Ferns, battles and strawberry tarts

FIFTY-THREE new gardens have signed up to open for Scoward's Gardens Scheme (SGS) this year, bringing the total to more than 400, with 244 charities and local good causes set to benefit.

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Among the newcomers is the campus garden at Oatridge College in Broxburn, of Scotland's Rural College, community plots in Beith, Ayrshire, and Bannockburn House, Stirlingshire. The latter is on the site of the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488, at which James III of Scotland, wielding Robert the Bruce's sword, was killed by the forces of his son (later James IV). The house appeared some 200 years later and its now peaceful surrounds boast an apiary and a kitchen garden that supplies local food banks.