Meadow-in-a-box: A Different Approach to Urban Greening

Meadow-in-a-Box was created to fill a gap in Aberdeen City Councils approach to managing the city’s green spaces. How could the City Council create beautiful, pollinator and people-friendly habitat that would also help combat the global climate emergency?

The Countryside Ranger Service decided a simple but effective project would address the issue – create a small wildflower meadow contained in planters. Which could be sited anywhere in Aberdeen, be looked after by whoever lived or was educated at the selected sites. Simply, put a meadow in a box planter.

Urban greening was just one of Aberdeen City Council’s aims

Aberdeen City Council wanted to enhance all areas of the city, creating food sources for pollinators, add colour to urban areas, and contributing to the Council’s efforts to tackle the climate emergency. Another objective at this stage was to educate children on the importance of native wildflowers for climate and pollinating species.

Aberdeen City schools, care homes and sheltered housing were invited to receive a Meadow-in-a-Box. This was due to knowing these locations would be able to provide care for the growing wildflowers throughout the year. In 2023, forty school nurseries requested a Meadow-in-a-Box, along with a few other locations.

Three images of the meadow-in-a-box

We all know collaboration is crucial for tackling biodiversity loss

To accomplish the goals of Meadow-in-a-Box Aberdeen City Council worked in partnership with the Scottish Prison Service. Inmates at HMP Grampian in Peterhead used the facilities in the prison’s joinery workshop to build all the planters currently used for Meadow-in-a-Box. Each box is a simple wooden planter, filled with compost made by Aberdeen City Council’s gardening teams. The native wildflower seeds in each planter were provided for free by NatureScot. NatureScot also, funded the project with their Nature Restoration Fund.

Aberdeen City Council’s Gardening and Countryside Ranger teams delivered the planters. Whilst joining nursery children, care home and sheltered housing residents sow the seeds. This approach lets everyone with a Meadow-in-a-Box know their wildflowers help combat the climate and nature crises. Plus providing a colourful display among the often grey setting of the Granite City.

A blooming success!

Two years on, Meadow-in-a-Box already has more than a hundred planters located at sites throughout Aberdeen city. With some in Aberdeenshire schools, enhancing the beauty and biodiversity of these places.

An exciting development this year has seen planters delivered to over twenty NHS properties throughout the Grampian region. Spreading the visual and pollinator value beyond Aberdeen.

HMP Grampian is happy to continue making Meadow-in-a-Box planters. They have share interest in expanding the joinery workshop’s range, leading to ideas like ‘Hedge-in-a-Box’ and ‘Salad-in-a-Box’.

Ultimately, we hope that Meadow-in-a-Box will be used by local authorities, community groups and other organisations who can use the project to further combat climate change on a wider scale. Meadow-in-a-Box is a simple way to provide pollinators with important food, and educate children and adults alike about how easy it is for them to use wildflower planters to fight climate change.