Mini Winter Gardens for RGU campus

20 December 2016

Students and staff from Robert Gordon University (RGU) have joined forces with Aberdeen City Council experts from the David Welch Winter Gardens at the historic Duthie Park to create their own version at RGU’s Garthdee campus.

The Union Way Garden will replicate the beautiful floral paradise at the Duthie Park, with many rare and exotic plants on show from all around the world.

Originally opened in 1889, the David Welch Winter Gardens is one of Europe’s largest indoor gardens, and one of Scotland’s most visited gardens with over 300,000 visitors per year.

Councillor Jean Morrison, Aberdeen City Council’s Communities, Housing and Infrastructure vice convener said: “The David Welch Winter Gardens is one of Aberdeen’s best loved landmarks. This collaboration with RGU will not only bring the beauty of the gardens into the community but also encourage even more visitors to enjoy the Winter Gardens and the Duthie Park.”

The Union Way garden is the third collaboration between Aberdeen City Council and Robert Gordon University as part of the RGU Go Green project which has already seen “campus gardeners” including students, staff, and community volunteers, under the guidance of the team from the Duthie Park and David Welch Winter Gardens, create a community garden and allotment as well as carrying out permanent planting around the Garthdee campus.

Jane Williams, Research Data Management Project Officer at RGU who has led the university’s Winter Gardens project, said: “We’re delighted to have been able to bring a bit of Aberdeen’s historic floral paradise to a corner of our campus. Our mini Winter Gardens is a bright and colourful addition to our campus, showcasing some of the rare and exotic plants from around the world to our university community. Our campus gardeners are going from strength to strength and we’re looking forward to continuing to revamp our green spaces with a number of different projects and partnerships.”

Photo Caption: Councillor Jean Morrison with Principal of RGU, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski.