance to Duns Industrial Estate.Neil kindly obliged and delivered us Tammy, our monster tyre!We filled Tammy with compost and top soil. Local resident Derek Bates kindly donated a large Phormium to take centre stage in the tyre. We then enhanced the edges with perennial Aubretia and trailing Sedum.
Bee Wild
In 2019 Scottish Borders Council approved a proposal to dig up a couple of grass swathes and create a wildflower bed at the Cheeklaw end of the Industrial Estate. The Community Payback Scheme supported us by lifting the turf using a turf cutter kindly loaned to us by Alan Redpath Tool Hire. Keith Robertson Rural Services then rotovated the area for us. Community Payback provides an alternative to a custodial sentence for people who have committed a crime. Individuals are offered a chance to make amends by carrying out work to benefit their community. We certainly know that their work will benefit and enhance Duns. Creating a wildflower bed is not always as easy as it looks. The soil conditions need to be right. Wildflower seeds thrive on low quality soil as this makes it harder for weeds and grasses to take hold and out-compete them. This allows the seeds a chance to germinate and grow to their best ability. In 2020 our new bed was quite successful but in 2021 and 2022 were disappointing. We are hoping for more success in 2023. We have sown seed purchased with a kind donation from Whiteadder Angling Association. Fingers crossed! Marchmont Estate have also kindly donated Aquilegia, Polemonium and other delicate complementary perennials. We may also use some of these to enhance the overall appearance of this bed.
We hope you have enjoyed learning a little more about the history of Duns Flower Bed Trail and Keeping Duns Blooming Marvellous. If you want to find out more about our current work don’t forget to follow our blog too.