How we're funded

Scotland’s Gardens Scheme was founded in 1931 to raise money for the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland. The Institute has been generously supported by garden owners and visitors in Scotland’s communities ever since. Today QNIS is one of four beneficiaries of the scheme, receiving a share of the funds raised by the scheme each year. QNIS uses this funding to directly support Scotland’s community nurses and midwives.

QNIS could not have the impact it does without the financial support of Scotland’s Gardens Scheme and other grant making trusts. In recent years, for example, QNIS has received funding from the Vivensa Foundation (formerly the Dunhill Medical Trust), the Burdett Trust for Nursing, NHS Lothian Charity, the National Lottery Community Fund, and the General Nursing Council for Scotland.

If you’d like to find out more about how your organisation could collaborate with us, please get in touch.

If you have a garden in your workplace or one you would like to open for charity, Scotland’s Gardens Scheme would love to hear about it – send a picture and story to info@scotlandsgardens.org.

Visit the Scotland’s Gardens Scheme website for details of the full array of gardens on offer in 2024 and grab a copy of the guidebook to help you plan your visits.

Here are a few top tips and insights into gardening from Liz Stewart, Scotland’s Gardens Scheme Chief Executive.

In years gone by, gardening was a skill that many – at least those fortunate enough to have access to a garden – gained at the knees of their parents, along with cooking. My grandfather, raised as a highland crofter then moved as a young man to a Paisley tenement, fed his family from his shared backgreen, and my earliest memory of him and of gardening is cutting giant cabbages from his plot for dinner. These past memories influence present behaviour but if you haven’t grown up with access to gardens, visiting private gardens through Scotland’s Gardens Scheme is a wonderful way to gain inspiration from real gardens and real gardeners.

Liz Stewart, Scotland’s Gardens Scheme Chief Executive

The act of gardening

The act of gardening itself can be an antidote to the stress and pressures of daily life, while the benefits of getting moving and keeping fit through gardening tasks are all now well documented. It’s official, gardening is good for you! But gardens and gardening are worth so much more than just the physical benefits when it comes to wellbeing.

Creating connections

Through our garden opening season, we ask our volunteers, garden owners, and visitors what they like about sharing and visiting gardens and the answers come back quite consistently; it’s as much about the people they meet and the connections they make, as about the gardens. Volunteers and visitors alike tell us they enjoy the feeling of community, of meeting lovely, like-minded people, catching up with old friends, and meeting new ones. The infectious enthusiasm of the passionate gardener is often a highlight as is the opportunity to share gardening tips. A visit to a first-time open garden in Conon Bridge this year was a great example of this. Enticed by the promise of delphiniums grown north of Inverness, I was impressed not only by the quality of the blooms but also by the wealth of gardening tips generously shared by the owner, a retired professional grower. A relative newcomer to the area, the open day was not just a chance to share the garden and raise funds for charity but also an opportunity to get to know the neighbours. A garden open day can create a sense of belonging and of being part of a family, and there is no doubt that there is something special about being invited into a private garden, being welcomed and looked after – often with tea and cakes! One garden has regularly welcomed a returning daughter and her mother with dementia, who value a quiet space to be safe and spend time together. There is also that sense of giving something back, by raising valuable funds for charity but also by bringing such enjoyment to others – and what could be nicer than doing that through gardens?

Create your own wellbeing garden

Horatio’s Garden and Maggie’s are both great examples of beautiful gardens as purpose-built, therapeutic spaces are we are proud to include both in our 2025 garden opening programme. While this may not be in everyone’s workplace budget, even a little bit of greenery can help to raise the spirits and a modest raised bed or container can hosts a range of interesting, low maintenance plants without busting your budget.

Our top tips for your mini haven

• If you’re new to gardening or have limited time to look after your garden, start small to it manageable.

• Raised beds of different shapes and sizes can be bought to suit your space. Window boxes and containers are great too.

• Add stones at the bottom first for drainage, then a good quality multipurpose compost on top (peat free).

Planting suggestions

Healthy herbs – a selection of easy edibles including rosemary, sage and creeping thyme at the edges. If adding more, make sure it’s in its own pot sunk into the ground to top it spreading and taking over.

Sensory planter – use lavender, different coloured grasses, verbena bonariensis for its height and tactile square stems (in raised beds).

If you have a garden in your workplace, we’d love to hear about it – send a picture and story to info@scotlandsgardens.org

Liz Stewart, Chief Executive, Scotland’s Gardens Scheme