Scottish Highlands

Crathes Castle Garden » A sixteenth century castle with a twentieth century Arts and Crafts garden. It might be described as 'The Sissinghurst of Scotland'. The baronial tower, beside which the garden stands, dates from the late 1500s. For centuries the tower stood in lonely isolation, protecting the Burnett family and allowing them fine views of the woods and moors. In the twentieth century a fine garden was made by Sir James Burnett of Leys. It is a walled garden with sculptured topiary and brilliant planting. Read more on Crathes Castle Garden »

Leith Hall Garden » A seventeenth century house with a secluded garden. It has extensive herbaceous and shrub planting, and rockery and what must be the longest catmint border in Britain. Read more on Leith Hall Garden »

Pitmedden Garden » An enchanting Scottish renaissance garden, all the better for the unexpectedness of its location. Despite the date of its construction, the enclosed simplicity of the layout is more renaissance than baroque. Records of the original parterre were lost and it was replanted in the 1950s, using plans of other seventeenth century Scottish gardens. They are baroque parterres but their setting produces an effect very different to that of a princely court. The Seton's family home was destroyed by fire in the nineteenth century. Thankfully, Pitmedden Garden survives. Read more on Pitmedden Garden »

Kildrummy Castle Gardens » A twentieth century garden in a ravine, made after 1900. Colonel James Ogstone made a water garden and a rock garden in an old quarry, from which sandstone was dug to build Kildrumy Castle. The bridge is a copy of the Brig o'Balgownie in Old Aberdeen. The Kildrummy Castle Gardens garden is well planted, with advice from Aberdeen University. Read more on Kildrummy Castle Gardens »