Riverside Park Heather Garden

Riverside Park lies on the banks of the majestic River Tay in the heart of the City of Perth.
In 2011, the “in bloom” volunteer charity Beautiful Perth agreed to plan and develop a sustainable horticultural project to commemorate its 25-year history. Partnering with Perth & Kinross Council the agreed project would be based at Riverside Park, where the creation of a heather garden would transform and rejuvenate an overgrown and unattractive area.
After lengthy consultation and research, work started in 2012 with designs drawn up with a Council landscape architect.
The heather garden now encompasses 15 beds containing 600 varieties and over 16,000 heather plants. Uniquely, Beautiful Perth now holds the National Collection of Erica carnea awarded in 2022 by Plant Heritage. An amazing achievement for a volunteer group.
Beautiful Perth’s dedicated volunteers have total responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the garden. To minimise the risk of disease, plant propagation is mostly now done by the volunteers.
The mixture of heather species provides all year- round colour for the many visitors and the whole garden is a haven for bees and butterflies. A meandering stream runs through the garden with, seating, mature trees and sculptures adding interest.
The garden provides many volunteering opportunities, with its easily accessible network of paths.
Uniquely, Riverside Park has won the RHS Britain in Bloom Award for the Best Park in the UK for two years in a row (2018 and 2019), the heather garden being pivotal in its successes. It was awarded its first Green Flag in 2025. Currently new signage is being installed; the entrances improved and a comprehensive list of all the varieties are being catalogued. A local business is supplying the technical support. A Welfare Hut/Meeting space has also been added. a Greenspace Training and Wellbeing Programme has also been introduced funded by a range of sources.