Scotland is home to beautiful gardens ranging from stately castle estates to city oases, offering an incredible diversity of styles, settings, and plants. Discover changing fashions in garden design while learning which plants thrive best in its varied climate.
Floors Castle gardens feature perfectly shaped lawns, vibrant flower borders, and fruit trees, while Roxburghe Castle’s Millenium Garden showcases romantic initial displays among an abundance of colour and fragrance.
Amisfield Walled Garden
Amisfield Walled Garden near Haddington is one of Scotland’s largest. Bound by a 16-foot-high stone wall and featuring deep herbaceous borders and long beds against each side, as well as ornate circular pavilions in each corner, summer brings vibrant colours while winter sees evergreen shrubs planted throughout.
The garden features miniature Pathenon-esque pavilions resembling miniature Pathenons with domed roofs and oculi. Previously owned by the Wemyss family, after demolition in 1928, they used portions as golf course and tree nursery facilities before eventually selling them to their local council in 1969 and leasing them to the Amisfield Preservation Trust as a garden in 2013.
Today, Scotland’s visitors can take pleasure in enjoying the beautiful gardens, vegetable borders, orchard, woodland planting, and wildflower meadow. Additionally, this garden hosts numerous events, such as heritage orchard walks and apple day, where visitors to Scotland can sample different apple varieties.
The garden has been meticulously maintained with the assistance of volunteers and offers a tranquil, serene atmosphere ideal for enjoying a picnic in its secluded yet quiet setting. Woodland and meadow areas attract dog walkers and nature lovers, while dog owners and nature enthusiasts appreciate their woodland and meadow features. In addition, the trust provides an exhibition area and gift shop.
Scotland’s old walled gardens may no longer be used for cultivation, but they’re still an integral part of Scotland. Today, they’re often used for recreation or as opportunities to cultivate flowers and vegetables—and they can even make for great wedding venues!
Are you planning on exploring Scottish gardens or simply reading their history? Download the free app ‘Gardens Around Scotland’ now to make your journey easy! The Apple App Store and Google Play both provide direct links, while this one contains detailed information on more than 100 gardens!
Kellie Castle
Kellie Castle is an ideal destination for families to spend an enjoyable day. Packed with history and offering stunning photo opportunities, the castle has become one of the top spots for wedding photoshoots as well. Furthermore, its picturesque grounds can be explored during scenic strolls, and there is also a cafe offering food and beverage services as well as souvenir items for sale at this magical castle.
William Kellie Smith began construction of this castle as a family home; unfortunately, he died before it could be completed. It features elements from Scottish, Moorish, and Indian design styles, with artisans from India hired as workers to help complete it.
Victorian businessmen would often purchase estates, old manor houses, and castles as a symbol of wealth and social status. Unfortunately, William’s financial situation fluctuated dramatically throughout construction; eventually, running out of funds meant his castle became known as “Kellie’s Folly”.
Kellie Castle is an extraordinary building. From its Moorish and Gothic exterior to its lavish furnishings and ornamental ceilings on the inside, Plus, it’s packed with history—perfect for exploring its halls and beautiful gardens!
Kellie Castle Gardens are an impressive walled garden filled with numerous captivating features, from beautiful flowers and trees to modern structures. First laid out during the 17th century and later revamped by the Lorimers, these gardens represent a fantastic fusion of styles and should not be missed when visiting Scotland!
Kellie’s Castle remains one of the finest destinations to take a day trip with friends or family due to its beautiful garden, ponds, and Indian sculptures, making for an idyllic location to spend your time relaxing or taking in its breathtaking views. A trip here would also be ideal for anyone interested in Scottish history as well as nature—it offers both!
Balcaskie
The Balcaskie estate is a modern working estate dedicated to nurturing natural environments, promoting local business growth, and supporting community wellbeing. Spanning from St. Monans near the coast to Kellie Law in the hills behind, with let farms and in-hand farming operations across varying land types, informed farm management takes great care in taking into account both its diverse flora and fauna in order to coordinate mixed farming practice with long-term sustainability.
William Bruce created this house during the late 1600s as he rose to architectural fame with Holyrood Palace. Its entrance front aligned directly with Bass Rock, setting an example for contemporary architects of what became known as ‘picturesque architecture.
Today, the house and grounds are open as both a visitor attraction and wedding venue, as well as a home for an established community-owned company to develop and promote the estate’s heritage. Furthermore, it serves as a home for an expanding collective of artisan food and drink producers.
As well as running its household and gardens, restoring landscape features, and building gardens on its estate, numerous events and activities take place throughout the year at this wonderful venue. It offers visitors plenty of outdoor adventure, with walking trails and wildlife to spot.
At this estate, you can witness much history. One of its original buildings is a 17th-century mansion that is listed as a Category A building, while its oldest part, a mediaeval tower built around 1290, also remains.
Garden features are inspired by both the history and arts of painting, drawing, and engraving. George Elgood’s carved stonework in the gardens is widely considered one of Scotland’s greatest 19th-century artists.
Bowhouse is an exciting project at the estate that was officially unveiled in 2017. This indoor market place serves as an interactive food and drink hub and home base for an artisan food and drink producer community. Open all year, Bowhouse hosts market weekends on Saturday and Sunday, providing visitors with opportunities to taste delectable meals from local producers as well as purchase their produce directly.
St. Mary’s Pleasance
St Mary’s Pleasance is a 1.6-acre oasis of calm and garden history in mediaeval Haddington, located between St Mary’s churchyard, Lady Kitty’s Garden, and Haddington House, which dates from 1648. Purchased by the 14th Duke of Hamilton and restored as an accurate recreation of an 18th-century Scottish walled garden, St Mary’s Pleasance provides tranquilly in mediaeval Haddington.
Schomberg Scott designed this garden according to Sir George Taylor’s specifications, who was once Director of the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. It features period features like a mount and sunken garden with pleached allees of laburnum trees, boxed hornbean walks, cottage gardens with raised herb beds, as well as community orchards and wild flower meadows.
Haddington Garden Trust, a charity, relies on grants, donations, and gifts from donors in order to sustain this beautiful space. Open for public enjoyment as well as being available for booking at private events like weddings.
St. Mary’s School in Scotland was one of Scotland’s early Catholic schools and soon earned a strong reputation thanks to its productions of plays and operettas. Unfortunately, relations with the School Board could become tenuous from time to time; for example, in 1906, a disagreement over school books flared up when St. Mary’s priest suggested they could only pay their rates if they received free copies for their pupils.
Today, The Pleasance is best known for its role as one of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe venues during August. These university-owned buildings become venues to host performers of all ages and backgrounds; past performers have included Paul Merton and Nina Conti, among many others. Beyond comedy acts, The Pleasance Theatre Complex is also often the setting for Scottish musicals or dance performances. For the rest of the year, however, it serves as a quiet residential street with shops, pubs, restaurants, and lawyers’ offices; it provides access to all parts of Scotland; ideal if visiting Edinburgh Festival Fringe during August!
To make a start of building up a garden close to any of those aforementioned, you will need a qualified Glasgow landscape gardeners..
Why is it important to use Glasgow landscape gardeners?
Experienced Glasgow landscape gardeners take into account all factors affecting how a yard will be used when designing it, including your family, children, and pets, your preferred maintenance style (hands-off or hands-on), aesthetic preferences, and climate conditions in your area. This way, they can select plants that require minimal upkeep or water requirements to create healthy gardens with the minimum effort and maintenance needs.
Glasgow landscape gardeners will ensure the safety of you and your family by keeping away from stinging or allergen-producing plants and keeping animals away. They should also know how to prevent diseased trees from falling on your home while safeguarding it against erosion.
Quality weed control fabric will be employed by these services to safeguard against soil weed growth, making it easy for you to keep flower beds and rock gardens free of unwanted vegetation. Utilising this material could save you hours each week weeding your property.
Landscape professionals employ slow-release fertilisers to prevent thirsty new growth from emerging as well as reduce runoff into ground and surface waters, thus helping preserve natural resources while saving you money on monthly water bills.
Maintaining your Glasgow property can prevent invasive plants and trees from taking over your yard and damaging its foundations, drains, or plumbing system—not to mention unwanted animals moving in and spreading diseases into your home! Maintaining it regularly also protects you from unwelcome guests, such as unwanted critters that could make themselves at home in your yard!
Your yard offers much more than practical benefits; it will also be a more pleasurable place to live, work, and play. Studies have demonstrated how being surrounded by greenery can enhance focus and concentration levels, enhance memory retention, and provide a sense of calm. A well-maintained backyard will offer more enjoyable relaxation spaces while simultaneously increasing Scottish property values.
So why not hire a professional landscape gardener to care for your lawn or garden? They will create beautiful designs that are sustainable yet standout, plus they can work through challenging weather conditions without delaying projects.