Botanic Garden travels back in time

The Botanic Garden has embarked on an ambitious project to create a garden that will span millions of years and allow the public to gain an insight into the evolution of the plant kingdom.

Over the course of the next two years an "evolutionary garden" will be created, leading visitors on a path through time.

Starting with algae which appeared some 1200 million years ago and meandering through time to the flowering plants which started to evolve some 120 million years ago, the garden will explain how plants have evolved from simple cells to the largest living organisms that can be found on earth.

Alasdair Hood, Curator of the Botanic Garden, said, "We are very excited by this project and hope that the public will join us in watching the garden itself evolve over time."

"We have started clearing an area which will be dedicated to the evolutionary garden and over the next two years it will be transformed into a major new attraction within the wider gardens."

The area the evolutionary garden is being developed in is currently occupied by ornamental conifer beds which have now passed their useful life. The first phase of the project - which is already underway - is to remove all the conifers and associated root stumps.

As the whole garden is to be created inside a series of dry stone walls, it follows that wall building will be the next phase. This started in mid-March with Botanic Garden staff attending a dry stone walling course. As the wall is built plants will be moved into the area.