Gardeners in St Andrews are shutting the glasshouses in the botanic garden to concentrate on under threat habitats in Fife instead.
Managers at St Andrews Botanic Garden have already shut 10 glasshouses as part of a radical reimagining of the garden and the role that it plays in the community.
The rest will close next year.
The garden, a fixture in the Fife town since 1960, is focusing on education and conservation rather than the exotic plants more often associated with botanical gardens.
The glasshouse plants were audited and shared with other collections in Scotland, including Inverness and Dundee Botanic Gardens.
St Andrews Botanic Garden keeps the ‘wow’ factor
Beccy Middleton is garden curator.
“The idea is that all plants are amazing. You do get the wow factor from the tropical ones with the great big leaves and big flowers and exotic things.
“But actually all the plants that are growing around us are just as amazing. It is finding a way to communicate that to people.
“So people in Fife can look around and be super proud of them because they are already fascinating.
“You don’t need to go somewhere really exotic to see something amazing.”
The bold approach – at the heart of the Tangled Bank project – has helped the garden achieve net zero carbon emissions.
The site now only uses 2% of the energy that it did before the work – saving more than 300 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Dr Harry Watkins, garden director, said the achievement has set “a new benchmark for climate action in botanic gardens”.
He added: “Some of these changes are really tough but their solutions require thinking differently about what we do.”
The garden is also reviewing its outreach programme, with a view to bringing hundreds more children in to learn about the habitats to be found and studied in the garden.
Community reacts to ‘major change’
Staff have already removed the glass from some of the structures, leaving the metal frames as a nod to the past as well as part of the garden’s refreshed look.
Visitors now enter a wood meadow before cutting through a sand dune – one of the threatened Fife eco systems now at the heart of the reimagined attraction.
Other native plants to appear include Creeping Willow, Ragged Robin and various sedges.
Ian Douglas has been a member of the garden’s friends group for 40 years.
He said there was initially some nervousness about the scale of the transformation.
“This is a major change. The initial reaction [from the Friends group] was a bit worried. But I think like any development it’s going to take time to bed down.”
The Friends are now very much behind the changes, he added.
“The emphasis is on conservation. That’s particularly important at this time when habitats are being destroyed throughout the world.”
Less time on cutting grass at St Andrews Botanic Garden
David Baxter is the garden foreman.
He and his team have transformed the garden, including building the sand dune and boardwalk.
He said there are more than a few unexpected upsides to the new approach.
“My work has changed quite a bit. It’s a lot more interesting not having to cut the grass as often.
“There are a lot more fun jobs going on. A lot less weeding – which is lovely.”
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