Horticulture students came up with the idea for the recent Gardening Scotland event in Edinburgh – and won the gold in the best new show garden category.

Horticulture course tutor Nigel Gibb said: “The idea came from the struggles encountered due to the current credit crisis. The Credit Munch Garden is an edible garden created using recycled materials. It demonstrates how you can reduce your food bill and recycle the waste from your garden.”

The students used the Freecycle website and college emails to get much of what they needed to create the garden in exchange for tips and advice.

Mr Gibb said: “We were astonished to receive the gold medal on our first visit to Gardening Scotland and hope to return next year to exhibit again.

“This was a fantastic experience for the students to showcase the practical horticultural skills that they have gained on the course. They have worked very hard to build the garden and to propagate all the vegetables and herbs on time and to budget.

“We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported us.”

Their garden was featured on Beechgrove Garden at the end of May.