Learn about Gardening at the Top Shop
- hello793480
- May 7
- 3 min read
Our Dunoon Goes POP gardening team are planting flowers and fruits at the Top Shop through a series of free gardening sessions for the local community. You can get involved!
If you live near the Top Shop, which is on the corner of Alexander Street and McArthur Street, come along and join in. You’ll grow your gardening confidence while we create the new beautiful space together.
Who is this for?
If you live by the Top Shop, in particular around Valrose Terrace, Cowal Place, Victoria Park, McArthur Street and Alexander Street, we’d love for you to join our sessions.
No experience is necessary at all.
What to expect
By joining our free sessions, you will:
Gain practical gardening skills alongside a local gardener.
Learn about plants that are good for making soft drinks, teas and other tipples.
Learn about plants that are good for wildlife.
Be a part of creating a beautiful and productive new garden at the Top Shop.
Make connections with your neighbours who are also interested in gardens.
Through Dunoon Goes POP, our soft drinks enterprise, we grow plants and make soft drinks that are inspired by local people and our town. We are also committed to sharing this passion with our community, and Ronnie at the Top Shop is keen to be a part of our productive and wildlife-friendly garden mission!
Top Shop Gardening Sessions
Planting for Bees, Birds and Butterflies
Mon, 9 June, 4pm to 5pm
Plant some flowering plants with us in the new Top Shop garden planters. Discover how these plants can attract wildlife to your garden. Ask questions of the Dunoon Goes POP gardeners.
Summer Garden Care
Mon, 7 July, 4pm to 5pm
Learn about how to tend to your garden in summer including tips for environmentally conscious weeding, watering and feeding to help your plants thrive.
Growing Fruit Bushes
Mon, 6 October, 1.30pm to 2.30pm
Join us as we plant fruit bushes in the Top Shop garden. You’ll learn about growing soft fruits, including how and where to plant them and tips for how to care for them.
Rhubarb Planting and Splitting
Sat, 8 Nov, 11am to 12noon
We’ll show you how to plant rhubarb, as well as how to split a rhubarb to make new plants! We’ll also share some winter gardening tips.
Garden Consultations
Would you like to chat to a gardener about how to improve your garden?
We have a small number of one-hour garden consultations available for the community who live by the Top Shop.
If you are interested, please email us
Let us know what street you live on and a brief summary of what you’d like to chat to us about. If you are not sure where to begin, it’s no problem, you can tell us that.
We will come back to you to arrange a date and time. This is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Why are we doing this?
POP shop enterprises CIC is a Community Interest Company. Through our soft drinks enterprise, Dunoon Goes POP, we make community-crafted soft drinks and share stories about Dunoon’s soft drinks heritage, the plant ingredients and our People of Place. Supporting the growing of plant ingredients in our community, that are also good for local biodiversity, is part of our mission. This is why we’re working with the Top Shop to create this garden and support the community nearby to do the same through building gardening skills and confidence.
Our supporters
Thanks to National Lottery players and the National Lottery Community Fund for making this project possible. Thanks also to Dunoon Community Development Trust for their in kind support and to Ronnie at the Top Shop for his community spirit and love of gardens!
