Edinburgh parks and green spaces have won three awards in the national horticultural campaign Britain in Bloom.
The results, announced on Sunday night at an award ceremony in St Andrews, saw Edinburgh receive the Silver Gilt medal in the ‘Large City’ category. The winner in the category was Bristol, with Milton Keynes the third award-winner in the category with a Silver. The event this year saw over 1,100 cities, towns, and villages in competition.
Edinburgh was also honoured with two discretionary awards, a first for the city, in recognition of communities and individuals who have demonstrated excellence in their commitment to the campaign.
The Royal Botanic Gardens scooped the Public Park Award, whilst the University of Edinburgh’s Pollock Campus won the Sustainable Landscaping Award.
Judges visited Edinburgh at the beginning of August and assessed the city’s parks and green spaces against three key criteria: horticultural achievement, community participation and environmental responsibility.
The awards come follow on from successes earlier this year for the City of Edinburgh Council’s Parks team. It won the ‘Best Service Team Parks, Grounds and Horticultural Service’ at the Association for Public Sector Excellence (APSE) awards and also a record 20 Green Flag Awards for the city.