Discovering Leith's Discovery Garden
The garden was a surprise. The Port of Leith is lovely of course: the water, cobbles, bridges, cafes – but you don’t expect a garden. Hidden like an emerald between flats, unbuilt flats, roadworks, and a car park, I stumbled upon a treasury of hedges under a vault of trees. The garden was built along with Ocean Terminal and has matured along with the rejuvenation of Leith Docks. Planted in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, it celebrates the Scottish plant hunters who sourced the colours and textures of our gardens from across the world. "I went there sometimes to eat my lunch and read. It was a wee oasis of peace." After 20 years, the low hedges and plants are spectacular. Escaping across the tram terminal construction works, the weary visitor can meander along paths which seem to cut through a billowing green sea. You can brush your fingers through verdant waves, patterned with a myriad of leaf-shapes diverse planting scheme. Over your head, the green o...