SECRET SCHEME

Scotland’s Gardens allows peek at spaces usually closed to the public – and it is all for good causes

Ihave not visited every garden in this horticulturally rich wee country of ours, but I have taken in at some point most that are within easy reach of where I live, just outside Perth. I’ve visited them on more than one occasion and will continue to do so many times more as though it’s the very first time. The beauty of the outdoor spaces we go to see in spring are entirely different to the gardens we choose to visit for a summer stroll in August.

I look at gardens as friends, liking to visit those I’ve not seen in a while to check how they are getting on, finding out what they’ve been up and to see how they’ve changed.

Maybe a new water feature has been installed, or veg is now being grown in raised beds, or there’s a summerhouse to enjoy the evenings, a place to keep more tender, exotic plants.

As we get older we maybe choose to sit more quietly in our comfort zones, not looking for any new friends or gardens in our lives any more, being more than comfortable with what we have around us. Sometimes we’re so preoccupied getting on with life that it’s easy to forget there’s a whole world of gardens out there.

I’d say my brain has reached a point where it’s forgotten to look beyond these faithful gardens I regularly visit and thinks I’ve seen all there is to see – but thanks to Scotland’s Garden Scheme (SGS), I’m reminded that I haven’t.

Indeed, when I look at all the gardens opening under their banner, I’ve barely scratched the surface.

Scotland’s Gardens is a scheme founded in the early 1930s to help support the training and pension of district nurses through the Queen’s Nursing Institute of Scotland (QNIS).

Money was raised by the generous owners of private gardens, who would open up their pride and joy to the likes of you and I and, in return, ask only for a small fee.

In my eyes, Miss Elsie Wagg – who in 1926 thought up the concept of raising money for district nursing through the nation’s obsession with gardening – is an absolute genius. Gardeners get to enjoy spaces not normally accessible to the public, where our price for doing so is only to give a small donation to support the angels who look after us during our times of poor health.

The charity in Scotland was born in 1931 and is still going strong more than 90 years later thanks to the hardworking staff and dedicated volunteers.

When we walk through gates signposted with the familiar yellow “Garden Open” banner, we can be assured that the small fee we are being asked to donate is going to good causes. As well as the QNIS, other beneficiaries include Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres and Perennial, a charity dedicated to helping those who work in horticulture when times get tough for them.

Many owners who open their gardens have themselves been touched by personal sadness and therefore can nominate up to 60% of their takings raised to charities and causes close to them – providing valuable support to our local communities and beyond.

I’m proud to be an ambassador for SGS. It’s a privilege to have been asked to help promote and support the amazing work of those who open their gardens and the army of volunteers who give up their time to assist with organising, treasurer or media skills.

My part is easy, like the other week when after searching on the scheme’s website for a snowdrop garden to visit, I came across Ecclesgreig Castle – a property and garden completely unknown to me.

Only open for this one day, all other plans were dropped and off I set in the car over to the East Coast and beautiful St Cyrus. A chance to support another garden owner doing their bit and for me to satisfy my own hunger of visiting a garden new to me.

Maybe not to every gardener’s liking, I loved it. This was not the immaculately presented garden I would usually expect to see on the day – I and the many other visitors looked behind the overgrown rhododendrons, moss-covered paths and forestry-style plantations to a gem of an old garden waiting to be rediscovered.

A ruined glasshouse, large pond with terraced banks, the footprint of an Italian garden featuring yew topiary along with the planting of a million bulbs in recent years complement the restoration works that have already taken place. A piece of our wonderful gardening heritage is right here.

I’m full of admiration for the enthusiastic owners who I had the pleasure of meeting on the day, undaunted by the task ahead they’ve given themselves.

We should be grateful to them and the many other garden enthusiasts across our country like them.

Now that this garden is on my radar, I look forward to watching the results of layers of moss and weeds being peeled away to reveal the horticultural history hiding underneath.

DIG DOWN: The gardens at Ecclesgreig Castle are being restored.

A Scotland’s Gardens Scheme sign points the way to a new discovery.