Dunoon Goes POP Drinks Garden
An intimate walled garden in the west coast town of Dunoon is filled with flavoursome plants which can be used to make drinks and tell stories.
Elder, clary sage, yarrow and hawthorn mingle as the new drinks hedge establishes in 2025
Plants are ever-present teachers. They tell us that the seasons are changing, that the ground is dry, and that the bees and butterflies are active. They tell us where they want to grow, and where they don’t. They tell us stories about the world around us, but also about the worlds we’ve inhabited over time. That is, if we’re prepared to dig deep.
In the Dunoon Goes POP Drinks Garden, they are digging deep into archives and resources to find the stories their plants share, which fall into a fascinating niche. Our relationship with plants to make drinks, in Dunoon, across Scotland and the planet, while uncovering the good and bad that come with our cultivation, trade and production of drinks using plant ingredients. From the transatlantic sugar and slave trade to the cultivation of ingredients that are also good for our pollinating friends, the plants in this garden have many stories to share.
From plants used to make syrups, teas, wines, liquors and beers, there are over 50 species in this small walled garden, which is tucked behind the POP shop on Hillfoot Street, at the top of Dunoon’s town centre. It’s a herb and kitchen garden for those who enjoy a tasty drink.
The POP shop, home of the Dunoon Goes POP community drinks enterprise
A sustainable ethos
On approach to the POP shop (People Of Place shop), you’ll spot their bright window boxes, which are made out of old window battons and painted yellow. They burst out against the black shopfront, rather like the pollen-filled yellow centres of the flowers as they attract a pollinator. Wander through a tunnel and gallery space to the right-hand side of the shop, and pass the tin-roofed workshops, you’ll come to this intimate walled garden.
The Dunoon Goes POP drinks garden was built using many reclaimed materials. There are old whisky barrels from Glasgow Wood re-used as planters and for water collection. Reclaimed roofing sheets edge some of the raised beds. Rocks and old tiles found on the derelict site fill the gabion seating baskets along with old wine bottles, creating a mini-habitat in themselves. Designed, built and planted with the hard work of local people, the garden is the buzzing heart of the POP shop’s community interest company’s drinks enterprise, Dunoon Goes POP.
Gabion seating using materials found on site or sourced locally
Planting highlights
Rhubarb is one of the project’s signature plants. They are growing Victoria, Glaskin’s Perpetual and a mystery (yet-to-be-identified) cultivar which came from a garden off West Bay.
Hops branches ramble up a tall metal frame, creating a leafy tunnel between two raised beds.
A drink-maker’s hedge with hawthorn, elder, hazel and blackthorn lines the more exposed end of the garden. Not only does the hedge filter the coastal winds, but it also provides habitat for birds and insects.
Chicory, a wildflower of Scotland, the roots of which have long been used to make a caffeine-free coffee substitute, blooms alongside other damp-loving plants like marshmallow, burdock and angelica.
Colourful bergamot ‘Poyntzfield Pink’ mingles with sun-loving pot marigolds, primroses, lavender and hyssop.
Fruit trees grow as cordons in big whisky barrel planters, including apple ‘Katy’, conference pear and pear ‘Invincible’.
Bergamot ‘Poyntzfield Pink’, named after the herb farm in the Black Isle where many plants were sourced.
How to find the garden
Behind the POP shop at 28 Hillfoot Street, Dunoon, PA23 7DS
Only an hour away from Glasgow via train and ferry, Dunoon is an accessible West Coast peninsula, giving the feeling of an island getaway.
If you are travelling from the Central Belt, the easiest way to get to Dunoon is by train or car to Gourock, then a ferry across the Clyde. But you can also come by car by road.
There are two ferries:
Foot passenger-onlyservice by Caledonian MacBrayne from Gourock ferry terminal, by the train station into Dunoon Ferry Terminal. Find out more
Car and foot passenger service by Western Ferries from McIlroy’s Point by Gourock to Hunter’s Quay Ferry Terminal, a short drive from Dunoon town centre. Find out more
Public transport
Take a train from Glasgow Central to Gourock, then a short walk (only 2 minutes) to the adjoining Caledonian MacBrayne ferry terminal. From the Dunoon ferry, the walk to the POP shop on Hillfoot Street is about 15 minutes.
There is also day car parking at Gourock Train Station if you’d prefer to park and ride.
Always check the timetable and sailing service status on the day you travel.
Find out more
Follow Dunoon Goes POP on Instagram or Facebook.
Tours and tastings
The garden is opening as part of Scotland’s Garden Scheme 2026. Check out the dates and times to join their tours and tastings in the garden. Scotland’s Garden Scheme listing.
Kailyard Herbs at the POP shop
Through our other gardening business, Papaver Gardening, we’ve been involved with leading workshops to design and plant the garden, selecting plants with fascinating stories connected to their themes, plants that also survive in our Dunoon climate.
Since we launched Kailyard Herbs, we continue to help tend to the garden, craft plant stories, and will occasionally sell plants or host workshops from this fabulous community-minded coworking space. Through the POP shop, we’ve tested out ideas and learned through their projects about Dunoon’s unique setting for running an enterprise like ours.
Read more about Designing the Dunoon Goes POP garden