Born to be wild

As gardens across Courier Country prepare to open for charity as part of Scotland’s Gardens Scheme, Caroline Lindsay discovers the choice is blooming marvellous

F rom walled gardens and chickens to fairytale castles, bluebell woods, wildflower meadows and an incredible sensory garden, there’s something for everyone in this year’s Scotland’s Gardens Scheme. All through spring and summer, dozens of gardens will be open across Courier Country to benefit more than 250 charities – the roots of Scotland’s Gardens Scheme go back to 1931, when its original purpose was to raise funds to support district nurses.

This year’s theme – birds, bees, butterflies and brilliant wee beasties – follows on from last year’s Gardens and Health theme.

“This year we are thinking about healthy gardens by celebrating wildlife,” says Terrill.

“Our gardens and green spaces are ecosystems that nurture a vast array of biodiversity including insects, butterflies, birds, small animals, earthworms and even beneficial bacteria.

“And these in turn benefit our gardens, through pollination, improved structure and pest control, just to name a few,” she continues.

Terrill wants the public to realise that gardening, and the open gardens, are about much more than herbaceous borders and raised vegetable beds.

“It’s also about wildlife bogs and meadows, dead hedges, and much more,” she says.

“Gardens and gardening are so good for our health in so many ways and it’s heartening to see the general public, and especially the medical profession, catching on to something that we gardeners have always known.

“We can all see the climate shifts occurring around us, and certainly gardeners see this first-hand as they watch the growing variations of each year. This emphasises the absolute importance of gardening to support and strengthen the land and all of its wee beasties that feed and work the soil and the plants,” she explains.

“So many gardeners now are ‘going organic’ in order to work with nature, rather than against. So, we wanted to celebrate this and share it with others.”

With a fantastic variety of gardens this year, the scheme will see three openings in Arbroath, Brechin and Montrose.

There will also be a selection of gardens opening with the Angus and Dundee Garden Trail – 17 small to medium-sized gardens across Tayside.

“For the larger gardens, we’re excited to have Gardyne Castle opening with us this year) which varies from the stunning formal garden to wild bluebell walks in the woods,” says Terrill.

“Dunninald Castle and Pitmuies are regular openers, both also large gardens, and in terms of variety, we’re very excited about two schools – Inverbrothock Primary School Sensory Garden and Forest Garden, opening with the Arbroath village in July, and Andover Primary School Garden opening with Brechin village in July.”

The Inverbrothock Primary sensory garden was designed by Anne Murray,

Gardening is so good for our health. It’s heartening to see the public catching on to what we gardeners have always known

whose son Joshua is a pupil at the school, which has around 400 pupils, including some with additional support needs. Completed at the end of last year by Anne and a team of helpers, the garden comprises three distinct zones – sensory; planting and growing; and a communal space.

“The garden is a huge hit with all the children at the school. Because it’s divided into three zones, you’ll find different pockets of children using the different areas,” smiles Anne.

There will also be two allotments in Brechin and Arbroath as well as community gardens in Brechin and Forfar.

Vegetable fanciers are in for a treat at Balhary Walled Garden near Blairgowrie. Part of Dundee & Angus Trail, it’s being restored and is home to heritage varieties of fruit and veg.

“We grow a bit of everything,” says Paul the gardener.

Peppers, aubergines and herbs jostle with root veg and carrots in rainbow hues, while soft fruits, apples, pears, cob nuts and greengages are just a small part of the garden’s fruit offering – there are more than 70 varieties of fruit trees in all.

“We like to go back to the unusual rare stuff, the ones you can’t find on the supermarket shelves,” Paul explains.

“And the older varieties seem to do better in this climate too.”

Paul has adopted a “no dig” policy. “I simply put down compost or dung and plant on top,” he says.

Paul was chuffed when Terrill asked if the garden would take part in the trail.

“It was quite an honour,” he beams, “and I’m looking forward to welcoming visitors. We used to have garden groups coming round – people are fascinated by our techniques for growing and foodies love all our produce!”

Meanwhile, in Fife, there is a plethora of beautiful gardens to visit. South Flisk in Blebo Craigs is owned by Julia and George Young. Here, flights of old stone steps, cliffs, huge boulders, exotic ferns and mature trees form a backdrop for carpets of primroses, bluebells, spring bulbs and woodland plants like trilliums, camassia and colourful primulas.

What’s more, there are different rhododendrons in flower in the garden from March until July. In front of the house is a mature walled garden with traditional cottage-garden planting and next to the house is the St Andrews Pottery where George will be demonstrating his pottery skills.

This year, for the first time, a May Garden Festival Weekend (May 23-25) will be held to provide everyone with an opportunity to do their own “garden crawl” across Angus and Dundee.

“Here, we’ve also several new gardens including Torwood, in the Angus hills, and 10 Menzieshill Road, where Frances Tait’s small garden is packed with very special rhododendrons and azaleas each with a story to tell – rhododendron specialist groups make a point of visiting – as well as one of the nine wells of Dundee,” Terrill says.

She believes it’s absolutely essential that youngsters engage with the natural world around them to both help them develop themselves and to encourage them to support the natural world and the changing climate.

“There’s so much to learn from the

natural world,” she says. “How nature is a complex and yet harmonious system, and thus the importance of working together.

‘‘And how everything has a purpose – every insect and every flower.

“And how nature uses and reuses all its resources .... ”

With this in mind there is no shortage of excellent gardens to keep kids occupied and learning about “healthy gardens” in a fun and hands-on way.

“We’re excited to have a new children’s activity sheet which will be available at all our gardens this year with fun things children can make in any garden,” says Terrill.

“Many of the venues will offer a great day out for the family with lots of variety and room to run.

‘‘The village openings should be especially interesting to young people as we have the two schools open as well as allotments, and there will be loads to see and learn from these.

“And our garden trail, of course, will offer lots of variety and gardens, keeping that boredom factor at bay...”

Terrill’s own little corner of paradise, the Herbalist’s Garden at Logie near Kirriemuir, is particularly popular with families – here they can learn how plants can be used for health.

“Our garden will be open for the May Festival Weekend and we’re open by arrangement between June and August.

“I’ll be giving a short talk about herbal medicine as well as making a cup of my Happy Tea,” she says.

“There’s lots to learn about how plants can help our health and I cannot wait to make my own flower mandala.”

As well as celebrating biodiversity, the open gardens also offer a perfect escape from our fast-paced digital world and Terrill highlights some of the benefits for our mental health.

“One just needs to take a walk through a garden, look at the colours, listen to the sound of the bees and the birds, stop and watch the thousands of insects busily working away to create and maintain our nature world...” she reflects.

“We also hope that our garden openings offer a bit more, in terms of the fellowship of bumping into others from your community over a cup of tea and a bit of cake, as well as the sense of purpose to help raise money for charity, most of which is helping our local communities.”

Terrill is excited about everything happening with the gardens this year, and believes it’s the best collection of openings yet.

“But I’m especially excited about our Angus & Dundee Garden Trail,” she reveals.

“We will have 17 gardens open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays over the four weeks of June, so visitors can spread out their visits.

“Our leaflet about the event – found in local venues and on our website – features local tea rooms and plant nurseries to visit along the way, making every day a great day out.

“And our trail will be raising money for our local Maggie’s Dundee.

“Scotland’s Gardens Scheme is an amazing charity which supports communities in so many ways – just visit scotlandsgardens.org and off you go!”

The magnificent Gardyne Castle is known for its stunning formal garden but also its wild bluebell walks in the woods.

Main image clockwise: Gardyne’s finelymanicured and shaped garden; Balhary, near Blairgowrie, let nature take its course; Gardyne’s rich array of colours; North Lodge with its elegant accessories; the view from Gardyne Castle; and giving it welly at the Brechin Road, Arbroath, allotments.