A large natural garden that featured prominently in the opening ceremony of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games will be replanted in Port Glasgow. The display, which included 2,400 plants, was the setting from which King Charles and Queen Camilla emerged from a Tardis at the start of the show at the OVO Hydro.
The garden has been placed with the charity Parklea Branching Out, which uses horticulture to provide training, recreational and social facilities for people with support needs. It will remain in its criss-crossed saltire shape for the next few weeks before the 2,400 trees and shrubs are permanently planted into borders.
Athletes from 74 nations and territories paraded past the 200 sq m (2,153 sq ft) garden to mark the start of the Games. It was designed by Amalie White in collaboration with plantsman Jamie Butterworth.
The temporary display will give visitors the chance to walk through the crossed pathways and experience the planting up close. Organisers previously said the garden was designed to highlight the natural beauty of Scotland by evoking its untamed wilderness of lochs, hills and moorland.
The garden was prominent during the opening ceremony
Jamie Butterworth, the plantsman for the garden and also a TV presenter with the BBC's Gardener's World, said it was a loving tribute to Scotland. He said:
We are absolutely thrilled that the garden is relocating to Parklea Branching Out in Port Glasgow - a brilliant organisation that is using horticulture in a completely different and deeply impactful way.
The charity uses horticulture to work with adults and children with learning and/or physical disabilities, people with mental health problems, school leavers, young and long-term unemployed, elderly groups and community groups.
About 2,400 peat-free perennials, live trees and shrubs will be permanently planted into the borders at Parklea. Sharon Gemmell, the charity's manager, said:
Introducing these plants, with their soft, muted colours and textures – carefully chosen to reflect the Scottish landscape - will help bring cohesion, natural calm and a stronger sense of place to the project.
Everyone who spends time here comments on its warm, welcoming, inclusive atmosphere and we believe this planting style will only enhance that experience.
Amalie White, the creative director and stage designer for the opening ceremony, said it was rare for a piece set design to live on beyond the stage, but as the garden was created using living plants, it could flourish after the Games concluded. White previously said Scotland's textile industry had helped inspire the thinking behind the garden, with the planting palette designed to echo the colours and textures of traditional tartan and tweed.
