WALK THIS WAY
As daunting as it was to take over her mother-inlaw’s renowned garden at Pitmuies, Jeanette Ogilvie was determined to retain the horticulturalist’s vision
The garden at Pitmuies in Angus continues to be one of the finest in the country
Inheriting a garden from your mother-inlaw, albeit a much-loved one, is certain to present challenges. So when it became time for daughter-in-law Jeanette to take over from Marguerite Ogilvie, whose garden at the House of Pitmuies in Angus was, for four decades, widely regarded as one of the finest private gardens in Scotland, it was a daunting prospect.
Surrounded by 20 acres of policies and a framework of magnificent trees, Pitmuies, a Georgian house with earlier origins, lies a short distance from the village of Forfar. The garden surrounds the house with three linked walled gardens tucked to the side. Marguerite came to Pitmuies in 1966, when her husband Farquhar inherited the estate from his parents. Raised at Castlewellan in County Down (now the National Arboretum for Northern Ireland), she was already a knowledgeable gardener with a special interest in trees. Farquhar died in 1983, but Marguerite continued developing the garden so beloved of visitors.
Renowned as Pitmuies is for the drifts of snowdrops that line the Turbie burn, the carpets of purple and white crocuses close to t he old wash house, and t he banks of
rhododendrons in the Vinny, next to the Vinny Water, the heart of the garden remains the ‘ravine of flowers’. This is the show-stopping double border where perennials rise to blend with a hedge of maroon-leaved Prunus cerasifera
‘Pissardii’, a purple-leaved plum tree. Backed by a river of deep blue delphinium, the border is a magnet for photographers.
Jeanette Ogilvie tentatively stepped into this scene 14 years ago, admitting she knew ‘nothing about gardening’. Married to Marguerite’s son Ruaraidh, she was aware that one day this iconic garden would be her responsibility. ‘I began working in the garden one morning a week, just weeding. As our children grew older, I gradually increased this to five days a week, working all year round.’
Working alongside former head gardener Neil Pert, she learnt about gardening and also about the garden itself, its soil, aspect and the best place for specific plants. By the time she and Ruaraidh moved in three years ago, Jeanette knew the garden well. ‘All the ideas that had been bubbling away were able to come to fruition.’
The garden, which had become somewhat overgrown, suffered from a lack of forward planning and labour costs had to be cut.
Ruaraidh explains: ‘Jeanette, who had been
out working in the garden year round in all weathers, knew and understood it, and could right away implement change that would allow us to maintain the integrity of the garden.’
Jeanette now works alongside former groundsman Paul Courts, who has become passionate about plants. Housekeeper Belinda Chisholm tends the plants in the conservatory and raises seeds, such as delphiniums.
The garden is entered via the first walled garden or vegetable garden, where traditional vegetables are tended in raised beds against a backdrop of flowers, shrubs and apple trees underplanted with deep pink and white cosmos and Nicotiana sylvestris.
Here, in the shrub bed, Jeanette raised the canopy of overgrown magnolia and buddleia, revealing forgotten lily-like cardiocrinum, oriental poppies and climbing clematis. Nicknamed ‘Hacker Gordon’ by her husband (Gordon is her maiden name), Jeanette has surprised herself by the results. ‘I’ve been amazed by the terrible things you can do to a plant and find that it survives,’ she laughs. ‘I’ve learnt not to be afraid to try things.’ Among the traditional vegetables and soft fruit, Jeanette has introduced artichokes as a reminder of her Danish grandmother.
The evidence of Jeanette and Paul’s pruning skills (‘One of us pulls down or even sits on a branch so we can gauge the effect ahead of time’) is most keenly felt in the formal, walled garden. Here, the main shrub border has been rejuvenated and fresh plantings added.
The focal point of the Rose Garden opposite is the round, stone pond, which Paul, Jeanette and their children, Seumas and Sasha, dredged, cleaned and restocked with goldfish. Here, a small number of similar roses have been added to the original collection of Rosa ‘Lily Marlene’, ‘Silver Jubilee’ and pink Musk rose ‘Ballerina’ to create a unified feel.
Leading the way down the grass path between Marguerite’s masterpiece border packed with geranium, thalictrum, irises, astrantia and self-seeded white rocket, she says: ‘No changes here. It’s perfect. We just look out for weeds and generally maintain it.’ The
‘There is a
sense of everyone waiting to
see what we
are going
to do’
graded plants are supported by the same black fishing net Marguerite used for many years.
Work continues in the policies where overgrown trees and shrubs along the burn are being pruned and vistas opened up. One of the first things Jeanette learnt is that, in such a large garden, regular maintenance is key. ‘I hoe the entire garden once a week, even if it doesn’t need it, to prevent the weeds getting a hold.’
Adding that she is proud of what she and her ‘happy unit’ have achieved, Jeanette points out: ‘There is a sense of everyone waiting to see what we are going to do. When you take over from a great gardener, it is important to try to retain her vision, and I hope we have managed to do this.’
‘I’ve been amazed by the terrible things you can do to a plant and find that it survives. I’ve learnt not to be afraid to try things’