Wester Ross
ONE of the top accolades for any quality garden is to be recognised as a partner garden by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) – and Wester Ross has not one but two.
The National Trust for Scotland Inverewe Garden in Poolewe and Attadale Gardens in Strathcarron are now both official partners to the world-respected RHS. Attadale has just achieved this status and joins Inverewe, which obtained its status two years ago through the efforts of head gardner Kevin Ball. Now both gardens are working closely together to share expertise and knowledge to mutual benefit.
Inverewe property manager Kevin Frediani is delighted with the fact that Attadale has now joined this prestigious group of gardens. He says: ‘All partner gardens offer inspiration to keen gardeners through high standards of design and/or planting. We certainly have a great amount here in Wester Ross, particularly as there are now two in this beautiful part of the north-west Highlands for visitors and locals alike.’
Managers of the family- owned Attadale estate, Joanna Macpherson and her husband Alec Cormack, are thrilled with the new quality status, further building on their family’s development of the garden overlooking Loch Carron. Joanna is a founder member of ‘Discover Scottish Gardens’ which was launched in May 2014 to showcase and inspire visits to gardens in Scotland.
She said: ‘My grandfather bought Attadale Estate in 1952 and my mother started seriously working in the garden following some devastating storms at the end of the 1980s.’
Joanna’s mother and father still live on the estate and are active in its development and operation.
Ms Macpherson continued: ‘The whole team here at Attadale are delighted with our new RHS accolade, and are so pleased to be working hand in hand with Inverewe, sharing our horticultural expertise over future years.’
The two gardens open their 2017 season on April 1 when both will be part of the Scottish Rhodedendron Festival over April and May. Inverewe has a wideranging events programme, while Attadale also offers visitors some great garden events.
There is more information on websites www.nts.org.uk/ Inverewe and www.attadalegardens.com.
Mr Frediani added: ‘We are both on the North Coast 500 touring route which is bringing visitors to this part of the Highlands, and both Attadale and Inverewe are great stopping- off points along the way. By working together, we are confident that all our visitors will have a truly memorable time and hopefully want to return. Our two garden teams are very proud to be recognised by the Royal Horticultural Society in this way.’