Glenfarg & Duncrievie in Bloom (GDIB) formed in October 2005 with the aim of improving the environment of the village of Glenfarg and the neighbouring hamlet of Duncrievie for the benefit of all residents and visitors. The local primary school gave the group the motto “A Community Making a Difference” and helped to design our logo - and then we were ready to start work!
 
In our first year, 2006, we were delighted to be awarded the "Best Community Involvement" award by Take a Pride in Perthshire in recognition of our volunteer activities (which involved over 10% of  residents of all ages) and, in particular, for our work with Scottish National Heritage's Action Earth Day. We also came 4th in Take a Pride in Perthshire’s Large Village competition.

Much of the work carried out in that first year involved clearing weeded areas, carrying out permanent planting and acquiring display containers, most of which started life as something else (potato boxes, old sinks and packing crates). The south end of Main Street was cleared and potato boxes donated by local farmer put in place; these are now filled with plants every summer and make a very colourful display which marks the entrance to the village from the south.

In our second year, 2007, our main project was clearing a 250m strip of land adjacent to the Main Street, covering it with membrane and  gravel, and siting on it, seventeen floral and permanent planted displays.  In addition we restored the War Memorial, re-painted the telephone kiosk and started work with the primary school on their wildlife garden. We came 2nd in the Take a Pride in Perthshire Large Village competition that year.

As each year passes our involvement and input to the community increases and 2008 is memorable for two major events.  First, at the invitation of the then owner, we facilitated the transfer of the Glenfarg Green from private to public ownership.  Whilst grass cutting is undertaken by Perth & Kinross Council, all other tasks relating to the care of the three acre site, the collection of over 100 tree species and the pond are the responsibiity of GDIB volunteers.

In 2008, we were delighted to be awarded funding from BBC Breathing Places which was we used to make the area more community friendly. Once the GPS  survey of the tree locations was complete, design work commenced on interpretive panels. New tree labels were made to RHS standards and we commissioned a special seat created from a 250 year old oak which was placed prominently in the garden for everyone to enjoy. Nesting boxes were added to encourage more birds to the area.

A further grant from BBC Breathing Places paid for a new surface at the main entrance and the cleaning of overgrown reeds in the pond. We also used some of the funds to design and print a leaflet which shows what the area has to offer.

The second major event of 2008 was the official opening of the primary school wildlife garden and the creation of an outdoor classroom which was designed by one of our committee members and was made possible by donations of labour and materials from local businesses in addition, to GDIB's input. We also enhanced the north entrance into the village with seven hanging basket posts made of recycled wood.

In 2008, Take a Pride in Perthshire awarded us the "Best Youth Involvement" prize for our work with Duke Of Edinburgh Award candidates. A further award followed from Perth & Kinross Quality of Life Trust, again for "Youth involvement".

2009 was another very successful year for achieving awards! Take a Pride in Perthshire awarded us Gold in the "Large Village" section. We also received an Award for "Community Involvement" and for "Involvement with Community Youth". Having planted 4 ‘iconic’ trees in Glenfarg  Green we entered and were selected to be Finalist in Big Tree Country Community award.

That year, we also held an Open Day to promote Glenfarg Green which was well attended by villagers and visitors. Next came our 'Food Garden'. An overgrown area of Glenfarg Green was cleared and is now the site of the Glenfarg Food Garden. This is primary school pupil led,  with GDIB volunteers providing the overall care and tuition. We were awarded funding from O2 Its Your Community for the Food Garden project so we were able to buy children’s gardening tools and materials.

There are now a total of seventy nine planters of all sizes positioned throughout Glenfarg & Duncrievie which, in addition to the Glenfarg Green, the permanent planted areas and wildlife garden are all maintained by GDIB volunteers.  The distance from one end of our village to the other is almost three miles and so in 2009 we decided to seek funding for suitable transport to facilitate summer watering and transport of plants and compost. At that time, our mode of watering was two hand pulled carts which restricted the watering duties to the very fit!  Funding was obtained from Awards for All and from the Scottish Community Foundation towards the purchase of the Kawasaki mule which we now call 'Monty'. Monty's arrival means that many more people can get involved in our operations and help us to keep a strong community spirit. 

Our project for 2010 is ‘Train Stop’ whch we are running in partnership with Arngask School and with the support of our Community Council. Our aim is to landscape a gap site next to the Primary School in order to create a community garden which reflects Glenfarg's history and provides access to a new, safer route to Arngask School for pupils.

We hope this gives you an idea of what we do and how much there is to see in Glenfarg & Duncrievie. To find out more about Glenfarg and Duncrievie in Bloom please go to our own website at www.glenfarg.org, or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Or better still, please visit us!