As part of its savings plans for 2026/27 Scottish Borders Council (SBC) agreed to save about £13,000 each year by cancelling its Christmas tree deliveries.
Several towns have attracted sponsorship for the continued supply of festive firs, but members of the Galashiels Business Improvement District (BID) have gone one further by having a living tree planted in the town centre.
Mags Fenner, the Galashiels BID project manager, said: “We were talking about doing this even before the council announced the cuts.
“Our tree will hopefully be here for a good 30 to 40 years.
“We’re not only the first in the Borders to have a community living Christmas tree but I believe, after Dundee, we could be the second in Scotland.
“I would hope that people in other towns and villages will take our cue and maybe do the same.”