Category Archives: News

Stan’s Woodland Garden

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Tucked into a quiet corner of the park, some of our volunteers have been hard at work creating a new space: Stan’s Woodland Garden.
The woodland garden is created in memory of Stan, who lived in the house at the centre of the garden for nearly 50 years and was a much loved friend of our gardening group.

This isn’t wild woodland in the traditional sense – it’s a woodland‑themed garden, carefully planted and tended.
It will become a place for children to learn and explore. We’re planning simple display boards, written in child‑friendly language, to help them spot: Woodland animals, little insects, and leaves, flowers and woodland plants.

We hope Stan’s Woodland Garden will spark their curiosity and love of nature too. 

Whether you can visit in person or enjoy it through photos on our website, we hope you’ll join us in watching this special place grow, season by season, in memory of Stan.

Late summer work at Starbank

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There’s been lots to do to get the garden ready for autumn. We have been lucky to have some more experienced volunteers teaching others how to cut the roses to encourage stronger plants and maybe even some more autumn flowers.

The volunteers were also busy weeding the rose beds, an excellent opportunity to catch up and get to know some of our newer members.

Before weeding
After weeding

The flowers and other beds were looking gorgeous in the late summer sunshine.

And finally we’ve had some tiny visitors to our flowers

More Spring work and lots of tulips at Starbank

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Work has continued on cutting back a large laurel hedge at the park. It was then removed by McLaren Tree Surgery, who did a fantastic job.

Starbank volunteers cutting back the hedge
The hedge cut back
The hedge completely gone…
…and turned into woodchip!

What was left of the hedge was turned into woodchip by McLaren Tree Surgery, ready for recycling and to be used on the paths in the flower beds.

If you like your tulips and haven’t had the chance to visit the garden lately, here are some photos of the flowers putting on a wonderful Spring display:

And finally…it’s lovely to see the cherry blossom starting to emerge:

Spring work in the garden

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The volunteers have been very busy lately in the garden with Spring finally emerging – at a recent Saturday session, a large laurel hedge was cut back and all the hydrangeas pruned.

The flowers and garden were also looking lovely in the sunshine.

Christmas Round Up

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Christmas Gathering 2025

Thank you to all those that joined us for our Christmas Gathering on 30th November. Many wreaths were made and hot chocolates sipped, all whilst listening to the fabulous Edinburgh Brass Band. Together we raised an amazing £1685.48 which will go towards developing and maintaining the park over the next year.

Starbank Park Wins Award

In other news, we were delighted to recently be awarded the It’s Your Neighbourhood award 2025.

It’s Your Neighbourhood is an award managed by Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Royal Horticultural Society. The award is is designed for volunteer-led community groups which are cleaning and beautifying their neighbourhoods, whether through community allotments, after school wildlife clubs, school eco-groups, Friends of Park groups, or adopting pieces of derelict land.

Friends of Starbank Park won the award with a Level 5 – Outstanding and with a Certificate of Distinction.

Well done to all those involved for keeping the Park beautiful!

Park has final tidy before Christmas

This Saturday the volunteer group had one final tidy before Christmas, clearing the beds of old leaves and spreading a thick layer of (our very own!) compost onto the beds to suppress weeds and improve the soil.

This hard work was followed by some well deserved mulled wine and mince pies.

From all of us at Starbank, we wish our Friends, volunteers, followers, and all those that enjoy the park, a very Merry Christmas.

Glorious compost!

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In spring earlier this year, new composting bins were added to the back of the park, and after eight months of hard work, the compost is proving a success!

The bins are grouped in threes. The first bin contains layers of chopped up green waste (grass cuttings are very good for this), which is followed by a layer of wood chip or cardboard and then watered. The layering continues in this way. This bin is ‘turned’ every few months. This speeds up the composting process, allowing air and moisture into the compost.

Turning bin one into bin two:

After a couple of months, bin two is turned into bin three, which is where the compost becomes usable.

Good quality compost from bin three that we can use in the park:

A thanks to all the gardeners who are sorting and chopping the green waste and turning the bins.

We also have an area just for our leaf waste, seen here with gardeners boldly stamping it down to make way for more autumnal leaves!