I recently had the pleasure of visiting the beautiful Serenity Garden in the grounds of Holy Trinity, Pitlochry. The Serenity Garden is a community space where locals and visitors benefit from a tranquil spot to engage with nature and take time out of the hustle and bustle of life. Within the garden children can follow the animal trail, book hunt, or look for fairy doors, as well as taking time to notice the many signs of nature. There is plenty of seating for visitors to sit peacefully or socialise with friends, and for use during the various events which are held in the garden.
“At first glace a church with a church yard, at second glance a piece of paradise” – comment in the visitors’ book.
Val Holtom, who chairs Holy Trinity’s Climate Change Committee, described one of the strategic priorities for the garden project, as having a positive presence in the community. This is clearly being demonstrated by the number of organisations using the garden: including a Mindfulness group, Pitlochry choral society, a mums and toddler group, a local book group, local families and the church for weddings, services, carol concerts and the Christmas nativity play. In 2023, in partnership with Pitlochry Festival Theatre, the church ran children’s groups incorporating themes of caring for one another, diversity and care for the environment.
Another way this strategic priority can be seen, is through the dedicated group of volunteers, from the church and the local community, who meet weekly to work in the garden. Regular tasks include maintaining the raised beds where flowers for use in the church, and vegetables for the community are grown. Recent projects have included planting up a large border, building a new shed for storing tools and creating a water drainage system to collect rainwater from the shed roof.
Pam Godwin, from the Serenity Garden project, told me about the ways the garden cares for God’s creation: “Holy Trinity is an eco-church and recycling, repurposing, and reusing are key to all what we do in the garden. All garden waste is composted, all leaves from the many trees are turned into leaf mould, the wood from fallen trees is being dried for use in the next few years and stone given by the adjacent distillery has been used to rebuild boundary dry stone walls. We have constructed composting and leaf mould areas and a bug hotel, installed a water butt and planted a native species hedge. Without the use of pesticide and herbicides we have removed areas of non-native Himalayan Balsam.”
The team are keen to enhance biodiversity even more, by reducing the cutting of grass and allowing areas of the garden to be wild spaces. Peter Wickes is heading up plans to section off areas of grass, leaving wildflowers to grow, whilst maintaining mown paths for people attending the graveyard. He is also looking into developing new areas of biodiversity by planting wildflower seed, species bulbs, native flower plugs and climbers such as open headed roses and clematis. The gardening group has been awarded £1,500 from the Enchanted Forest Community Fund to create an accessible pathway around the garden. Other grant applications are being worked on, to bring the total up to £15,000, which is the sum required to install an all-ability access way.
“The garden is a peaceful place which made me feel at peace with myself” – comment from a visitor.
The Serenity Garden is always open and free to visit and sometimes there are plants or produce available to buy on a donation-only basis. So next time you’re in or near Pitlochry, stop by for a moment of calm.
Bethany Nelson, Empowerment Coordinator
