Blooming Haddington hope to mark 10th anniversary with celebration

Blooming Haddington was formed 10 years ago and has enjoyed national recognition at Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Beautiful Scotland awards.

Now green-fingered volunteers are gearing up to once again welcome judges, who will cast their eyes over the town’s horticultural hotspots this summer.

Clare Scott became chair of the group in November and revealed that plans were well under way for the coming year.

She said: “It’s 10 years since our group started, so we’ve been making lots of plans to celebrate.

“We will be entering the Keep Scotland Beautiful competition again and the theme this year is ‘celebration and cake’.

“It couldn’t be more appropriate for us to mark our big anniversary.”

Among the plans for the coming year is the group’s annual wheelbarrow competition, as well as plans to ‘yarn bomb’ the town.

The chair said: “The interest in the yarn bombing so far has been brilliant, so we’re looking forward to the wider community coming together and helping to make the town brighter.

“In the spring, we will also be replacing the three-tier planters in the town.

“They have served us well over the last 10 years but the new planters will allow us to have more sustainable plants.

“We will be adding nature-friendly plants with year-round interest and the planters will need less water.”

Clare Scott, chair of Blooming Haddington, is looking forward to another busy year

And Mrs Scott was hopeful that more people would come forward to ensure the town was looking “blooming marvellous”.

She said: “We are a small group of volunteers but we think our efforts, with lots of help from the council teams, make such a difference to the town.

“New volunteers are always welcome. No gardening experience is needed and you can volunteer as and when you are able.

“Sessions are advertised on our Facebook page or drop us an email at Bloominghaddington@gmail.com if you want to keep up to date with our plans.”