When I first wrote about the gardening work I do with the Blooming Bairns for the Falkirk Herald, the group had been working in the town centre for just over a year. We are a group of volunteers working with Falkirk Delivers to help with community gardening in Falkirk and transform the town centre, and develop community spirit in Falkirk through gardening, plants and planting design.
After my first visit, I also came away with a sense that I had made new friends and connections in my Town. Community gardening in towns and cities is now becoming more common, but for me, what is special to the Blooming Bairns is a sense that we are just getting started.
How Blooming Bairns Began
When Blooming Bairns was established just over a year ago, summer was coming to an end – a bad time for gardening, you would think! On the contrary, late summer into autumn is the perfect time to plant. The soil is still warm, but the summer heat has passed, and generally, there is more rainfall, plants are under less stress, and newly planted plants still have time to develop a root system and prepare for the winter ahead.
Keen to start doing something, we were on the lookout for our first project and saw an opportunity with the demolition at Callander Square. We rescued some plants and planted them in two barrels as well as some of the empty raised planters on the High Street, and from thereon we were hooked on making the town centre a better environment for all.
From this humble beginning, we have grown into a community group with over 50 volunteer members and growing, there is a sense within the group that we are just getting started. The group is open to everyone – no experience in gardening is necessary, just a willingness to get stuck in. One of the key aims of the group is to create and maintain vibrant floral displays. Over the last 12 months, we have planted over 1600 plants!
Why Community Gardening Matters
In many Scottish towns, our parks, planting areas, and green spaces are neglected and underused. But community gardening brings them back to life – not through grand budgets, but through people coming together to create something special, gardens with personality and, most importantly, a soul.
From rescuing plants to reclaiming spaces in our town centre, the Blooming Bairns story shows what’s possible when people take ownership of their environment. I am a keen advocate on how important community gardens are, I’ve wanted to start one in Falkirk for a while, then, while I was designing and creating the Seawilding garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2025, Blooming Bairns was established.
A town centre-wide community garden was born, and I had to join.
Community gardens have so many benefits. Here are a few:
- Encourage biodiversity in urban settings, we are changing the planting to encourage bees and beneficial insects.
- Improve mental well-being through connection and outdoor activity. I came away feeling like I had made new friends.
- Builds civic pride and local identity, we are working with local community groups and schools to include them in growing plants that are planted out in the town centre.
- Make public areas safer, cleaner, and more beautiful. By working with local schools and getting the school children growing plants to be planted in the town center they will, over time, develop ownership of the planting areas and town centre as a whole.
In any empty green space, a small intervention such as adding daisies or clover to a lawn can dramatically improve biodiversity in towns and cities – attracting pollinators, birds, and insects that support the wider ecosystem.
Design and Community: Two Sides of the Same Coin
As a professional landscape architect, I’ve always believed that good urban design starts with people. A garden, whether private or public, will only succeed when it reflects the people using it, the community it sits within. We have all seen a muddy path creating a shortcut across a grassed space – or more disappointingly across a planting scheme (yes , Lidl Arnot Street!).
My first design project for the Blooming Bairns started with a list of plants that had already been ordered, some of them wouldn’t have been my first choice, but this doesn’t matter. We are a community group and not a dictatorship, the plant choices meant something to someone, and that alone can create a sense of ownership and pride.
At MUSA Landscape Architecture, I take pride in listening to my clients. One of the first questions I will ask you, is to describe your garden space and then how you want to use it. I’m taking the same approach here, but on a different scale with the Blooming Bairns.
Both are about bringing people together, getting people outside and bringing biodiversity back into previously empty spaces. Imagine a Falkirk Town Centre full of birdsong and bees buzzing around.
(Explore some of our community-inspired designs on our Projects page.)
Lessons for Professional Garden Design
While community projects like Blooming Bairns rely on community involvement and the energy of volunteers, they share principles that professional landscape design can learn from – and vice versa.
1. Start with What You Have
Unless you have a bare patch of earth or a freshly turfed new build garden, chances are you have some structure to your garden. Working with what you already have can reduce the overall budget and give a fresh lease of life to older more established shrubs.
2. Plant for the Future
Our climate is changing, longer, drier and warmer periods followed by heavy rain are becoming the norm. Responding with appropriate and resilient plant choices that can cope and adapt to the future climate emergency is key for town centres and gardens. The old-style bedding plants are not sustainable anymore.
3. Invite Participation
I always collaborate with clients on plant choices, even if you just take photos of your favourite plants in your neighbour’s garden, it all helps to understand what you prefer.
These key points always form the basis of each and every project we do at MUSA Landscape Architecture, ensuring ownership of the end garden for the community or you.
What’s Next for Blooming Bairns
Last year, we planted over 1,600 perennial plants and ornamental grasses in the town centre and worked with a number of local schools and community groups. We have big plans to transform areas of the town centre for the benefit of everyone who lives in or visits Falkirk. Keep an eye on Blooming Bairns Facebook @bloomingbairns and Instagram pages @bloomingbairnsfalkirk for the latest on our plans and transformations.
Join the Movement
Would you like to be involved in the Blooming Bairns and help transform the town centre?
Get in touch with Ryan at MUSA Landscape Architecture, and let’s design your own living landscape – rooted in care, creativity, and community.
