Real-life Womble creates beautiful garden from other people's rubbish

Story and video from SWNS

A real-life Womble has created a beautiful garden from other people's rubbish - growing plants in a fireplace and old pairs of wellies.

Lynn Cameron, 61, described her garden as 'looking like a dumping ground' when she moved in 30 years ago, full of broken glass, bricks, and a fridge freezer.

She didn't earn enough to have disposable income to spend on renovating it, but keen gardener Lynn began to reuse and recycle other people's rubbish.

A bed frame has been used to support fruit plants, and old tyres helped create a pond in the lush garden in Alva, Clackmannanshire, which recently welcomed 100 visitors.

Gran-of-four Lynn compared herself to The Wombles, kids' TV favourites who trawled Wimbledon Common for discarded junk they could repurpose.

The Wombles became mascots for AFC Wimbledon when the club formed on the common in 2002 and included So Solid Crew rapper MC Harvey as a former player.

Lynn said: "The whole garden is full of reused stuff.

"It was never set out with a plan in mind it just morphed in different ways as I needed it.

"My mother said to me 'use what you’ve got and you’ll no’ want', and that's what I did as I had no income to buy anything.

"I'm always on the lookout.

"People text me on walks saying there is a bunch of bricks been thrown away.

"I like being in the garden as everything is a memory of people.

"I am definitely a bit like a Womble, especially with how I waddle up and down my garden.

"I've been gardening since I was a wee girl, ever since my dad gave me a wee plot to look after.

"When I moved in the garden hadn't been looked after for many years.

"There was a fridge freezer, broken glass, bricks.

"It was like a dumping ground.

"I needed somewhere for my kids to play, and for me to sit and enjoy."

Lynn, who owns a gift shop, said: "Everywhere I've moved into I've made a garden out of it.

"I started on the bit that was closest to the house, started clearing the area and getting rid of rubbish along the way.

"As I was digging things up I was hitting concrete, so I started to uncover these areas and worked around them.

"Friends and family would ask if I needed stuff.

"If I saw people getting rid of things, I would just ask if I could get them.

"A neighbour was throwing out a metal bed, so I took it off him and turned it into a frame to support fruit plants.

"I got a pile of tyres which you can get easily from garages because it costs them to get rid of them.

"I built up to the two layers of tyres, filled them with soil and planted them up to make a standing for my pond.

"I made raised vegetable beds the other day, using soil that council workers were disposing of."

On August 1 held an open day to raise cash for a charity which helped her when times were hard.

Lynn said: "I had 100 people through the gates.

"They all loved it and told me they had taken inspiration and ideas with what they could do.

"I even raised £620 which is going to Christians Against Poverty, who helped me through the years."