Our WeeCAIR Medicinal Garden project has been a great success since its launch in 2021. Our plants have grown (sometimes too much!), and it has been a great source of connections to our community. It has even won us awards, including in the highly contested wheelbarrow competition at Art Night Dundee in 2023.
One area where we did know there was space for improvement was with our path. The idea of gravel felt like a good one, but in real life it had some issues. In particular, it was an open invitation to plants we didn’t really want in the garden. We hesititate to use words like ‘weed’, because the vast majority of plants have a place – bees love dandelions, for instance. But, in a space where we have signage and are trying to show off specific plants, it felt counterproductive to have a wild path.
So, we’ve knew we wanted an upgrade. We had considered a few options – adding resin to our existing gravel was a contender, but we ruled it out on environmental grounds. In the end, we’ve chosen a neat pattern of brickwork. Its colour closely complements the slabs on the larger paths next to the garden, but it’s still subtly different. It’s also likely to be much better for access, particularly for anyone who uses a wheelchair, as it’s more at a level with its surrounds.
We’re delighted with it – it looks great, and takes mere moments to give a quick brush down. We’ll be keen to see how it works going forwards. Our poppies and jasmine are out too, and we’ve just been featured in the University’s newsletter. The garden is always open, so come by and visit our refreshed medicinal garden any time.