HIDDEN GEM
Tucked away and shrouded by trees, Ardtornish garden in Morven is quite a find
‘Gardening has been going on here since the 1900s; there were once 19 gardeners here’
One hundred and fifty years ago, the easiest way to visit Ardtornish, the west coast garden owned by the Raven family, was by sailing up the sound of Mull and into the horseshoe-shaped bay at Loch Aline. From here, the stone towers of Ardtornish House emerge from an oasis of oak, birch and conifers set against the dramatic backdrop of a rocky hillside. Nowadays, sailing remains a popular way to visit Ardtornish but the drive along the Morvern Peninsula through remote Glen Geal is also breathtakingly beautiful.
Faith Raven, who with the help of her late husband John, has spent the past 45 years tending the 30-acre garden established by her parents, Owen and Emmeline Hugh Smith, in the mid-20th century, explains their original vision. The family, who bought the estate in 1930, sought to enhance the beauty of the natural, rugged landscape with sympathetic planting sourced from around the world.
Faith continues to develop her parents’ vision with the committed help of long-term gardener Ian Lamb. ‘Gardening has been going on here since the 1900s; there were once 19 gardeners here,’ she says. ‘But it is now done more on impulse.’
Faith’s son Hugh, his wife, Jane, and their two children live at Ardtornish: Hugh runs the estate and Jane runs The Whitehouse restaurant in Lochaline, specialising in local produce, much of which is sourced from the estate.
The family is steeped in gardening: Faith’s daughter, Sarah Raven, is well known for her garden writing and her detailed plant catalogue. Their other daughter, Anna, and her husband, Norrie Maclaren, tend a remarkable hill garden packed with specialist trees at Ard Daraich, a short distance from the Corran Ferry.
Early on, the family found that many tender plants that thrive in Argyll failed to flourish at Ardtornish, where the effect of the Gulf Stream
‘The garden is punctuated with quirky features such as an arched wood bridge’
is reduced. But, on a balmy, late summer afternoon anything seems possible: there are no signs of the 85 inches of annual rain, no midges and not a trace of wind to remind one of the winter gales that batter the coast.
The paths that wind their way from the lower lawn up the hill, encourage you to discover plantings of Acers, Cornus, Prunus and Rhododendrons, and Euonymus. The Coral Bark Maple, Acer palmatum ‘ Sango-kaku’, is a special favourite. ‘With its pink spring and yellow autumn foliage, it looks good all year,’ Faith says.
Indeed Rhododendrons, of which there are 200 different varieties here, form a major spring display, scattering their petals along the Keeper’s Path. Now, just a few white blooms remain on the late-flowering white Rh. ‘ Polar Bear’. White-flowering plants are a bit of a speciality here: the sight of fragrant, white flowering Eucryphia ‘Nymansay’ is a special treat. Other white varieties include Hoheria lyallii.
Some of the rainfall is channelled down through a network of burns, lined with Primula
‘The trees reflect the deep knowledge of the best plants for this location’
they are a reminder that spring comes early to this garden in the shape of massed plantings of daffodils; pale yellow Narcissus ‘Jenny’ is a particular favourite. The yellow theme continues in the bright flowers of the Skunk Cabbage, Lysichiton, that flourish in damp spots.
The garden is punctuated with quirky features such as a moss-covered stone bench, quirky stone steps threading through the Primula garden, an arched wood bridge and the contemporary-looking Great Oak Throne, with its striking views down Loch Aline.
But the thing that strikes you most about this garden is the variety of trees. Ranging
from majestic oak, beech and lime, and a wide variety of conifers to the smaller Cercidiphyllum, Sorbus and Acer, they fill the garden with a range of different textures, shapes and colours. The trees reflect the deep knowledge of the best plants for this location, which has been gathered over generations. Especially evocative is Andrew’s Wood, the space at the top of the garden, which is tended in memory of Faith’s oldest son, a pioneer conservationist who sadly died aged 46. Here, moss-covered oak stands out as a testimony to his love of nature. It is a testimony that is fully embraced in this family garden.