FAMILY FORTUNES
Maintained and nurtured by the same family for generations, the garden at Haystoun House is packed with fascinating features and vibrant colour, finds Antoinette Galbraith
A thriving Peebles garden that has been kept in the family for generations
Gardens that survive the ownership of the same family for centuries stand apart. The result of the vision and creative input of successive generations – influenced by personal interests, outside events and the political and economic realties of the time – nurture a rich variety of ideas, often creating an informal domestic atmosphere.
Haystoun, Mary Coltman’s garden nestled at the foot of Peeblesshire’s Glensax Valley, is a fine example of this. Here, Mary, with the help and enthusiasm of her late husband David, built on the work of past generations in her threepart garden consisting of a walled garden, informal dell and loch area. While spring is a particular highlight, especially in the dell, this is a garden for all seasons and is as hauntingly beautiful on a wintery day as it is in summer or autumn.
Haystoun and its surrounding farmland was owned by the Elphinstone family from 1500. In 1630 it passed to the Hay family – hence Haystoun – who built the original house, while subsequent generations added farm buildings, wings and a tower. In 1922 the house and farm buildings were converted into a single dwelling enclosing three sides of a cobbled courtyard. As Mary explains, ‘the excesses of the Victorian era were avoided as the family moved to a different house in Peebles at that time’.
In 1980 Mary’s uncle Aidan Sprot, a descendent of the Hays, gifted her the house and farm. After David died in 2011, Mary – who ‘comes from generations of gardeners’ – continued to develop the garden with the skilled help of Eric Gilmour who has been in post for over 32 years and is now ably assisted by Colin Dodds.
The full impact of spring is felt in the dell, where metal gates open up into a glorious palette of trees and flowering shrubs, underplanted with bulbs on either side of the burn. Pheasant’s eye narcissus and Camassia sit alongside ribbons of primula and a scattering of bright blue Meconopsis. Fragrant yellow and apricot azaleas tumble down the hill towards a carpet of bluebells and the air is filled with light clouds of blossom set against a backdrop of fresh, lime green foliage.
“This is a garden for all seasons and is hauntingly beautiful on a wintery day
Natural structure comes from Prunus, Acers and an eye-catching trio of silver birch. Especially evocative are the mature trees, including a Spanish chestnut and majestic conifers planted where the burn divides. ‘We think these are the remains of an 18th-century planting scheme,’ Mary says.
Work on this semi-wild garden began in 1988 when, Mary explains, the dell was dark and overhung with too many trees. ‘David suggested we should have a plan rather than “spot planting”, which we had always done.’ The dell was cleared of older, heavier trees to let in the light and open up the banks on either side of the burn.
David’s energy and influence is also keenly felt in the second part of the project, the ornamental loch beyond the dell. The original dam burst in 1890 and the loch had become a marsh. In 1993 it was rebuilt, the loch was cleared and the grassy perimeter path was restored. New tree plantings were added to the framework of conifers and hardwoods and the loch now attracts a variety of wildlife.
Entered via a metal gate onto a box parterre, the one-acre walled garden, which encloses Haystoun’s east facade,
is dominated by an ancient yew and sub-divided by an old framework of yew hedges. ‘The wind sweeps down off the hills and swirls around,’ says Mary. Tulips are succeeded by herbaceous plants and bulbs, especially purple Allium in May in the generous borders.
A central, vertical path slices through the hedge and up through the neat vegetable garden where quick drying raised beds help cope with the high rainfall. Vegetables and blueberries are also grown in the bed at the foot of the wall while soft fruit is in a wooden cage. At the far end of the garden a greenhouse is packed with a display of deep red and pink Pelargonium and Streptocarpus set off against a backdrop of large, unusual hybrid lemons crossed with grapefruit.
The tour finishes in the ancient courtyard, loved by so many generations of the same family, and where teas are served on open days.
“David’s energy and influence is keenly felt in the ornamental loch beyond the dell