YOUR GUIDE TO SCOTLAND’S GREATEST GARDENS
TO CELEBRATE THE BOOM IN VISITOR NUMBERS TO SCOTLAND’S GARDENS, WE GIVE YOU THE LOW-DOWN ON THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SPOTS TO VISIT THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
IT says a lot about the lure of a garden that over the last year some of the biggest rises in visitor figures in Scotland have been at garden paradises like Inverewe, Crathes and Pitmedden. They provide an escape from our busy lives, a jolt of sensual pleasure.
Here, to celebrate the rise in popularity of the Scottish garden, are 15 of the best gardens across Scotland – some of them wild, some secret, others private, others open to the public through the Scotland’s Gardens scheme, but all of them dazzlingly grand.
A TASTE OF THE SUB-TROPICS 1. Inverewe Gardens, Wester Ross
There’s something surreal about finding this oasis of all that is alien and exotic, thriving here in the northwest of Scotland, on the shores of Loch Ewe. On a rugged coastline, washed by the gulf stream, Osgood Mackenzie, in 1862, created this paradise of sub-tropical plants which now includes the most northerly planting of rare Wollemi pines, Tasmanian eucalyptus and olearia from New Zealand. Inverewe reopened in 2015, to much rapture, and has since been nominated as garden of the year in the Countryfile awards. Open daily, nts.org.uk
2. Ascog Hall, Isle of Bute
Back in the Victorian era there was a craze, a mania, for fern-hunting. The magnetic draw of this three-acre garden on the Isle of Bute is part of that story – a captivating Victorian fernery. Its sunken glass- house structure conjures up some lost, Jurassic world. Built in 1870 by Edward La Trobe Bateman who designed the botanic garden in Melbourne, Australia, it later fell into dilapidation. Among the plants which populate it now, however, is a 1,000-year-old King Fern, Britain’s oldest exotic fern. A true survivor, planted there in the 19th century, it clung on when the fernery fell into disuse, and lingered on as the only original plant when it was reconstructed in 1997. Open daily, ascogfernery. com
THE BIG SPACES 3. Pollok Country Park, Glasgow
It’s hard to choose between parks, but Pollok Country Park, voted Europe’s best park in 2008, has it all – 360 acres of woodland and open countryside, Highland cattle, a house often described as “Scotland’s answer to Downton Abbey”, the White Cart river and more. Ramble, mountain bike, picnic or explore the maze. Open 24 hours every day
4. Culzean Castle Garden, Ayrshire
It’s hard to beat Culzean, perched there on a cliff over the Firth of Clyde, for dramatic aspect, or the architectural wow factor of Robert Adams’ s18th-century castle. General Dwight D Eisenhower is quoted as saying, when he was staying at Culzean: “This is a place I can relax.” And relaxing is certainly something that can be done in the 560 acres that is Culzean Country Park, admiring the fountains, chilling in the walled garden, striding along the woodland walks, or just gazing at the trees as your kids play in the new Adventure Cove playpark – a mini-castle to clamber over, inspired by the original. Open daily, nts.org.uk
GARDEN CURES 5. Dr Neil’s Garden, Edinburgh
Tucked at the foot of Arthur’s Seat, next to a 12th-century kirk, in the quaint town-village of Duddingston, is Edinburgh’s most charming and original horticultural haven, sometimes referred to as Edinburgh’s Secret Garden. On land that sweeps down to Duddingston Loch, formerly grazed by calves and geese, two doctors, Andrew and Nancy Neil, set to work in 1963, creating a garden. They encouraged their patients to assist, believing gardening work to be health-enhancing, particularly so in this idyllic setting. The garden is criss-crossed by tiny paths. In one corner it houses Thomson’s Tower, designed by William Henry Playfair. Open daily, drneilsgarden. co.uk
6. Redhall Walled Garden, Edinburgh
Gardening is good for us. Studies have shown that even just being in nature enhances our health and wellbeing. This 18th-century walled garden is more than just a soul-refresher for those who visit. It’s also an active working garden tended collaboratively by people recovering from mental health problems. Managed by the Scottish Association for Mental Health and run on organic principles, at its core is a belief in the therapeutic benefits of working on the land. Watch for insects in its bee and butterfly garden, take in the scents of the herb garden and visit the Georgian Palladium Summerhouse. Open weekdays, 9am3.30pm
ART GARDENS 7. Little Sparta, Borders
Beautiful, stirring and thought-provoking, this garden, created over 30 years by artist Ian Hamilton Finlay nestles at the edge of the Pentlands. Hamilton Finlay once said: “Superior gardens are composed of glooms and solitudes and not just plants and trees.” There are plenty of both in these 6.8 acres, which are an epic, living poem, scattered with sculpture, filled with words and messages. It is a place of light and ecstasy. Open from June 7, Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays, and some Saturdays, 12.30pm-5pm, littlesparta.org.uk
8. Jupiter Artland, West Lothian
Not just a garden, but a sculpture garden, in which each year stunning new artworks bloom among the long-term perennials. At its heart is Charles Jencks’ Cells of Life, curving earthworks and pools carved out of the soil to create an alien landscape, plus works by Antony Gormley, Andy Goldsworthy, Anya Gallacio and others. Created by Robert and Nicky Wilson in the grounds of their Jacobean home it is a captivating blending of nature and art. Nicky Wilson last year said: “Jupiter Artland is meant to be magic. People’s lives need a little bit of Wonderland.” Currently open ThursdaySunday. Open all days in July and August jupiterartland.org
GRAND DESIGNS 9. Pitmedden Garden, Aberdeenshire
A garden for those who long for the surety of geometry in a chaotic world. No less than six miles of clipped box hedging, 30,000 bedding plants, and parterres (flat beds) – which glow in their blooming months with vivid designs, some of them heraldic – are what make Pitmedden, a widely-renowned masterpiece of renaissance gardening. The garden was first laid out in 1675 by Alexander Seton, and was reconstructed, according to original plans, in the 1950s. Open daily, nts.org.uk
10. Crathes Castle Garden, Aberdeenshire
Like chess pieces that have sagged or melted, grown flabby around the middle, the huge yew tree topiary at Crathes Castle are among its main attractions, and all the more wonderful for the way they seem a little organ-