OUT OF AFRICA
A haven for South African horticulture in the wilds of Wester Ross
“I like the warm red roof to be a welcoming beacon, a bright red flash of colour
The first thing Will Soos did on arrival at 2 Durnamuck, the former croft he shares with his partner Sue Pomeroy, was to dig a wildlife pond. ‘The digger,’ he explains, ‘was there to level out the ground for the house and it seemed like a good opportunity.’ Seven years later the pond, tucked into the side of the five-acre plot, below what is now the vegetable garden, is just one feature in this spectacular one-acre garden created by this pair of skilled horticulturists.
It’s easy to see why Will was so keen to get started. It took ten years to find this former crofting land in Wester Ross with panoramic views over Little Loch Broom with Sail Mhor, Ben Gobhlach, and An Teallach in the background. Here at last was the opportunity for the couple, who met while working at Inverewe, to create a garden of their own. As head gardener at Dundonnell House for the past 15 years, Will had plenty of ideas. The need for speed was also reinforced by Sue’s collection of South African plants – about which she is passionate – sitting with other varieties in pots. These needed to be planted before the onset of winter.
First, however, the house had to be built for the couple and their two children, 12-year-old Rowan and Amelie, 15. ‘We knew we wanted it to be eco-friendly, using local materials,’ says Will. Although Will did most of the work he also drew on local experts when needed. The design, with its red tin roof and dramatic chapel window, drew inspiration from horticultural trips ranging from New Zealand and South Africa to Portland, Oregon in the US. ‘I like the warm red roof to be a welcoming beacon, a bright red flash of colour in the Highlands melding with the hills when they are rusty and orange,’ says Sue.
The garden, Will explains, evolved from the house and early planting of shelter belts. Organising drainage was dictated by ‘the water that ran down the hill behind the house, gales blowing up the loch and summer wind and rainfall – you have to think about water on the West coast.’
The stone-packed soil was loosened with a tractor and the stones gathered to build the house, the retaining walls and raised beds that are such a significant feature of the scheme.
Evergreen hedging shrubs include Escallonia, Olearia, Hazel, Cornus sibirica, elder and hawthorn – all suitable nesting habitats for birds such as dunnock and warblers. Durnamuck is an Anglicised version of the Gaelic for ‘Pigs in a Thicket’, while hedges and trees, including native varieties such as sorbus and birch, flourish in the well-worked crofting soil.
A tour usually starts on the north west side of the house, where paths run through and below a raised bed edged by a