Garden Openings

Stobshiel House

Humbie EH36 5PD
Mr Maxwell and Lady Sarah Ward

Wednesdays only from 5 March to 24 September, 9am - 3.30pm, admission £6.00, children free. Tea, coffees, lunch and home baking available at Humbie Hub. (2025)

67

T:01875 833646 or 07876 350725 E:stobshiel@gmail.com

The garden at Stobshiel House is effectively split into four main parts viz., the walled garden, the shrubbery, the pond and lawns and the woodland areas. Each area is laid out and planted to provide the visitor with all year round interest from swathes of aconites, snowdrops and narcissi in spring to a vast array of perennials, roses, clematis and annuals throughout summer and autumn. The extensive collection of shrubs and mature trees offer a fantastic backdrop during all seasons.

Directions: Travelling from Humbie towards Haddington B6368. Take the second sign on the right opposite Gilchriston, having passed over a very narrow bridge. Go up hill until you see two stone pillars on a corner. If coming from Haddington to Humbie. Take the B6368 and turn uphill to the left at the first sign to Stobshiel. Continue uphill until you see the two stone pillars on your right at a sharp corner. What3words: acclaim.reform.breached

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Marie Curie 60%

Humbie Dean

Humbie EH36 5PW
Frank Kirwan

Wednesday 19 March, Wednesday 2 April, Wednesday 16 April, Wednesday 14 May, Wednesday 11 June, Wednesday 9 July & Wednesday 27 August, 10:30am - 4pm (2025)

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E:frank.kirwan@gmail.com

A two-acre ornamental and wooded garden on a variety of levels, sandwiched between two burns at 600 feet, planted for year-round interest. The palette of plants includes hostas, hellebores, perennial geraniums, primula, meconopsis, martagon lilies, clematis, spring bulbs, ground cover, herbaceous and shrub planting, erythronium, daffodil and bluebell meadow, mature and recent azalea and rhododendron planting, and vegetable beds. The lower sections of the garden are only accessible by a series of steps.

Directions: Enter Humbie from the A68, pass the school and the village hall on the left then immediately turn right just before the Humbie Hub. Take the second left and Humbie Dean is on the left between two small bridges. Limited parking. Find using what3words: shorthand.frog.limbs

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Mamie Martin Fund 60%

Ascog Hall Garden and Fernery

Ascog, Isle of Bute PA20 9EU
Josceline and Jane Wheatley

1 May - 31 July, 10am-5pm (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only) (2025)

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T:01700 503461(house) 07824 393 009 (Josceline) E:janejoswheatley@gmail.com

The unique feature of this three-acre garden is its Victorian Fernery with its elaborate glazed roof, springs and ponds providing a haven for many exotic fern species, including Britain's oldest, a 1000-year-old King Fern. Surrounding the Fernery are newly-planted garden rooms featuring Australasian, Asian and South American species set within its original landscaping. While in many ways a young garden set in mature surroundings, with renovation works still underway, the well-labelled, exotic plantings carry on the curiosity of its founders in the tremendous diversity of plants.

Directions: Three miles south of Rothesay on the A844. Close to the picturesque Ascog Bay. There is a bus every half hour Rothesay - Kilchattan.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

The Secret Garden

Isle of Lismore, Oban, Argyll PA34 5UL
Eva Tombs

1 May - 1 September (Wednesday & Saturday), 10am - 5pm (2025)

2c

T:07786 374931 E:eva.tombs@gmail.com

A unique garden at the centre of a biodynamic farm on the Island of Lismore in the Inner Hebrides. The garden created from a field has a strong geometric layout that reflects the ecclesiastical history of the island. It has a vegetable garden, a tree nursery, a physic garden, an orchard and a polytunnel. The garden is a haven for wildflowers, birds, bees and butterflies. Standing stones, meadows, new woodlands, mountains and the sea encompass the whole. There is also a herd of rare breed Shetland cattle, chickens, ducks and friendly cats.

Directions: Please telephone for directions. Approximately two miles from Port Appin ferry.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance 30% & Oban Gaelic Choir 30%

4 Port Ann

Lochgilphead, Argyll PA31 8SE
Chris and Anne Buckland

Saturday/Sunday/Monday, 3/4/5 May, Monday/Tuesday, 26/27 May & Saturday/Sunday/Monday, 2/3/4 August, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

34679

E:chrisbuckland3@hotmail.com

This half acre tiered garden is situated in the former forestry village of Port Ann, enjoying a sheltered position between Loch Fyne and a pine forest. It is a fine example of what can be achieved in a relatively small space. Created over the last 15 years by Anne and Chris. Since Chris has become a wheelchair user part of the top level of the garden has been made accessible with a viewing platform to the garden and loch beyond. The garden has a water feature, a pond teeming with newts and dragonflies, a labyrinth designed by artist Margaret Ker, many neuks and crannies creatively filled with plants and small trees, including rhododendrons, azaleas, hawthorn, fig, maple and acers, and ends in a walk through a wilder area of hazels on the burn side where the ground is smothered in bluebells in May.

Directions: Heading north on A83 from Inveraray, before you reach Lochgilphead, Port Ann is signposted on the right. Please park in central square. Only the top garden deck is accessible by wheelchair.

Admission: £4.00, children free

Charities: MND Scotland 60%

Dowhill

Cleish KY4 0HZ
Mrs Colin Maitland Dougall

Wednesdays only in May and June, 10am - 4pm (2025)

67

T:01577 850207 E:pippamd@icloud.com

We're delighted that this garden is opening again after a break of five years. Please come along and see the garden's magnificent trees, woodland walks, ponds, blue poppies and swathes of primulas. There are lovely herbaceous borders near the house with perennials, shrubs and climbers, and below the house, one can walk around the linked ponds which are popular with wildfowl. Behind the house, there are woodland walks through rhododendrons and mature trees, leading up to Benarty Hill to the ruins of Dowhill Castle, with fine views over Loch Leven. Featured in Scotland for Gardeners by Kenneth Cox.

Directions: Three-quarters of a mile from M90, exit 5. Follow B9097 towards Crook of Devon, the entrance is between the trees on left.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: MND Scotland 60%

Kilchoan Gardens

Kilmelford PA34 4XD
Kilchoan Estate/ Luke Senior - Head Gardener

Saturday/Sunday, 17/18 May & Saturday/Sunday, 12/13 July, 10am - 5pm (2025)

2679

T:07425 054 743 or 01852 200 500 E:luke@kilchoanestate.co.uk

An eclectic private garden, open on specific dates and year round by appointment.

Since 2016, when Kilchoan Estate was taken into new ownership, the grounds have been developed and expanded; areas that had fallen into ruin and garden spaces reclaimed by nature have been uncovered; surviving plantings and mature trees have been enhanced; the footprint of further expansive garden and policies laid out.

A cosmopolitan collection of plants and artwork are displayed throughout the grounds, featuring a Himalayan garden, walled garden, arboretum with International Conifer Conservation Program collection, formal planting within native woodlands. Planting has been designed with conservation, diversity and beauty in mind, providing year-round interest. There is plenty to see and many places to sit, rest and reflect.

The chapel will be open. Teas available on SGS specific dates.

Directions: 4.5 miles along the road from the A816 turn off south of Kilmelford signed Degnish. Turn left after 1.5 miles at the bridge and Melfort Holiday Village. Follow this for 3 miles and look out for signage.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: The Kilchoan Melfort Trust 30% & Netherlorn (Church of Scotland): Kilmelford Church New Annexe 30%

Woodfall Gardens

Glasserton DG8 8LY
Ross and Liz Muir

Sunday 18 May, Sunday 15 June & Sunday 20 July, 10.30am - 4.30pm. Please check the garden’s website for details of further openings. (2025)

67

E:woodfallgardens@btinternet.com

W:www.woodfall-gardens.co.uk

This lovely 3 acre triple walled garden has been thoughtfully restored to provide year round interest and a wonderful environment for birds, bees, butterflies and even red squirrels. The gulf stream keeps the climate mild and enables many tender southern hemisphere plants to thrive. Some of the seasonal highlights are the exotic bulb beds, the candelabra primula walkway, hundreds of blue poppies and a huge variety of hydrangeas, rhododendrons and acers. There are many mature trees and shrubs, including many less common species, and extensive beds of fruit and vegetables that are interspersed with flowers. This well stocked garden, that still has traces of 18th century grandeur, is definitely worth a visit. We are very grateful to the people who visit annually - there is no better recommendation.

Directions: Two miles south-west of Whithorn at junction off A746 and A747 (directly behind Glasserton Church).

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Whithorn Primary School 60%

West Leas

near Bonchester Bridge TD9 8TD
Mr and Mrs Robert Laidlaw

Sunday 1 June & Sunday 3 August, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

267

T:01450 860711 E:ann@johnlaidlawandson.co.uk

The visitor to West Leas can share in an exciting and dramatic project on a grand scale, one that is constantly growing and evolving. A feat of liquid engineering, with a cascading stream contrasting with slow water pools. At its core is a passion for plants, allied to a love and understanding of the land in which they are set. Collections of perennials and shrubs lighten up the landscape to magical effect. The lily pond and woodland planting was added in 2019 and a courtyard garden links to the humidity controlled garden rooms housing a collection of exotics .

Directions: Signposted off the Jedburgh/Bonchester Bridge Road.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Macmillan Cancer Support: Borders Appeal 60%

The Potting Shed

Broughton Place, Broughton, Biggar ML12 6HJ
Jane and Graham Buchanan-Dunlop

Wednesday 4 June, Wednesday 11 June, Wednesday 25 June & Wednesday 2 July, 11am - 5pm (2025)

c67

T:01899 830574 E:buchanandunlop@btinternet.com

A one-acre garden begun from scratch in 2008, on an exposed hillside at 900 feet. It contains herbaceous plants, climbers, shrubs and trees - all selected for wind resistance and ability to cope with the poor, stony soil. There are usually fine views to the Southern Uplands.

Directions: Signposted from the main A701 Edinburgh - Moffat Road, immediately north of Broughton village.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Nomad Beat Ltd: Peebles Community Music School 60%

Kirkton Manor House

Peebles EH45 9JH
Mrs Rosemary Thorburn

Wednesdays only, 4 - 25 June, 1pm - 4pm. (2025)

7

T:01721 740220 E:rpthorburn@icloud.com

Kirkton Manor House has a delightful, three-acre, informal country garden set in the beautiful Manor Valley. It enjoys spectacular open views and calling curlews from its riverside position. Bluebells flank the impressive entrance leading to a new shrub border. Stone steps continue through to terraced slopes filled with bulbs, roses and hellebores providing height, interest and fragrance. Grass paths meander along the burn where snowdrops, blue and white camassia, meconopsis, and ligularia thrive in this sunny meadow environment. Later, in June, sisyrinchiums, irises, orchids and many flowering shrubs and roses are abundant. The natural woodland includes many interesting trees.

Directions: Turn off the A72 west of Neidpath Castle, signposted to Kirkton Manor. After crossing the River Tweed, enter a garden gate which is a mile downhill, opposite a Beware Horses sign.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Bradystone House

Murthly PH1 4EW
Mrs James Lumsden

Thursdays only from 5 June to 11 September, 11am - 4pm, admission £5, children free. (2025)

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T:01738 710308 E:pclumsden@me.com

A sophisticated cottage garden converted from a derelict farm steading. Imaginative and abundant planting with unusual and special perennials, clematis, roses, abutilons and shrubs. There is an interesting and bountiful plant stall. Small vegetable garden and orchard, meandering woodland walks and a duck pond. A tranquil setting with elegant planting. Garden groups welcome by arrangement. Dogs on leads please.

Directions: From south/north follow the A9 to Bankfoot, then signs to Murthly. At the crossroads in Murthly take the private road to Bradystone.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance 60%

Mill House

Lyness, Hoy, Orkney KW16 3NU
Helen Hiscoke

Saturday 28 June, 11am - 4pm (2025)

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Mill House gardens are a seaside sanctuary of quiet contemplative rooms on many levels, with amazing views. The many secluded seated areas are accessed by steps, tree lined paths and walled garden routes leading around the sprawling grounds, with an array of trees, shrubs, flowers for seasonal colour and interest with formal and natural ponds attracting abundant wildlife. There is a sea front rockery overlooked by a glazed deck from where you can view Scapa Flow. The fruit and vegetable garden is home to a self-built recycled green house, a sheltered potting area, cold frames, raised beds for growing the family’s produce including a dappled shaded herb garden behind the house, all giving hours of peace and health benefits working with the steady processes of gardening.

Directions: From Lyness ferry terminal, follow signs for Emily's Tea Room for two miles, passing over a river. Mill House is on the right past Emily's.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Headway - The Brain Injury Association 60%

Portmore

Eddleston EH45 8QU
Mr and Mrs David Reid

Saturday 28 June, 1pm - 5pm (2025)

0c45d7

T:07905 776894

W:www.portmoregardens.co.uk

Lovingly created by the current owners over the past 30 years; the gardens surrounding the David Bryce-designed mansion house contain mature trees and offer fine views of the surrounding countryside. Large walled garden with box-edged herbaceous borders is planted in stunning colour harmonies, potager, rose garden, pleached lime walk and ornamental fruit cages. The Victorian glasshouses contain fruit trees, roses, geraniums, pelargoniums and a wide variety of tender plants. There is also an Italianate grotto and water garden with shrubs and Meconopsis. The woodland walks are lined with rhododendrons, azaleas and shrub roses. Starred in Good Gardens Guide and featured in Kenneth Cox’s book Scotland for Gardeners and on Beechgrove.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00318

Directions: Off the A703 one mile north of Eddleston. Bus 62.

Admission: £7.00, children free

Charities: Abundant Borders (SCIO) 60%

Tyninghame House and The Walled Garden

Tyninghame House, Dunbar EH42 1XW
Mrs C Gwyn, Tyninghame Gardens Ltd

Sunday 29 June, 1pm - 5pm (2025)

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The Walled Garden, Tyninghame Dunbar EH42 1XW (Mrs C Gwyn): The formal walled garden combines the lawn, sculpture and yew hedges, an Apple Walk, extensive herbaceous planting including roses and peonies with an informal arboretum. Splendid 17th century sandstone Scottish baronial house, remodelled in 1829 by William Burn.

Tyninghame House Dunbar EH42 1XW (Tyninghame Gardens Ltd): The gardens include herbaceous border, formal rose garden, Lady Haddington’s Secret Garden with old fashioned roses and an extensive wilderness spring garden with rhododendrons, azalea, flowering trees and bulbs. Grounds include a one-mile beech avenue to the sea. The Romanesque ruin of St Baldred’s Church commands views across the Tyne Estuary and Lammermuir Hills. Tyninghame has been awarded ‘Outstanding’ for every category in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Scotland.

Champion Trees: Two British and seven Scottish

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00380

Directions: Gates on the A198 at Tyninghame Village. Bus 120.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Lynton Day Centre 60%

Southwick House

Southwick DG2 8AH
Mr and Mrs R H L Thomas

Sunday 29 June, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

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The extensive gardens at Southwick House comprise three main areas. The first is a traditional formal walled garden with potager and large glasshouse producing a range of fruit, vegetables and cutting flowers. Adjacent to this is a hedged formal garden with herbaceous, shrub and rose beds centred around a lily pond, with roses being a notable feature. Outwith the formal gardens there is a large water garden with two connected ponds with trees, shrubs and lawns running alongside the Southwick Burn.

Directions: On the A710 near Caulkerbush. Dalbeattie 7 miles, Dumfries 17 miles.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Loch Arthur 60%

Earlshall Castle

Leuchars KY16 0DP
Paul and Josine Veenhuijzen

Sunday 29 June, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

6d7

T:01334 839205

Extensive, historically important and Quixotic topiary gardens designed by Sir Robert Lorimer in the 1890s to complement the Castle. The grounds also include a rose garden, croquet lawn, vegetable garden, orchard, park and wooded area.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00168

Directions: On Earlshall Road, three-quarters of a mile east of Leuchars Village (off A919).

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Charity: Leuchars 60%

Wraes

Corseliehill Road, nr Houston PA6 7HU
Tim and Jo Mack

Sunday 29 June, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2c7k

A varied seven acre rural garden with far reaching views and a variety of planting areas, designed to take advantage of the natural terrain and be actively wildlife friendly. Raised formal herbaceous beds, several wildlife ponds, burnside walks, grass maze, spring garden, woodland with rhododendron collection (100 species). For those interested in growing their own food, there is a large no-dig productive area, with vegetables, fruit cage, orchard and wildflower meadow. There are lots of seating places to relax and enjoy the tranquility while the kids tackle the maze or just have a good run around!

Directions: From Houston follow Barochan Road towards Langbank B789 for about a mile, turn left down Corseliehill Road. From Kilmacolm leave the village on Houston Road, past the golf course, turn left down Corseliehill Road for about a mile.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Breast Cancer Now 60%

Finzean House

Finzean, Banchory AB31 6NZ
Mr and Mrs Donald Farquharson

Sunday 29 June, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2c57

Finzean House was the family home of Joseph Farquharson, the Victorian landscape painter, and the garden was the backdrop for several of his paintings. The garden has lovely views, over the historic holly hedge to the front, of Clachnaben. There is a spring woodland garden, extensive lawns with herbaceous and shrub borders and a working cut-flower garden for late summer, alongside a recently restored pond area. A new vegetable garden was created in 2020.

Directions: On the B976, South Deeside Road, between Banchory and Aboyne.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: The Forget-Me-Not Club 60%

Kirkton Manor House

Peebles EH45 9JH
Mrs Rosemary Thorburn

Wednesdays only 2 - 16 July, 1pm - 4pm. (2025)

7

T:01721 740220 E:rpthorburn@icloud.com

Kirkton Manor House has a delightful, three-acre, informal country garden set in the beautiful Manor Valley. It enjoys spectacular open views and calling curlews from its riverside position. Bluebells flank the impressive entrance leading to a new shrub border. Stone steps continue through to terraced slopes filled with bulbs, roses and hellebores providing height, interest and fragrance. Grass paths meander along the burn where snowdrops, blue and white camassia, meconopsis, and ligularia thrive in this sunny meadow environment. Later, in June, sisyrinchiums, irises, orchids and many flowering shrubs and roses are abundant. The natural woodland includes many interesting trees.

Directions: Turn off the A72 west of Neidpath Castle, signposted to Kirkton Manor. After crossing the River Tweed, enter a garden gate which is a mile downhill, opposite a Beware Horses sign.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Portmore

Eddleston EH45 8QU
Mr and Mrs David Reid

Wednesdays only 2 - 30 July, 1pm - 5pm. (2025)

0c45d7

T:07905 776894

W:www.portmoregardens.co.uk

Lovingly created by the current owners over the past 30 years; the gardens surrounding the David Bryce-designed mansion house contain mature trees and offer fine views of the surrounding countryside. Large walled garden with box-edged herbaceous borders is planted in stunning colour harmonies, potager, rose garden, pleached lime walk and ornamental fruit cages. The Victorian glasshouses contain fruit trees, roses, geraniums, pelargoniums and a wide variety of tender plants. There is also an Italianate grotto and water garden with shrubs and Meconopsis. The woodland walks are lined with rhododendrons, azaleas and shrub roses. Starred in Good Gardens Guide and featured in Kenneth Cox’s book Scotland for Gardeners and on Beechgrove.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00318

Directions: Off the A703 one mile north of Eddleston. Bus 62.

Admission: £7.00, children free

Charities: Abundant Borders (SCIO) 60%

Bonhard House

Perth PH2 7PQ
Stephen and Charlotte Hay

Saturday/Sunday, 5/6 July, 10am - 4pm (2025)

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T:07990 574570 E:stephenjohnhay@me.com

Traditional 19th-century garden of five acres approached through an avenue of magnificent oaks. Mature trees, six classified by the National Tree Register as 'remarkable', including a monkey puzzle (1852, one of the first 12 brought to Scotland), sequoias, Douglas fir and a variety of hollies. Reinstated and new herbaceous borders. Rhododendron and azalea beds. Recently planted spring and summer flowering meadow areas with a variety of fruit and nut trees. Beehive and a productive vegetable garden. A new larch arbour with climbing roses and clematis. Grass paths meander through a pond area with shrubs and mature trees. A pinetum with 25 different varieties. Garden emphasis on wildlife habitat as well as aesthetics. Resident red squirrels. Plentiful and varied birdlife.

Directions: On the A94 just under a mile north of Perth take the right turn, signed Murrayshall Country Estate. After approximately one mile take the entrance right marked Bonhard House, at a sharp left turn. From Balbeggie turn left, signposted for Bonhard, one mile north of Scone. Turn right in a half-a-mile, pass any sign for Bonhard Nursery, and enter the drive at sharp right turn.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Freedom from Fistula Foundation 60%

Papple Steading

Papple, Haddington EH41 4QD
George and Eri Mackintosh

Saturday/Sunday, 5/6 July, 11am - 4pm (2025)

067k

T:07941 157785 E:verity.sinclair@papple.com

W:www.papple.com

Papple Steading is a collection of rural farm buildings built in 1860 by AJ Balfour. The gardens (maintained using natural and environmentally friendly methods) have a developing herbaceous collection, lawns, a very productive organic fruit patch, large informal beds and a small herb area. The paddock has meandering paths cut through tall grasses and wildflowers. The adjoining Papple Wood is an ancient, largely deciduous woodland where a trail takes you past follies and sculptures set amongst native trees. A short walk from the Steading is Papana Wood and Wildflower Meadow, possibly the largest meadow of its kind in the county. The Papana Water flows alongside the meadow which was planted in 2020 with Scottish native wildflowers. In 2022 we planted a forest garden in the grounds; this is gradually becoming a wild foraging paradise!

Directions: From the A199 at East Linton, follow signs to Traprain and Whittingehame, signposted to Papple, 1.5 miles. What3words: formation:painted:honest

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Leuchie 60%

Round House

Berstane Road, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1SZ
David and Gill Newstead

Saturday 5 July, 11am - 4pm (2025)

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Half-an-acre site (including the house) with a view towards North Isles. Established windbreak surround of mixed shrubs and trees, seven raised beds for vegetables and flowers, bog garden with huge gunnera and water-loving plants. A very large rockery, non alpine, with a path over the top. There are two small wooded areas, one with bluebells and areas of grass made over to a wildflower meadow.

Directions: There is no parking up our lane. Vehicles can be left on the verge at the top of Berstane Road and it’s a 100 metre walk from there. The town bus no 9 stops at Berstane Loan at the top of our lane.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Orkney Foodbank 60%

The Gardens of Monimail Tower

Monimail Tower Project, by Letham KY15 7RJ
The Gardeners of Monimail Tower Project

Sunday 6 July, 10am - 4pm (2025)

2c67

T:07505 424905 E:monimailtower@posteo.uk

W:https://www.monimailtower.org

Monimail Tower gardens is situated in the Howe of Fife, a 19th century walled garden and orchard, built around a 15th century tower, the remains of Cardinal Beaton's summer palace. The garden has been an organic vegetable garden since 1985. We are now developing flower beds, but very much in a natural and wildlife friendly way. You will find peacefulness and tranquillity, but not the formality associated with walled gardens. It is a haven for invertebrates and birds. The garden hosts a site for allotments for local people and the woodlands and orchard are open to the general public all year round with a carpet of snowdrops, aconites, then followed by wild garlic in spring. The garden has a marvellous aspect sloping south, surrounded by ancient yew trees and an orchard. The tower is open to visitors and hosts a little museum. You can climb up to the roof and enjoy a beautiful view.

Directions: Monimail Tower Project is situated in Monimail, a hamlet on the road between Letham and Collessie

Admission: by donation

Charities: Monimail Tower Project Ltd 60%

77 Kirk Brae

Edinburgh EH16 6JN
Michael Brown and Angela Casey

Sunday 6 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2457

E:mvbrown55@gmail.com

A south Edinburgh garden of roughly 1200 square metres surrounded by a stone wall. This family garden features a mix of mature and younger trees, herbaceous beds and borders, a vegetable patch, lawn, a 19th century cast iron vinery, an old monkey puzzle, pond and a patio. Since 2002 the garden has evolved from the traditional and formal to an informal, wildlife-friendly garden with a wide variety of plants, trees and shrubs. The planting aims for year-round colour and variety with fruit, vegetables and different areas for just sitting and enjoying. Still on its journey and a work in progress, the newest initiative is to turn some of the lawn into a small wildflower meadow. All inputs are peat-free and as organic as possible.

Directions: 77 Kirk Brae is towards the top of the hill on the left hand side, the number 77 is clearly marked on the main and side gates. Parking is on Kirk Brae or in the quieter Wolrige Road nearby. The 31 bus stops close to the property in each direction at the Kirk Park stop.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: SupportED - The Community Eating Disorder Charity 60%

Haugh Garden

College of Roseisle IV30 5YE
Gwynne and David Hetherington

Sunday 6 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2c67

T:01343 835790 E:davidhetherington26@gmail.com

A lovely two-acre garden to relax in with continuing developments to enjoy. Wander through woodlands and meadows, and in and around eye-catching perennial borders with unusual plants and shrubs, a pond and an orchard, all attracting a diversity of insects and birds. Our organic vegetable garden and polytunnel keep us well supplied and using the no-dig method, without need for artificial fertiliser or chemicals. Our garden delights us with year-round interest starting with various spring bulbs and flowering shrubs and continuing through to late autumn colours

Directions: From Elgin take the A96 west, then the B9013 Burghead Road to the crossroads at the centre of College of Roseisle. The garden is on the right, enter from the Duffus Road. Car parking at the village hall off Kinloss road. Drop off and disabled parking is available at the house.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Alzheimer Scotland 30% & WWF-UK 30%

Amat

Amat Lodge, Ardgay IV24 3BS
Jonny and Sara Shaw

Saturday/Sunday, 12/13 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

36e7

T:07712 266500 E:sara.amat@aol.co.uk

Over the last few years there have been big changes in the garden and there is now much more interest during the summer months. There is a new mini stumpery and many changes to the original borders. The river Carron flows around the edge of the garden and the old Amat Caledonian Forest is close by. Large specimen trees surround the house, plus many new ones planted in the policies in the last few years. There are several herbaceous borders, rhododendrons, trees and shrubs, all set in a large lawn. It is possible to go on a short woodland and river walk and you may see red squirrels which were reintroduced some years ago and are often in and around the garden.
Champion Trees: Abies Procera, Noble Fir

Directions: Take the road from Ardgay to Croick, nine miles. Turn left at the red phone box and the garden is 500 yards on the left.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Alzheimer Scotland 30% & Marie Curie 30%

The Bield at Blackruthven

Blackruthven House, Tibbermore PH1 1PY
The Bield Christian Co Ltd

Saturday 12 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2c57

T:01738 583238 E:info@bieldatblackruthven.org.uk

The Bield is set in extensive grounds with well-maintained lawns, hedges, flower meadow and specimen trees. A labyrinth is cut into the grass of the old orchard and there is a wheelchair-friendly labyrinth. Traditional walled garden with richly-stocked borders and lawns, cut-flower garden, healing garden, glasshouse, trained fruit trees and organic veg plot. Walk through extensive woodland and visit the old curling pond. New in the grounds this year is a little Japanese Garden. Southton Smallholding is a social enterprise ten minutes walk away, featuring veg plots, polytunnels and a number of animals (not staffed on the day).

Directions: From Dundee or Edinburgh, follow signs for Glasgow, Stirling and Crianlarich which lead onto the Perth bypass. Head west on the A85 signed to Crieff/Crianlarich to West Huntingtower. Turn left at crossroads to Madderty/Tibbermore. Entrance on left after ½ mile passing the gate lodge on your right. Parking signed to right at the steading.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Ripple Effect 60%

Kiltarlity Gardens

Kiltarlity, Beauly IV4 7JH
Sheila Ross, Laura Evans, Dickon and Barbara Sandbach & Sue Marshall

Sunday 13 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2c6

Aird View 30a Camault Muir, Kiltarlity IV4 7JH (Sheila Ross): The garden at Aird View offers a mix of borders, a water feature, an arbour and a newly-added herbaceous border. There are also fruit trees and vegetable beds. Vintage tractors on display.

Buchollie House (NEW) Buchollie House, Boblainy, Kiltarlity IV4 7HX (Sue Marshall): Buchollie House has an informal but varied woodland garden of about one acre. It incorporates herbaceous borders, raised vegetable beds, and a shaded glade planted with rhododendrons and azaleas, as well as more natural areas and a wildflower patch. There is a large wildlife pond and the garden attracts a huge variety of woodland birds and animals. It is a good example of a large garden that is relatively easy to manage and maintain.

Highland Liliums 10 Loaneckheim, Kiltarlity IV4 7JQ (Laura Evans): Highland Liliums is a working retail nursery with spectacular views over the Beauly valley and Strathfarrar hills. A wide selection of home-grown plants are available including alpines, ferns, grasses, herbaceous, herbs, liliums, primulas and shrubs.

Monarda House Kiltarlity, Beauly IV4 7HX (Dickon and Barbara Sandbach): An evolving, productive garden with a mix of ornamental and native plantings over four acres. An easy circuit, in proximity to the house on even paths, displays a variety of conifers, shrubs and herbaceous plants, with a summer house. A wider circuit, for which stouter footwear is recommended, includes raised vegetable beds, polytunnel, chicken run, a young orchard, nuttery and mature woodland, with a pine-lined avenue up to the fledgling arboretum. Beyond is a rough-pathed area of regenerative wood, wildflower meadow, mature trees and willow coppice, to the old stable apiary, returning along a track sided with ornamental cherries.

Directions: Aird View: Take the A833 Beauly to Drumnadrochit Road, pass Brockies Lodge. Turn right at the bus shelter and follow the single track road to the junction at the school. Turn left and go up the hill to the top, at the junction Aird View is on the right. Buchollie House and Monarda House: From the A833 Beauly to Drumnadrochit road, turn into Kiltarlity. Drive through the village, over a small bridge, then take the first left to Clunevackie. Continue for approx one mile where you will see Buchollie House on the left side of road. Disabled parking is available at the house, but main parking approx 200 metres further up the hill at Monarda House which is on the right hand side of the road after it bears left ahead of a forestry track. What3words: valuables.teaches.brave. Highland Liliums is signposted from Kiltarlity Village.

Admission: £8.00, children free

Charities: Highland Hospice: Aird branch 60%

Balcarres

Colinsburgh KY9 1HN
The Earl and Countess of Crawford and Balcarres

Sunday 13 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

245d

T:01333 340205 (Estate Office)

Set on the south-facing slopes of Fife, with spectacular views over the Firth of Forth, Balcarres Garden is a summer haven welcoming visitors to explore its natural beauty. In July, the Rose Garden will be in full bloom, showcasing a mixture of David Austin shrub roses, hybrid tea, and floribunda varieties, offering a stunning display of colour and fragrance. Alongside the roses, the herbaceous borders will be alive with vibrant phlox, geranium, alstromeria, veronicastrum, aconitum, astrantia, campanula, nepeta, eryngium, macleaya, thalictrum, telekia and lythrum. The herbaceous borders, with their generous and informal planting style, offer a delightful contrast to the structure and formality of the lower terrace. Framed by magnificent 200-year-old yew hedges, the terrace provides a stunning architectural backdrop that enhances the natural beauty of the garden. Visitors will also enjoy the rich foliage along Mary's Walk and Chapel Walk, together with Jim's Grove, its woodland character a further must-see for plant enthusiasts. Balcarres Garden offers a perfect retreat for a summer's day.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00036

Directions: Half-a-mile north of Colinsburgh off A942. Bus to Colinsburgh.

Admission: £7.50, children free

Charities: Children 1ST: for a family holiday in East Neuk 30% & Colinsburgh Community Trust Ltd: for Colinsburgh Community Gardens 30%

Douneside House

Tarland AB34 4UD
The MacRobert Trust

Sunday 13 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2c867k

W:www.dounesidehouse.co.uk

Douneside is the former home of Lady MacRobert, who developed these magnificent gardens in the early to mid-1900s. Ornamental borders, an Arts and Crafts themed terraced garden and water gardens surround a spectacular infinity lawn overlooking the Deeside hills. The walled garden houses a large ornamental greenhouse and supplies organic fruit, vegetables, herbs and cut flowers to Douneside House which is a multi-award winning hotel. All areas of the garden will be open and there will be a pipe band, teas and plants for sale.

Directions: On the B9119 towards Aberdeen. Tarland one mile.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Perennial 60%

Kinnordy Walled Garden

Kinnordy House, Kirriemuir, Angus DD8 5ER
Mary Gifford

Saturday 19 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2579

W:Kinnordy.com

Kinnordy Walled Garden is an oblique shape of about two acres with a listed observatory and potting shed. It has been developed in the last ten years from a site for rearing pheasants to an attractive garden including one of the Scottish tea gardens, a wild area where a pair of oyster catchers lay eggs each year, and a vegetable area.

The opening includes a visit to The Sustainable Kirriemuir Field which is a short walk away. This project, started in 2024, is developing an area to grow food for the community. Sustainable Kirriemuir is an environmental charity with a vision for Kirriemuir to be a sustainable, net-zero community where people and nature flourish.

Directions: At the Kirriemuir north west junction of the B995 and the B956 take the turn away from Kirriemuir towards Cortachy, then take the first left onto the estate, and continue to the Estate Office.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Sustainable Kirriemuir 60%

Kailzie Gardens

Peebles EH45 9HT
Susan and Steve Plag

Sunday 20 July, 10am - 4pm (2025)

3c6ed7

T:01721 720682

W:kailziegardens.com

Kailzie Gardens sits at the heart of the Tweed Valley just a mile east of Peebles occupying a beautiful position on the River Tweed. At its heart lies the stunning walled garden with plantings of many unusual shrubs, laburnum arches, an enchanting rose garden and spectacular herbaceous borders and one of the best examples of a Mackenzie and Moncur glasshouse still in existence, filled with fuchsias, pelargoniums and exotics. The garden also features prize winning show vegetables. The surrounding woodlands have one of the best laid arboretums in Scotland, with champion trees and specimens (including the oldest larch), providing acres of captivating woodland and burnside walks and spectacular vistas.
Champion Trees: Larch planted 1725

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00229

Directions: A mile east of Peebles on the B7062.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Tweed Togs SCIO 60%

Airlie Castle Gardens

Airlie Castle, Airlie, By Kirriemuir, Angus DD8 5NG
David and Tarka Airlie

Sunday 20 July, 2pm - 6pm (2025)

2c7k9

T:01575 530387 E:office@airlieestates.com

W:www.airlieestates.com

Airlie was built in the 15th century as a fortified castle. It sits on a promontory high above the Rivers Melgum and Isla. The gorge below is a Site of Special Scientific Interest because it contains rare lichen and wildflowers. The 18th-century walled garden grows fruit, flowers and vegetables and it is intersected by mature yew and box topiary. Within the Castle walls itself, there are two herbaceous borders and a large Kiftsgate rose and climbing wisteria. In large areas of the policies the grass has been left to grow long, and as a consequence of this many varieties of native wild orchid have reappeared. A woodland walk leads down from the Castle and gardens to the River Isla.

Directions: Take the B951 from Kirriemuir signposted Glen Isla. Pass Kinnordy Loch and then turn left signposted Airlie and Alyth. Keep on for three-and-a half-miles, pass Mains of Airlie farm on left. Entrance to castle is just beyond on the right.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: MBA: Mountain Bothies Association 60%

Kings Grange House

Castle Douglas DG7 3EU
Christine and Peter Hickman

Sunday 20 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

26

T:07787 535889

An extensive garden surrounded by mature trees and shrubberies, with views to the south west over the surrounding countryside. Originally Victorian, the garden is being restored by the present owners with a colourful variety of herbaceous mixed borders, beds and rockeries. There are snowdrops in February and banks of daffodils and a carpet of white narcissus in the lawns and around the pergola in springtime.

Directions: Take the B794 north off the A75, two miles east of Castle Douglas. Kings Grange House is approximately one mile on the left.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Marie Curie 30% & RNLI 30%

Milton of Finavon House

Forfar DD8 3PY

Saturday 26 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

0c857

E:enquiries@miltonoffinavonhouse.co.uk

W:miltonoffinavonhouse.co.uk

Milton of Finavon House is a Grade C listed property in 1.8 acres of gardens. In parts, the house dates from circa 1500. The gardens are currently being restored and replanted. There is a small meadow orchard with fruit trees and mown walkways, a formal semi-walled garden with more restoration and new planting, with further woodland walks and a kitchen garden with new and old restoration planting. We hope that you will enjoy seeing the garden evolve over the coming years.

Directions: 2 minutes off the A90, north of Forfar and south of Brechin. Take the sharp turn off the A90 and then again into Milton Lane and then about 1 mile into the village. Park up and then on foot follow the signs. Parking is free in the village and is a two minute walk to the gardens. Blue Badge holders may park in the courtyard, you will be directed on arrival, so please follow the road and turn right at the T junction. A public WC is available in the courtyard. Water bowls for dogs will be available.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Pitlochie House

Gateside KY14 7SQ
George and Fay Orr

Sunday 27 July, 10am - 6pm (2025)

2c6

T:07730 135953

This established garden has year-round interest. A restoration project with quirky features, characters and surprises! Comprising lots of different areas, the garden is carpeted in spring with snowdrops, daffodils, camassia and then bluebells. Following on there are over 140 varieties of hosta, plus heuchera, hellebores, roses, clematis, and lilies. There are formal herbaceous borders within two walled gardens, hedges, woodland, shaded planting, glass house, fruit trees, rhododendrons and azaleas. And pots of all description in every available corner.

Directions: On the A912 Gateside to Perth. The garden is on the right hand side, 200 metres from the village main street

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Gateside And District Community Association 60%

Mollan

Thornhill, Stirling FK8 3QJ
Iain and Ruth Howieson

Sunday 27 July, 12pm - 4pm (2025)

2c85

Mollan is a large, 3-acre garden in rural Stirlingshire set in softly rolling farmland. The garden is designed as a series of smaller interlocking gardens, each with a distinct character, packed with rich, colourful planting and meandering paths. There is a formal lawn, a wildflower meadow, two ponds and a productive kitchen garden.

Directions: Leaving Thornhill on the A873 towards Aberfoyle, Mollan is on the left hand side a mile outside the village. There are stone pillars and a knee height sign saying Mollan House at the entrance which leads to a tree lined drive.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Thornhill Playgroup & Toddlers 60%

House of Aigas and Field Centre

by Beauly IV4 7AD
Sir John and Lady Lister-Kaye

Sunday 27 July, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

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T:01463 782443 E:info@aigas.co.uk

W:www.aigas.co.uk

The House of Aigas has a small arboretum of named Victorian specimen trees and modern additions. The garden consists of extensive rockeries, herbaceous borders, ponds and shrubs. Aigas Field Centre rangers lead regular guided walks on nature trails through woodland, moorland and around a loch.
Champion Trees: Douglas fir, Atlas cedar and Sequoiadendron giganteum

Directions: Four-and-a-half miles from Beauly on the A831 Cannich/Glen Affric road.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Highland Hospice: Aird branch 60%

Naturally Useful, Marcassie Farm

Rafford, Forres IV36 2RH
Karen Collins

Sunday 3 August, 1pm - 5pm (2025)

67

T:01309 675052 E:karen@naturallyuseful.co.uk

W:naturallyuseful.co.uk/

We grow willow, grasses for fibre, plants for dyeing and flowers for printing. We harvest and, by hand, transform these raw materials into something beautiful and useful.

Directions: If using SatNav, only use the address Marcassie Farm (the postcode sends you to the castle). The willow field is on the right of the track just over the bridge.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Quarriers: Willow Field Health and Wellbeing Project 60%

Drummond Castle Gardens

Muthill, Crieff PH7 4HN
Grimsthorpe & Drummond Castle Trust Ltd

Sunday 3 August, 1pm - 5pm (2025)

2857

T:01764 681433

W:www.drummondcastlegardens.co.uk

Activities and events for a great family day out. The gardens of Drummond Castle were originally laid out in 1630 by John Drummond, second Earl of Perth. In 1830 the parterre was changed to an Italian style. One of the most interesting features is the multi-faceted sundial designed by John Mylne, Master Mason to Charles I. The formal garden is said to be one of the finest in Europe and is the largest of its type in Scotland.

Directions: Entrance two miles south of Crieff on Muthill road (A822).

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: BLESMA 60%

Glenbervie House

Drumlithie, Stonehaven AB39 3YA
Mr and Mrs A Macphie

Sunday 3 August, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2c6

The nucleus of the large garden at Glenbervie is the traditional Victorian walled garden. It slopes south east for 1½ acres, divided essentially into four sections, including vegetables punctuated by annuals, roses and lawn, surrounded by fruit and perennials. At the top of the garden is an extensive heated greenhouse, well worth exploring. A lovely woodland garden can be found in other parts of the garden, also around the house, lawns with herbaceous and shrub borders.

Directions: Drumlithie one mile. Garden is 1½ miles off the A90.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance 60%

Old Allangrange

Munlochy IV8 8NZ
J J Gladwin

Sunday 3 August, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

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T:01463 811304 E:office@blackislegardendesign.com

We have an ornamental garden surrounding the house (new information discovered dates it from the 17th rather than 18th Century), and a three acre productive garden with two Keder greenhouses, designed using agroforestry and permaculture principles and gardened bio-dynamically using no-dig technique. The ornamental garden has different areas with distinctive characters. There is a parterre in front of the house with informal planting, a lower garden, an ornamental propagation garden, a mound and orchard. Hedges, (pleached lime, yew, beech, box, holly and mixed species field hedges) clipped in various styles connect the different areas of the garden. We have started to remove perimeter wire fences replacing them with log hedges and brash bunds. With a keen interest in gardening for biodiversity from the soil upwards, no chemicals have been used since our arrival in 1995. The development and improvement of the garden is ongoing.
Champion Trees: Yew and sweet chestnut.

Directions: From Inverness head four miles north on the A9, and follow the directions for Black Isle Brewery. Park up at the Brewery and walk down to the garden. Directions will be given in the shop.

Admission: £7.50, children free

Charities: Flourish 60%

Larch House

Clerklands, Near Lilliesleaf TD6 9JR
David and Julia King

6 - 27 August (Wednesdays only) 11am - 4pm. Pre-booking is required on these days due to limited parking. Also open by arrangement 1 July - 31 August. Admission £5.00, children free. (2025)

37

T:01835 870888 E:northcorner14@btinternet.com

The garden at Larch House is constantly evolving. Extending to over three acres and building on a layout, design and planting by the previous owners, further landscaping and renovation is ongoing. It includes a terraced area of vegetables and cut flowers edged by fruit trees, several mixed borders surrounding a lawn, a large natural wildlife pond and a newly-planted bog garden. The garden leads into a mixed wood planted about six years ago where meandering paths, sometimes steep, lead to extensive views of the Cheviots. Many of the paths are gravel and may prove difficult for wheelchairs.

Directions: Clerklands is a small hamlet approximately two miles from Lilliesleaf. On the A7 from Selkirk, turn left and follow signs to Clerklands. After approximately three miles the house will be clearly signed. On the A7 from Hawick, turn right and follow signs towards Lilliesleaf and the house will be clearly signed. Car parking is on site.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Portmore

Eddleston EH45 8QU
Mr and Mrs David Reid

Wednesdays only 6 - 27 August, 1pm - 4pm. (2025)

0c45d7

T:07905 776894

W:www.portmoregardens.co.uk

Lovingly created by the current owners over the past 30 years; the gardens surrounding the David Bryce-designed mansion house contain mature trees and offer fine views of the surrounding countryside. Large walled garden with box-edged herbaceous borders is planted in stunning colour harmonies, potager, rose garden, pleached lime walk and ornamental fruit cages. The Victorian glasshouses contain fruit trees, roses, geraniums, pelargoniums and a wide variety of tender plants. There is also an Italianate grotto and water garden with shrubs and Meconopsis. The woodland walks are lined with rhododendrons, azaleas and shrub roses. Starred in Good Gardens Guide and featured in Kenneth Cox’s book Scotland for Gardeners and on Beechgrove.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00318

Directions: Off the A703 one mile north of Eddleston. Bus 62.

Admission: £7.00, children free

Charities: Abundant Borders (SCIO) 60%

Cloan

by Auchterarder PH3 1PP
Neil Mitchison

Sunday 10 August, 10am - 5pm (2025)

267

T:07958 155831 E:niall@fastmail.co.uk

Two acres of wild garden, with a wide variety of rhododendrons and azaleas, and an impressive collection of trees, including metasequoia, cryptomeria, Acer cappadocicum, Sequoia sempervirens, Quercus robur ‘Filicifolia’, liriodendron, several Japanese maples, magnificent beech and Scots pine trees, and extensive yew topiary; also an acre of walled garden with embothriums, Acer griseum, several sorbus varieties, parrotia and a large herbaceous border. Fine views of Strathearn from the front of the house.

Directions: From the A823, just south of the A9, follow the small road heading north east, signposted Duchally. Continue for approximately 2½ miles, turn right at the sign Coulshill. Continue for just under ½ mile. Follow the signs for car parking.

Admission: £4.00, children free

Charities: Tiphereth Limited: Camphill Scotland 60%

Dalswinton Mill

Dalswinton DG2 0XY
Colin and Pamela Crosbie

Sunday 10 August, 11am - 5pm (2025)

3c7

T:01387 740070 E:colincrosbiehort@btinternet.com

A newly-created, plantsman’s garden set around an 18th-century watermill with the Pennyland Burn running through it. The garden contains a wide range of perennials, trees and shrubs that favour the local climate and have been planted during the last few years. A variety of statuary can be found throughout the garden which sits in a hollow and can be only accessed by steps and there are slopes throughout the garden. Unfortunately, this makes the garden unsuitable for anyone with mobility requirements.

Directions: Garden lies in Dalswinton, halfway between the A76 and the A701 on the Auldgirth to Kirkton Road. From Auldgirth take the first left after the Dalswinton Village Hall. The Mill is on the corner before the bridge. We are unable to offer disabled parking.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Loch Arthur 60%

North Newton Farm

Kilmacolm PA13 4TE
Carole Cameron

Sunday 10 August, 1pm - 5pm (2025)

2c67

E:carole.cameron100@btinternet.com

In six years, the new owners have transformed North Newton Farm garden. 'No straight lines' and 'any colour so long as it is pink, purple, blue or white' are the guidelines. Many 'finds' abandoned by the previous owners in and around the barns have been repurposed under the 'let's use what we have' philosophy. To suit the topography, the garden now has cultivated and wilder parts with stunning views. Many climbing plants and herbaceous borders surround the wildlife pond below a rockery. A small wooded area provides a lovely view. A Victorian style greenhouse and cold frames flank stone-built raised beds in a fruit and vegetable garden. The resident goats, chickens and donkeys provide ample fertiliser.

Directions: Take the B786 Lochwinnoch road out of Kilmacolm and continue for approximately two miles. From Lochwinnoch take the B786 Kilmacolm road for approximately six miles. Turn up the road signposted to Killochries at this point following the yellow SGS signs.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Pancreatic Cancer Action 60%

The Milton of Campsie Community Garden

Antermony Road G66 8DB

Sunday 10 August, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

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T:07958 760169

The community garden in Milton of Campsie is the creation of one man, covering roughly an acre of hillside beside the Glazert Water. A small beach area where otters and kingfishers can be spotted, is a great place for children to play at the water's edge or for water-loving dogs. The garden was conceived as a memorial garden and as you walk through the willow tunnel to the various sections you will come across memorandum and dedications. With no shortage of relaxing seating areas you can sit and enjoy the children's lawn (created for the local nursery) complete with a miniature gypsy caravan with inside fittings, or the ancient ruin with its chimney and barbecue. Children will enjoy running over the two bridges that cross the water lily pond (they may even spot a newt). The variety and ingenuity make this an unmissable garden.

Directions: From Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch follow signs to Milton of Campsie and then follow the yellow SGS signs.

Admission: by donation

Charities: Cancer Research UK 60%

Glensaugh

Glensaugh Lodge, Fettercairn, Laurencekirk AB30 1HB
Donald and Sue Barrie

Sunday 17 August, 1:30pm - 4:30pm (2025)

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The twenty-year development of the hillside garden at Glensaugh, with its fine outlook over the Howe of the Mearns, continues as lawn evolves into wildflower meadow and borders are replanted. Trees, species rhododendrons and other shrubs provide year-round interest while herbaceous planting extends colour into the autumn. Yew hedges and well-placed natural stone give structure in the lower garden where a productive kitchen garden and polytunnel exist alongside informal borders and a sunken pond.

Directions: Three miles north of Fettercairn on the B974, turn right at the Clatterin Brig and follow minor road signed Glensaugh for ½ mile, then turn right into the Glensaugh farm steading (parking) and follow beech avenue from the steading to Glensaugh Lodge.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Kincardine And Deeside Befriending 60%

Kirklands

Saline KY12 9TS
Peter and Gill Hart

Sunday 17 August, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

2c467

T:07787 115477 E:peter@kirklandsgarden.co.uk

W:www.kirklandsgarden.co.uk

Kirklands, built in 1832, has been the Hart family home for 48 years. Over the years we have created a garden. The walled garden was reinstated from a paddock to include terracing and raised beds. In 2023 we introduced two bee hives. The woodland garden comes into life in February with snowdrops followed, over the months, by bluebells, hellebores, trilliums, fritillaries, rhododendrons, meconopsis, candelabra primulas and irises. The rockery displays dwarf rhododendrons and azaleas. The herbaceous borders reach their peak in the summer, continuing into early autumn with a display of bright yellow rudbeckia, verbena and echinacea. Down by the Saline Burn there are 30 species of primula in all colours of the rainbow. Over the red or blue bridge there are 20 acres of naturally regenerating woodland with a pathway by the stream. To keep the grandchildren occupied, Peter built a tree house, climbing frame and rope swing, though we hope they will take an interest in gardening too!

Directions: Junction 4, M90, then B914. Parking in the centre of the village, then a short walk to the garden. Limited disabled parking at Kirklands.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Saline & Steelend Gardening Club 60%

Dundonnell House

Little Loch Broom, Wester Ross IV23 2QW
Dundonnell Estates

Thursday 21 August, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

6e7

T:07789 390028 E:sueandwill@icloud.com

Camellias, magnolias and bulbs in spring, rhododendrons and laburnum walk in this ancient walled garden. Exciting planting gives all year round interest, centred around one of the oldest yew trees in Scotland. A water sculpture, unique Victorian glass house, riverside walk, arboretum - all in the valley below the peaks of An Teallach.
Champion Trees: Yew and Holly

Directions: Turn off the A835 at Braemore on to the A832. After 11 miles take the Badralloch turn for a ½ mile.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Médecins Sans Frontières 30% & Environmental Investigation Agency 30%

Whitburgh House Walled Garden

Pathhead, Midlothian EH37 5SR
Mrs Elizabeth Salvesen

Sunday 24 August & Tuesday 26 August, 2:30pm - 5pm (2025)

035

E:eesal39@gmail.com

This contemporary, stylish one-acre walled garden, over 700 feet above sea level, is a lively forward-looking and unexpected gem. The solidity and graphic quality of clipped foliage act as a foil for the many perennials, grasses, annuals, fruit and vegetables. A spiral path leads through an acre of white birches. There is also a variety of ponds and fine sculptures spread around 14 acres of policies. Whitburgh garden has featured recently in Country Life and RHS ‘The Garden’ as well as other publications.

Directions: From the north - a half mile south of Pathhead on the A68 turn left and follow the SGS signs. From the south - one mile north of Blackshiels on the A68 turn right at the sign to Fala Dam and follow SGS signs. Whitburgh House is about two miles from either turn off and south east of Pathhead.

Admission: £7.00, children free

Charities: Horatio's Garden 60%

Little Sparta

Stonypath, Dunsyre ML11 8NG
Pantea Cameron

Tuesday 26 August & Tuesday 2 September, 1pm - 4pm (2025)

T:01899 810711 E:contact@littlesparta.org.uk

W:www.littlesparta.org.uk

Little Sparta is Ian Hamilton Finlay’s greatest work of art. Ian and Sue Finlay moved to the farm of Stonypath in 1966 and began to create what would become an internationally acclaimed garden across seven acres of a wild and exposed moorland site. Collaborating with stone carvers, letterers and other artists and poets, the numerous sculptures and artworks created by Finlay explore themes as diverse as the sea and its fishing fleets, our relationship to nature, classical antiquity, the French Revolution and the Second World War. Individual poetic and sculptural elements, in wood, stone and metal, are sited in relation to carefully structured landscaping and planting. Please note that there is a 700m uphill walk from the car park and livestock grazing in the fields. For visitors with limited mobility, it may be possible to book a space near the house; call the garden for details.

Directions: Check www.littlesparta.org.uk/visit/ for directions.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Little Sparta Trust 60%

Glenkindie House

Glenkindie, Alford AB33 8ST
Christopher and Camille Bently

Friday 29 August, 10am - 2pm (2025)

26

Glenkindie House is a 16th-century castle remodelled in the 1900s. The walled gardens are laid out in the Victorian Arts & Crafts style with herbaceous borders, a magnificent rhododendron shrubbery, specimen trees and rose beds. There is a fine collection of 19th-century yew topiary depicting teddy bears, chess pieces and characters from Alice in Wonderland. Visitors can also enjoy a stroll around the pond to view the 17th-century dovecot.

Directions: On the A97 Alford/Strathdon road, 12 miles west of Alford. Entrance to Glenkindie House is through the main gates, free parking available near the gardens.

Admission: £10.00, children free

Charities: Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance 60%

3 Millhall

Shore Road, Kirkcudbright DG6 4TQ
Mr Alan Shamash

Sunday 31 August, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

7

T:01557 870352 E:shamash@freeuk.com

Impressive five-acre garden with a large collection of mature shrubs, including over 200 rhododendron species, many camellias, magnolias including campbellii, embothriums, telopeas, perennials, over 200 hydrangeas and many other rare Southern Hemisphere plants. The garden has several interesting paths and is on a hillside running along the rocky shore of the Dee Estuary in Kirkcudbright Bay.

Directions: On the B727 between Kirkcudbright and Borgue on the west shore of the Dee Estuary. Parking at Dhoon Beach public car park, about three miles south of Kirkcudbright. There is a five-minute walk to the house. Please note there will be no vehicular access to 3 Millhall and all visitors should park at Dhoon Beach and walk up to the property.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Alzheimer's Research UK 60%

Corbet Tower

Morebattle, near Kelso TD5 8AQ
Bridget Fraser

Saturday 6 September, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

067

E:bridgetafraser@yahoo.co.uk

Charming Scottish Victorian garden set in parklands in the foothills of the Cheviots. This well-established garden includes a traditional walled kitchen garden, well stocked with fruit, vegetables and cutting flowers, including dahlias, gladioli and annuals. There is also a formal box parterre rose garden with old-fashioned early roses, long borders and terraced lawns around the Victorian house and medieval peel tower. The gardens are approached via an attractive woodland walk with lime avenue.

Directions: Off the A698 from Kelso and the A68 north of Jedburgh. At Kalemouth follow the B6401 to Morebattle, then the road marked Hownam to Corbet Tower.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Cheviot Churches: Church of Scotland 60%

Fairnielaw

Athelstaneford, North Berwick EH39 5BE
Alison Johnston

Sunday 7 September, 11am - 4pm (2025)

467

T:07747 862841 E:alison@fairnielawhouse.co.uk

Fairnielaw is a two-and-a-half-acre garden set on a rocky ridge where the wind blows frequently through the Garleton Hills and hits us side on. To provide shelter we planted a mixed-tree, mini forest and created a series of ‘rooms’ enclosed by beech hedges and dry-stone walls. The garden is on several levels and is a mixture of both formal and wild areas with beautiful views towards Traprain Law and the Garleton Hills at the highest point.

Directions: Fairnielaw House is in the village of Athelstaneford set back from the road behind tall trees opposite the church. It is served by a bus service that runs between Haddington and North Berwick several times a day.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Trellis 60%

Benmore Botanic Garden

Benmore, Dunoon PA23 8QU
A Regional Garden of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Sunday 28 September, 10am - 5pm (2025)

46ead7

T:01369 706261 E:benmore@rbge.org.uk

W:www.rbge.org.uk

Benmore’s magnificent mountainside setting is a joy to behold. Its 120 acres boast a world-famous collection of plants from the Himalayas, China and Japan to North and South America, as well as an impressive avenue of giant redwoods, one of the finest entrances to any botanic garden. Established in 1863, these majestic giants stand over 150 feet high. Seven miles of trails throughout lead to a restored Victorian Fernery and a dramatic viewpoint at 420 feet looking out to surrounding mountains and Holy Loch. There are also traditional Bhutanese and Chilean pavilions and the magnificent Golden Gates. Keep an eye out for red squirrels and other wildlife as you explore the garden.
National Plant Collection: Abies, South American Temperate Conifers, Picea
Champion Trees: Many rare trees and giant conifers

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00056

Directions: Seven miles north of Dunoon or 22 miles south from Glen Kinglass below Rest and Be Thankful pass. On the A815. Bus service is limited.

Admission: by donation

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Dawyck Botanic Garden

Stobo EH45 9JU
A Regional Garden of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Sunday 5 October, 10am - 5pm (2025)

3c6ead

T:01721 760254

W:www.rbge.org.uk/dawyck

Dawyck is a regional garden of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh which had its 350th anniversary in 2020. Stunning collection of rare trees and shrubs. With over 300 years of tree planting, Dawyck is a world-famous arboretum with mature specimens of Chinese conifers, Japanese maples, Brewer’s spruce, the unique Dawyck beech and sequoiadendrons from North America which are over 150 feet tall. Bold herbaceous plantings run along the burn. Range of trails and walks. Fabulous autumn colours.
National Plant Collection: Larix spp. and Tsuga spp
Champion Trees: Numerous

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00134

Directions: Eight miles south-west of Peebles on the B712.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Mellerstain

Mellerstain House and Gardens, Gordon TD3 6LG
Gill Harrop, Administrator

Saturday 25 October 11am-5pm, admission £6, children free, light refreshments available outwith cafè opening. (2025)

3c67

T:01573 410225 E:enquiries@mellerstain.com

W:www.mellerstain.com

Mellerstain will be hosting three special open days to celebrate the garden and grounds at their finest. In February carpets of snowdrops spread throughout the grounds, followed by the glorious colour of rhododendrons and azaleas at the end of May, and finishing with stunning autumn colours in late October. 100 acres of mature parkland, formal gardens and lakeside walks set off this Robert Adam masterpiece. The formal gardens to the south of the house were designed in 1910 by Sir Reginald Blomfield in an Italianate style sympathetic to the earlier 18th century layout. These beautiful terraces with herbaceous borders and yew trees lead to lower terraces via a cryptoporticus, and then a sweeping expanse of lawn descends to the lake. Among the sturdy oaks and majestic beeches in the north parkland, you’ll find an enchanting tiny thatched cottage discreetly tucked away with its own parterre garden. A map is available of the woodland and lakeside walks, picnic spots are available and the cafe is open during the summer season. Look out for the Highland cattle and Hebridean sheep too!

Directions: The house is signposted on the A6089 Kelso-Gordon road. The approach from the A68 Jedburgh-Edinburgh road is through Earlston on the A6105, then via the B6397 towards Smailholm.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Mellerstain Trust 60%

Angus's Garden, Barguillean

Taynuilt PA35 1HY
The Josephine Marshall Trust

Open daily, 9am - dusk (2025)

7k

T:01866 822333 E:info@barguillean.co.uk

W:www.barguillean.co.uk

Created in 1957 as a memorial garden by Betty Macdonald of Barguillean for her son Angus, this picturesque nine-acre woodland garden is set around the tranquil shores of Loch Angus in historic Glen Lonan. Whilst famous for its extensive collection of hybrid rhododendrons and azaleas, this glorious garden cleverly retains the natural atmosphere of the landscape. Visitors can enjoy an informal network of paths, lined with spring flowering shrubs and bulbs, through native woodland and by shoreland whilst surrounded by the magnificent views of Ben Cruachan and the mountains of Glen Etive. This unspoilt natural setting attracts a wide range of wildlife, and the eleven-acre loch is home to swans and ducks. On the north-west side of the garden overlooking the loch stands Betty's bell paying tribute to her 40 years of work creating this magical garden. The garden reaches its full glory between April and the end of June but is a place of special tranquillity and charm at all times of the year. Three marked, circular walks from the car park taking between 30 minutes and 1.5 hours. Not suitable for wheelchairs.

Directions: Off A85 Crianlarich/Oban road at Taynuilt, road marked Glen Lonan, three miles up a single track road, turn right at the sign opposite Barguillean Farm.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: SSAFA Forces Help 60%

King's Park Walled Garden

Kings Park, 325 Carmunnock Road, Glasgow G44 5HL
Friends of King's Park

Open daily, 9am - 4:45pm. Admission is free but donations to Scotland's Gardens Scheme are welcome. (2025)

45e7

E:contactus@friendsofkingsparkglasgow.co.uk

W:friendsofkingsparkglasgow.co.uk

The C-listed walled garden within King's Park would have served as a kitchen garden for the original James Hamilton estate in the 18th century, with colourful beds and borders and fruit trees. In recent years, Friends of King's Park have adopted the garden from Glasgow City Council with the aim of reinstating it to its former glory. The garden is split into quarters, two of which the Friends have planted with trees, shrubs, perennials and spring bulbs between 2022 and 2023. The east-facing bed has been planted with weeping cherry trees, underplanted with a selection of bulbs and a variety of perennials. The north-facing bed has a row of beautiful cherry trees. The south-facing wall will showcase cordons of a range of fruiting trees, which the Friends extended over winter 2023. We aim to further enrich the experience of visiting this garden and as a charitable organisation, will continue to raise funds to fully restore the walled garden.
Champion Trees: Yew trees (in main King's Park)

Directions: Free on-street parking is available in all streets surrounding the park. King's Park is accessible by public transport: buses 5 and 31 for the Carmunnock Road entrances, 34 and 75 for the Menock Road entrance. King's Park train station is a two-minute walk from the Menock Road entrance.

Admission: by donation

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Ardmaddy Castle

by Oban PA34 4QY
Mr and Mrs Archie Struthers

Open daily, 9am - 6pm (2025)

c57k

T:01852 300353 E:minette@ardmaddy.com

W:www.ardmaddy.com

The gardens lie in a truly spectacular setting in the centre of a horseshoe bay, sheltered by mixed mature wooded hills and the castle atop a volcanic mound. The 18th-century walled garden has been much restored and improved over the last 50 years, hence its well-earned reputation as a plantsman's garden for all seasons.

In addition to the magnificent rhododendron collection, it is now also home to many rare and unusual shrubs and plants. These all sit alongside productive fruit and vegetable beds, all given formal structure by dwarf box hedges . The walled garden is flanked by shrub lined avenues bordering the burn, leading to woodland walks and a water garden. Don't miss the 60 foot Hydrangea petiolaris on Lady Murray's Walk and the towering stand of gunnera next to the ponds. The latest additions in an always-evolving garden are new medicinal herb beds and the beginning s of a new arboretum in the old orchard area.

Directions: Take the A816 south of Oban for eight miles. Turn right onto the B844 to Seil Island/Easdale. Four miles on, turn left to Ardmaddy (signposted) and follow for a further two miles.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Ardkinglas Woodland Garden

Cairndow PA26 8BG
Ardkinglas Estate

Open daily, dawn - dusk (2025)

6ed7k

T:01499 600261

W:www.ardkinglas.com

In a peaceful setting overlooking Loch Fyne, the garden contains one of the finest collections of rhododendrons and conifers in Britain. This includes the mightiest conifer in Europe - a silver fir - as well as many other Champion Trees. There is a gazebo with a unique scriptorium based around a collection of literary quotes. For younger visitors, the garden features a Fairy Trail, Gruffalo Trail and Snakey Slide. It is a VisitScotland 3-star garden.
Champion Trees: The mightiest conifer in Europe and others.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00022

Directions: Entrance through Cairndow village off the A83 Loch Lomond/Inveraray road.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Achnacloich

Connel, Oban PA37 1PR
Mr T M Nelson

Open daily, 10am - 4pm (2025)

6dk

T:01631 710223 or Gardener David Field 07929 336217 E:davefield6@hotmail.co.uk & cassandhu@gmail.com

The 20-acre woodland garden overlooking Loch Etive has been planted over the last century with a wide range of trees and shrubs from Asia, China, Japan, North America, Chile and New Zealand. Many have grown to considerable size. The light woodland canopy consists of native oaks and a number of magnificent 150-year-old Scots pines and European larch. Amongst these are open glades, carpeted with bluebells and numerous other bulbs. Two ponds and streams are planted with primulas, iris species, lysichitum, and astilbes. The woodland contains innumerable species of rhododendron and azalea, of which the triflorums and yunnanense are outstanding. Amongst these are species of acer, betula, camellia, cercidiphyllum, cornus, crinodendron, drimys, embothrium, enkianthus, eucryphia, hoheria, magnolia, malus, nothofagus, pieris, sorbus, stewartia, telopea and viburnum. Beside the house is a giant Douglas fir from Douglas' original introduction. One of the first Dawyck beeches stands beside the drive. Fine autumn colours.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00007

Directions: On the A85 two miles east of Connel. The car park is at the bottom of the drive.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Macmillan Cancer Support 60%

The Japanese Garden at Cowden

Dollar, Clackmannanshire FK14 7PL
Cowden SCIO

Mainly open throughout the year from 10:30am - 5pm but you should check the garden website for winter closures and changes to opening times. (2025)

3c6d

E:sales@cowdengarden.com

W:www.cowdengarden.com

Created in 1908, The Japanese Garden at Cowden is listed as an important example of its type in Western Europe. Nestled beneath the Ochil Hills the seven-acre garden wraps around a large pond. Enjoy the meandering walk by the water, taking in the changing scenes created by sculpted landforms, carefully placed stones, clipped shrubs and original stone lanterns. Picnic area, woodland, shop and cafe. Please check the garden's website for all admission information.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00402

Directions: The entrance to the garden is from the Upper Hillfoots Road, about half a mile west from the junction with the A91.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Mellerstain

Mellerstain House and Gardens, Gordon TD3 6LG
Gill Harrop, Administrator

Open daily, 2pm - 5pm (2025)

67

T:01573 410225 E:enquiries@mellerstain.com

W:www.mellerstain.com

Mellerstain will be hosting three special open days to celebrate the garden and grounds at their finest. In February carpets of snowdrops spread throughout the grounds, followed by the glorious colour of rhododendrons and azaleas at the end of May, and finishing with stunning autumn colours in late October. 100 acres of mature parkland, formal gardens and lakeside walks set off this Robert Adam masterpiece. The formal gardens to the south of the house were designed in 1910 by Sir Reginald Blomfield in an Italianate style sympathetic to the earlier 18th century layout. These beautiful terraces with herbaceous borders and yew trees lead to lower terraces via a cryptoporticus, and then a sweeping expanse of lawn descends to the lake. Among the sturdy oaks and majestic beeches in the north parkland, you’ll find an enchanting tiny thatched cottage discreetly tucked away with its own parterre garden. A map is available of the woodland and lakeside walks, picnic spots are available and the cafe is open during the summer season. Look out for the Highland cattle and Hebridean sheep too!

Directions: The house is signposted on the A6089 Kelso-Gordon road. The approach from the A68 Jedburgh-Edinburgh road is through Earlston on the A6105, then via the B6397 towards Smailholm.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Abriachan Garden Nursery

Loch Ness Side IV3 8LA
Mr and Mrs Davidson

1 February - 30 November, 9am - 7pm (2025)

bc467

T:01463 861232 E:info@lochnessgarden.com

W:www.lochnessgarden.com

This is an outstanding garden with over four acres of exciting plantings with winding paths through native woodlands. Seasonal highlights include snowdrops, hellebores, primulas, meconopsis, hardy geraniums and colour-themed summer beds. Views over Loch Ness.

Directions: On the A82 Inverness/Drumnadrochit road, about nine miles south of Inverness.

Admission: £4.00, children free

Charities: Highland Hospice 60%

Logan Botanic Garden

Port Logan, by Stranraer DG9 9ND
A Regional Garden of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Open daily 1 March - 15 November, 10am - 5pm (4pm in November). Admission details can be found on the garden's website. (2025)

3c45ea

T:01776 860231 E:logan@rbge.org.uk

W:www.rbge.org.uk/logan

Logan Botanic Garden lies at the south-western tip of Scotland, unrivalled as ‘Scotland’s Most Exotic Garden’. Warmed by the Gulf Stream, a remarkable collection of southern hemisphere plants flourish, making this a plantsman’s paradise. Logan enjoys an almost subtropical climate where the garden's avenues and borders feature a spectacular and colourful array of half-hardy perennials. The garden is warmed by the Gulf Stream which enables plants from Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America and Southern Africa to thrive. Voted ‘Best Garden in the UK’ 2021, Logan promises a delightful day out for all.
National Plant Collection: Gunnera, Leptospermum, Griselinia, Clianthus and Sutherlandia
Champion Trees: Polylepis and Eucalyptus

Directions: Ten miles south of Stranraer on the A716 then 2½ miles from Ardwell Village.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Board Of Trustees Of The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 60%

Abbotsford

Melrose TD6 9BQ
The Abbotsford Trust

1 March - 31 December, March, November and December 10am - 4pm, 1 April - 31 October 10am - 5pm. (2025)

3c457

T:01896 752043 E:enquiries@scottsabbotsford.co.uk

W:www.scottsabbotsford.com

The garden was designed by Sir Walter Scott with advice from artists, architects and friends. It is a rare surviving example of a Regency garden layout and completely different from the English landscape garden style of Capability Brown. Scott’s garden aims to provide a harmonious transition between the luxury and comfort of the interiors of the house with wonders of nature in the wider estate through a series of secluded, richly detailed and sheltered ‘rooms’. In its day it would have showcased the latest plants discovered from around the globe, both in its borders and ‘stove houses’. Regular tours are held exploring Scott’s vision for the garden and the hidden meanings of its design. Check the Abbotsford website for details.

Directions: Off the A6091 near Melrose. Buses X62 and 72 from Edinburgh and Peebles. Train from Waverley to Tweedbank. Minibus or one-mile walk from train station.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Kinlochlaich Walled Garden

Appin PA38 4BD
Miss F M M Hutchison

3 March - 31 October, 10am - 4pm (2025)

c45k

T:07881 525754 E:fionakinlochlaich@gmail.com

W:www.kinlochlaichgardencentre.co.uk

Octagonal walled garden incorporating a large Nursery Garden Centre with a huge variety of plants growing and for sale. Bluebell woodland walk and spring garden. Many rhododendrons, azaleas, trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, including many unusual ones such as embothrium, davidia, stewartia, magnolia, eucryphia and tropaeolum. A quarter of the interior of the walled garden is borders packed with many unusual and interesting plants, espaliered fruit trees, and with an ancient yew in the centre, and another quarter is vegetable growing.

Directions: On the A828 in Appin between Oban, 18 miles to the south, and Fort William, 27 miles to the north. The entrance is next to the police station. Infrequent bus Oban to Fort William - request stop.

Admission: by donation

Charities: The Appin Village Hall 30% & Down's Syndrome Scotland: West of Scotland Branch 30%

Braco Castle

Braco FK15 9LA
Mr and Mrs M van Ballegooijen

12 March - 31 October, 10am - 5pm (2025)

5d

T:01786 880437

A 19th-century landscaped garden with a plethora of wonderful and interesting trees, shrubs, bulbs and plants. An old garden for all seasons that has been extensively expanded over the last 35 years. The partly-walled garden is approached on a rhododendron and tree-lined path featuring an ornamental pond. Spectacular spring bulbs, exuberant shrub and herbaceous borders and many ornamental trees are all enhanced by the spectacular views across the park to the Ochils. From snowdrops through to vibrant autumn colour, this garden is a gem. Look out for the embothrium in June, hoheria in August, eucryphia in September and an interesting collection of rhododendrons and azaleas with long flowering season.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00067

Directions: Drive for 1½ miles from the gates at the north end of Braco Village, just west of the bridge on the A822. Parking at the castle is welcome.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: The Woodland Trust Scotland 60%

Knock Newhouse

Lochgair PA31 8RZ
Mrs Hew Service

20 March - 30 September, 10am - 4pm (2025)

2c467

T:01546 886628 E:corranmorhouse@aol.com

Like all good gardens, it has evolved over time. The garden is centred on a 250-foot lochan, a small waterfall and lily pond. The first trees and rhododendrons were planted in the 1960s, with major additions in the 1990s. A variety of cut leaf and flowering trees were added after the storms of 2011/12. As a result, the garden now has a wide range of specimen trees, camellias, hoheria, eucryphia, stewartia to name a few in addition to the azaleas and rhododendrons. January flowering is followed by spring flowers and bluebells and then into the autumn by spectacular colours. I am delighted to welcome visitors at any time.

Directions: On the A83. The house is not visible from the road. From Lochgilphead, a ½ mile south of Lochgair Hotel and on the left-hand side of the road, and from Inveraray on the right-hand side of the road a ½ mile after the Lochgair Hotel; the drive opening is marked and enters the woods. Bus Route - Inveraray to Lochgilphead

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: The Lochgair Association (SCIO): Village Hall Fund 30% & Cancer Research UK 30%

Glenarn

Glenarn Road, Rhu, Helensburgh G84 8LL
Michael and Sue Thornley

21 March - 21 September, dawn - dusk (2025)

46ed7

T:01436 820493 E:masthome@btinternet.com

W:www.glenarn.com

Glenarn survives as a complete example of a ten-acre garden which spans from 1850 to the present day. There are winding paths through miniature glens under a canopy of oaks and limes, sunlit open spaces, a vegetable garden with beehives, and a rock garden full of surprise and season-long colour. The famous collections of rare and tender rhododendrons and magnolias give way in midsummer to roses rambling through the trees and climbing hydrangeas, followed by the starry white flowers of hoherias and eucryphias to the end of the season. There is a Silent Space at the top of the garden with views over the Gareloch.
Champion Trees: Notably Magnolia rostrata

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00193

Directions: On the A814, two miles north of Helensburgh, up Pier Road. Cars to be left at the gate unless passengers have limited mobility.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Amma : Birth Companions (SCIO) 50%

Inveraray Castle Gardens

Inveraray PA32 8XF
The Duke and Duchess of Argyll

27 March - 29 September 10am - 5pm & 2 October - 27 October 10am - 4pm (2025)

146d

T:01499 302203 E:manager@inveraray-castle.com

W:www.inveraray-castle.com

With Inveraray Castle as an imposing backdrop, the sixteen acre garden has formal, meadow, park and woodland areas and is one of the most important designed landscapes in Scotland. The formal gardens consist of vivid green manicured lawn; the Flag Borders, historically laid out in the shape of the St Andrew’s cross; a spectacular rose garden and herbaceous borders. A number of significant trees, including notable specimens of Magnolia acuminata and Oxydendrum arboreum, provide structure and form in this section of the garden. Colour is abundant from April until well into the autumn. The wildflower meadow is managed with native flora and fauna in mind and links the formal and informal parts of the garden. The carpet of fragrant bluebells is a feast for the senses throughout the spring, following straight on from thousands of narcissi. With views over Loch Fyne and the majesty of the West Highlands, the garden holds numerous rhododendrons, hydrangeas and other plants known to flourish in the Argyll climate.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00223

Directions: Inveraray is 60 miles north of Glasgow and 45 miles from Oban. Regular bus services from Glasgow, Oban and Campbeltown. SatNav PA32 8XF.

Admission: £10.00, children free

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Blair Castle Gardens

Blair Atholl PH18 5TL
Blair Charitable Trust

28 March - 31 October, 9:30am - 5pm (2025)

345d7k

T:01796 481207 E:office@blair-castle.co.uk

W:www.blair-castle.co.uk

Blair Castle stands as the focal point in a designed landscape of some 2,500 acres within a Highland estate. Hercules Garden is a walled enclosure of about nine acres recently restored to its original 18th-century design with landscaped ponds, a Chinese bridge, contemporary plantings, and an orchard of more than 100 fruit trees. The glory of this garden in summer is the herbaceous border, which runs along the 275 yard south-facing wall. A delightful sculpture trail incorporates contemporary and 18th-century sculpture as well as eight new works, letter-carving on stone from the Memorial and Commemorative Arts charity’s 'Art and Memory Collection'. Diana’s Grove is a magnificent stand of tall trees including grand fir, Douglas fir, larch and wellingtonia running along the Banvie Burn, with the 12th-century ruins of St Bride’s Church on the far bank.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00059

Directions: Off A9, follow signs to Blair Castle, Blair Atholl.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

An Cala

Ellenabeich, Isle of Seil PA34 4RF
Mrs Sheila Downie

1 April - 31 October, 10am - 6pm (2025)

46d7

W:www.gardens-of-argyll.co.uk/view-details.php?id=447

A wonderful example of a 1930s designed garden, An Cala sits snugly in its horseshoe shelter of surrounding cliffs. A spectacular and very pretty garden with streams, waterfall, ponds, many herbaceous plants as well as azaleas, rhododendrons and cherry trees in spring. Archive material of Thomas Mawson’s design was found recently and is available to visitors.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00013

Directions: Proceed south from Oban on Campbeltown Road for eight miles, turn right at the Easdale sign, a further eight miles on the B844; the garden is between the school and the village. Bus Oban - Easdale.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance 30% & Cancer Research UK 30%

Dunvegan Castle and Gardens

Isle of Skye IV55 8WF
Hugh Macleod of Macleod

1 April - 15 October, 10am - 5:30pm (last entry 5pm) (2025)

3467

T:01470 521206 E:info@dunvegancastle.com

W:www.dunvegancastle.com

Any visit to the Isle of Skye is incomplete without enjoying the wealth of history and horticultural delights at award-winning 5* Dunvegan Castle & Gardens, now an RHS partner garden. The five acres of formal gardens began life in the 18th century. In stark contrast to the barren moorland and mountains which dominate Skye's landscape, the Castle's Water Garden, Round Garden, Walled Garden and woodland walks provide an oasis for an eclectic mix of flowers, exotic plants, shrubs and specimen trees, framed by shimmering pools fed from waterfalls. After visiting the Water Garden with its ornate bridges and islands replete with colourful plants along the riverbanks, wander through the elegant formal Round Garden. The Walled Garden, formerly the Castle's vegetable garden, now has a diverse range of plants and flowers completing the attractive features, including a water lily pond, garden museum, 17th century lectern sundial, glass house and the 'Dunvegan Pebble', a rotating 2.7 ton Carrara marble sculpture. The informal areas of the garden are kept wild to encourage wildlife, creating a more natural aesthetic framed by the coastal scenery. The present Chief, Hugh MacLeod, and his dedicated team of gardeners, continue to build on this unique legacy for future generations to enjoy.

Directions: One mile from Dunvegan village, 23 miles west of Portree. Follow the signs for Dunvegan Castle.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Pitmuies Gardens

House of Pitmuies, Guthrie, by Forfar DD8 2SN
Jeanette and Ruaraidh Ogilvie

1 April - 30 September, 10am - 5pm (2025)

6d7

T:01241 828245 E:ogilvie@pitmuies.com

W:www.pitmuies.com

Two renowned, semi-formal walled gardens adjoin an 18th-century house and steading, sheltering long borders of herbaceous perennials, superb old-fashioned delphiniums and roses, together with pavings rich with violas and dianthus. An extensive and diverse collection of plants, interesting kitchen garden, spacious lawns, and river, lochside and woodland walks beneath fine trees. A wide variety of shrubs with good autumn colour and a picturesque turreted doocot and a ‘Gothick’ wash house. Myriad spring bulbs include carpets of crocus following massed snowdrops and daffodils.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00215

Directions: From Forfar take the A932 east for seven miles and gardens are signposted on the right. From Brechin take the A933 south to Friockheim and turn right onto the A932. The gardens are signposted on the left after 1½ miles.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Monteviot

Jedburgh TD8 6UQ
The Marchioness of Lothian

1 April - 31 October, 12pm - 5pm (2025)

5d

T:01835 830380

W:www.monteviot.com

A series of differing gardens displaying rose and herbaceous plants surrounded by foliage plants. A water feature linked by bridges and falls passes through the Dene Garden and Water Garden. The Garden of Persistent Imagination is planted with rose and clematis beside paths which meander across a bridge and under the Moonstone Gate, past the Dali-style clock.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00288

Directions: Turn off the A68, three miles north of Jedburgh on to the B6400. After one mile turn right.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Craigieburn House

by Moffat DG10 9LF
Janet and Peter McGowan

20 April - 31 October, 10:30am - 5pm (2025)

c7

T:07557 928648 E:bideshi2024@outlook.com

A beautiful and varied six-acre, plant-lovers' garden in a natural location in scenic Moffat Dale. Meconopsis, trilliums, rhododendrons, magnolias, arisaemas, bamboos, hoherias and many more types of plants flourish in the shelter of mature woodland. A Himalayan glen has been recreated with plants from the region where the Craigie Burn tumbles down a gorge with a series of waterfalls. Downstream is a fern garden with over 70 varieties. Candelabra primulas, rodgersias, cardiocrinum, orchids and other rare plants thrive in the bog garden and woodland glades. Double herbaceous borders come into their own later in the summer and keep the display going throughout the season. Other garden areas include a rose garden, formal pond and autumn garden. A nursery sells hardy plants propagated on site, many of them rare or unusual. The garden has been created over the past 30 years by Janet and Peter, with Dawa Sherpa, building on its old setting, and continues to evolve. Its links to Robert Burns – including his song 'Craigieburn Wood' – provide another layer of history.

Directions: Three miles from the A74(M) (junction 15), two miles east of Moffat on the A708 Selkirk Road. Coming from Moffat, there are traffic lights straight ahead at the end of the bend. You can't miss the lodge and prayer flags.

Admission: by donation

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Glenkyllachy

Tomatin IV13 7YA
Mr and Mrs Philip Mackenzie

1 May - 31 October (Monday & Tuesday), 10am - 5pm (2025)

7

E:emmaglenkyllachy@gmail.com

In a magnificent Highland glen, 1200 feet above sea level, Glenkyllachy is a beautiful garden of shrubs, herbaceous plants, rhododendrons, trees, and spectacular views down the Findhorn River. There are some rare specimens and a recently planted arboretum. Rhododendrons and bulbs flower in May/June, herbaceous plants bloom through July/August with glorious autumn colours in September and October. There is a very productive vegetable garden, polytunnel, fruit cage and greenhouse as well as original sculptures and a Highgrove-inspired wall which provide year round interest. Featured on TV Beechgrove, in The English Garden Magazine and recently in Scottish Field (November 2023). The garden is constantly evolving with new areas being developed and planting schemes changed.

Directions: Turn off the A9 at Tomatin and take the Coignafearn/Garbole single-track road down the north-side of the River Findhorn, there is a cattle grid and gate on the right 500 yards AFTER the humpback bridge and the sign to Farr.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Marie Curie 60%

Floors Castle

Kelso TD5 7SF
The Duke of Roxburghe

1 May - 30 September, 10am - 5pm, admission details can be found on the garden's website. The Walled Garden, Terrace Cafe and Apple Shed are also open all year round and access to those during the winter months is via the B6397 only, NOT via the main entrance to the Castle on Roxburgh Street. (2025)

6d7

T:01573 223333

W:www.floorscastle.com

The gardens are situated within the grounds of Floors Castle. Meander through to the formal Millennium Parterre and soak up the spectacular visions of colour, texture and the most delicious scents around the four herbaceous borders in one of the finest Victorian kitchen gardens in Scotland. Features include perennial gardens, fruit cage, Tapestry Garden and glasshouse access as well as the Terrace Cafe, Apple Shed Gift Shop and Deli and children’s play area. Explore the grounds, which offer woodland and riverside walks from May to the end of September.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00181

Directions: Floors Castle can be reached by following the A6089 from Edinburgh; the B6397 from Earlston; or the A698 from Coldstream. Go through Kelso, up Roxburgh Street to the Golden Gates.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Balmeanach House

Balmeanach, nr Struan, Isle of Skye IV56 8FH
Mrs Arlene Macphie

1 May - 4 October, 11am - 4pm (2025)

2c7

T:01470 572320 E:info@skye-holiday.com

W:www.skye-holiday.com

Very much a plantsman's garden, begun in the early 1990s after a third-of-an-acre of croft land was fenced. A shelter belt now permits a plethora of diverse plants in exuberant herbaceous borders, which give nectar and pollen to keep the buzzing and fluttering going until autumn, plus rockeries and raised beds. Native trees rub shoulders with more exotic ornamental varieties, providing a canopy for shade-loving plants and nesting sites for the many birds who make the garden their home. A small pond in a sunken garden; a larger pond divided in two by a path over a culvert and a bog garden, give scope for marginal and moisture-loving plants. Meandering pathways lead through a small bluebell wood, an arbour garden, shrubbery and small birch wood, full of azaleas and rhododendrons. Plenty of seating throughout provides an invitation to sit, relax and enjoy the garden and stunning scenery beyond.

Directions: A87 to Sligachan, turn left and Balmeanach is five miles north of Struan and five miles south of Dunvegan.

Admission: £4.00, children free

Charities: Scottish SPCA 30% & Redwings 30%

Dunninald Castle

Montrose DD10 9TD
The Stansfeld family

1 May - 31 August (Monday, Tuesday & Sunday), 1pm - 5pm (2025)

6d7

T:01674 672031 E:estateoffice@dunninald.com

W:www.dunninald.com

We welcome our visitors to explore our 100 acres of woods, wild garden, policies and a walled garden. From January to May, the main interest is the wild garden and policies where snowdrops in January are followed by daffodils and finally bluebells in May. In June, the emphasis turns to the walled garden, rich in interest and colour throughout the summer. Situated at the bottom of the beech avenue, the walled garden is planted with rose borders, traditional mixed borders, vegetables, herbs, soft fruits and fruit trees and there is a greenhouse.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00159

Directions: Three miles south of Montrose, ten miles north of Arbroath, signposted from the A92.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Donation to SGS Beneficiaries

Kilchoan Gardens

Kilmelford PA34 4XD
Kilchoan Estate/ Luke Senior - Head Gardener

By arrangement (2025)

679

T:07425 054 743 or 01852 200 500 E:luke@kilchoanestate.co.uk

An eclectic private garden, open on specific dates and year round by appointment.

Since 2016, when Kilchoan Estate was taken into new ownership, the grounds have been developed and expanded; areas that had fallen into ruin and garden spaces reclaimed by nature have been uncovered; surviving plantings and mature trees have been enhanced; the footprint of further expansive garden and policies laid out.

A cosmopolitan collection of plants and artwork are displayed throughout the grounds, featuring a Himalayan garden, walled garden, arboretum with International Conifer Conservation Program collection, formal planting within native woodlands. Planting has been designed with conservation, diversity and beauty in mind, providing year-round interest. There is plenty to see and many places to sit, rest and reflect.

The chapel will be open. Teas available on SGS specific dates.

Directions: 4.5 miles along the road from the A816 turn off south of Kilmelford signed Degnish. Turn left after 1.5 miles at the bridge and Melfort Holiday Village. Follow this for 3 miles and look out for signage.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: The Kilchoan Melfort Trust 30% & Netherlorn (Church of Scotland): Kilmelford Church New Annexe 30%

Laundry Cottage

Culdrain, Gartly, Huntly AB54 4PY
Judith McPhun

By arrangement between Open by arrangement 1 January - 31 December, admission £5.00, children free. Snowdrops during February and March. Groups of up to 12 welcome. (2025)

b046

T:01466 720768 E:judithmcphun@icloud.com

An informal, cottage-style garden of about one-and-a-half acres by the River Bogie. Two contrasting steep slopes make up the wilder parts. The more intensively-gardened area around the cottage includes a wide variety of herbaceous plants, shrubs and trees, an orchard area and fruit and vegetable plots, making a garden of year-round interest.

Directions: Four miles south of Huntly on the A97.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Amnesty International UK Section Charitable Trust 60%

Craichlaw

Kirkcowan, Newton Stewart DG8 0DQ
Mr and Mrs Andrew Gladstone

By arrangement (2025)

b46

T:01671 830208 E:craichlaw@aol.com

Formal garden with herbaceous borders around the house. Set in extensive grounds with lawns, lochs and woodland. A path around the main loch leads to a water garden returning past a recently planted arboretum in the old walled garden. The best times to visit the garden are early February for snowdrops, May to mid-June for the water garden and rhododendrons, and mid-June to August for herbaceous borders.

Directions: Take the B733 for Kirkcowan, off the A75 at the Halfway House eight miles west of Newton Stewart and Craichlaw House is the first turning on the right.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Barholm Castle

Gatehouse of Fleet DG7 2EZ
Drs John and Janet Brennan

By arrangement (2025)

b467

T:01557 840327 E:barholmcastle@gmail.com

Barholm Castle, a 16th-century tower, was restored from a ruin in 2005. The gardens surrounding the tower have been mostly developed from scratch and are now mature. There is a recently-extended walled garden, with a gate designed by the artist blacksmith Adam Booth; a courtyard garden; a wooded ravine with huge hybrid rhododendrons from Benmore; a pond and a large fernery with over 100 varieties of fern, including very large tree ferns; a large Victorian-style greenhouse filled with succulents and tender perennials; and a large open garden with island beds of shrubs and perennials and a pond. Directly around the castle are rockeries and shrub borders. Views over Wigtown Bay are magnificent. The garden is planted for year-round colour, from February, when the castle ravine is a river of snowdrops, to October, when autumn colour is splendid.

Directions: Off the A75 at the Cairn Holy turn off, fork right three times and drive up a steep narrow road for half-a-mile.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Home-Start Wigtownshire 60%

Kevock Garden

16 Kevock Road, Lasswade EH18 1HT
David and Stella Rankin

By arrangement between 1 January - 29 December (2025)

4

E:stella@kevockgarden.co.uk

W:www.kevockgarden.co.uk

This wonderful hillside garden has magnificent views over the North Esk Valley. Its steep slope creates a range of different habitats with a wide diversity of plants, ranging from those that love hot, sunny conditions to those that prefer the cool, damp places near the pond and woodland glades. Mature specimen trees, rhododendrons, azaleas and unusual shrubs are underplanted with many rare woodland plants. Lawns have been relaid, surrounding borders have been planted, and there is a new rock garden. Kevock Garden has featured in many magazine articles and gardening programmes.

Directions: Kevock Road lies to the south of the A678 Loanhead/Lasswade Road. Five minutes from the city bypass Lasswade Junction and on the 31 Lothian Bus route to Polton/Bonnyrigg Road.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Fischy Music 60%

The Limes

Kirkcudbright DG6 4XD
David and Carolyn McHale

By arrangement (2025)

6

E:carolyn.mchale@btinternet.com

This one-and-a-quarter acre plantswoman’s garden has a variety of different plant habitats: woodland, dry sunny gravel beds, rock garden, crevice garden and mixed perennial and shrub borders. There is also a large productive vegetable garden. The McHales like to grow most of their plants from seed obtained through various international seed exchanges. You can expect to see a large number of unusual and exciting plants. The garden is full of colour with an abundance of spring flowers in March, and in late May and early June the meconopsis should be at their best. The gravel garden comes into its own in July and continues through until winter. Hardy cyclamen are a big favourite and one species or another is in flower in almost every month of the year. Winter is a good time to admire their varied leaf forms.

Directions: In Kirkcudbright go straight along St Mary Street towards Dundrennan. The Limes is on the right, about half a mile from the town centre crossroads, on the edge of the town.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Friends Of Kirkcudbright Swimming Pool 60%

Stockarton

Kirkcudbright DG6 4XS
Lt Col and Mrs Richard Cliff

By arrangement (2025)

67

T:01557 330430

This garden was started in 1995 by Carola Cliff, a keen and knowledgeable plantswoman, and contains a collection of unusual shrubs and small trees, which are growing well. Her aim has been to create different informal gardens around a Galloway farm house, leading down to a lochan. Above the lochan there is a sweet cottage, used for holiday retreats, with its own interesting garden. In 1996 a three-acre arboretum was planted as a shelter belt and it now contains some rare oak trees.

Directions: On the B727 Kirkcudbright to Gelston Road. Kirkcudbright three miles, Castle Douglas seven miles.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Loch Arthur 60%

Harthill

Reediehill Farm, Auchtermuchty KY14 7HS
Nichola and John Fletcher

By arrangement between 6 January - 31 October (2025)

2c67

T:01337 828369 E:info@nicholafletcher.com

W:www.nicholafletcher.com

Harthill enjoys a tranquil setting in the hills just above Auchtermuchty with beautiful views and, if you are lucky, sightings of the stunning herd of white deer who also live there. The garden, of approximately one acre, offers a large varied flower garden with vegetable, fruit and nursery areas; two separate wild gardens planted with specimen trees, a lochan and a small woodland. In late May to early June our meconopsis and primula beds, with woodland plants, are at their best. Summer offers herbaceous interest including a pergola dripping with roses and a large mound with grasses, thalictrum and many large plants. Autumn colours are in the trees and shrubs, with grasses and cyclamen through to early winter.

Directions: Find 'Reediehill Deer Farm' on Google maps. Go 50 metres up the concrete drive then turn left at Harthill sign. Continue over the cattle grid up the drive to reach Harthilll house. Directions can be emailed.

Admission: by donation

Charities: TST: The Tim Stead Trust 60%

The Pond Garden

The Pond, Milnathort KY13 0SD
Fay Young and Ray Perman

By arrangement between 1 February - 31 December (2025)

67

T:07767 407396 E:fay@fayyoung.org

W:fayyoung.org/category/pond-cottage/

A wild woodland and wetland garden adapting to climate change. We learn from resilient plants and wildlife. There are flowers, fruits, seeds, and nuts to support birds, bats, bees, butterflies, red squirrels and tiny unknowns! Woodland paths lead through snowdrops, daffodils, bluebells, foxgloves, and ferns. Mature beeches and oaks mark boundaries of former Victorian estate. Mosses and mushrooms grow among log piles, stone shapes, and a stumpery. Since mid 1990s we have rebuilt and retrofitted the derelict farm cottage with external insulation and renewable energy. Now we plan Himalayan and native Scottish plantings overlooking the streams.

Directions: From Milnathort village. At the mini roundabout in the centre of the village take the north exit (signed for Path of Condie) up Wester Loan, then North Street. At the top of the hill, past the church on your left, you will cross the motorway again. Carry straight on for 1/2 mile, the gate to Pond Cottage is on the right after a field opening.

Admission: £5.50, children free

Charities: CHAS: Children's Hospices Across Scotland 60%

Madeira

Grangemuir, Pittenweem KY10 2RB
Tara Macdonald

By arrangement between 1 February - 30 September (Tuesday & Thursday). (2025)

b47k

T:07867 798746 E:tara@madeirainfife.com

W:www.madeirainfife.com

Madeira is a wonderful, ten-acre eco garden with a Victorian walled garden at its centre. We have an orchard and vegetable garden, pretty paths through woodland and plenty of bluebells and snowdrops. We don’t use chemicals and fully support wildlife and the habitat they live in; the bee garden and our wilding areas are just two examples. The garden is a work in progress and we are continually creating spaces and fun things for kids to enjoy e.g. our dragon's den, Viking shelter, rope swings and more. We grow our own vegetables and love turning our fruit into juices, jellies, jams and ice-cream. We’d be delighted to show you round or let you wander and enjoy.

Directions: Take the bus to Pittenween and walk up Charles Street, past the recycling centre and we are 400 metres up on the left.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Kings Grange House

Castle Douglas DG7 3EU
Christine and Peter Hickman

By arrangement between 1 February - 31 August (2025)

b6

T:07787 535889

An extensive garden surrounded by mature trees and shrubberies, with views to the south west over the surrounding countryside. Originally Victorian, the garden is being restored by the present owners with a colourful variety of herbaceous mixed borders, beds and rockeries. There are snowdrops in February and banks of daffodils and a carpet of white narcissus in the lawns and around the pergola in springtime.

Directions: Take the B794 north off the A75, two miles east of Castle Douglas. Kings Grange House is approximately one mile on the left.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Marie Curie 30% & RNLI 30%

Kirkton Manor House

Peebles EH45 9JH
Mrs Rosemary Thorburn

By arrangement between 12 February - 16 July (2025)

7

T:01721 740220 E:rpthorburn@icloud.com

Kirkton Manor House has a delightful, three-acre, informal country garden set in the beautiful Manor Valley. It enjoys spectacular open views and calling curlews from its riverside position. Bluebells flank the impressive entrance leading to a new shrub border. Stone steps continue through to terraced slopes filled with bulbs, roses and hellebores providing height, interest and fragrance. Grass paths meander along the burn where snowdrops, blue and white camassia, meconopsis, and ligularia thrive in this sunny meadow environment. Later, in June, sisyrinchiums, irises, orchids and many flowering shrubs and roses are abundant. The natural woodland includes many interesting trees.

Directions: Turn off the A72 west of Neidpath Castle, signposted to Kirkton Manor. After crossing the River Tweed, enter a garden gate which is a mile downhill, opposite a Beware Horses sign.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Luckie Harg's

Anwoth, Gatehouse of Fleet, Castle Douglas DG7 2EF
Drs Carole and Ian Bainbridge

By arrangement between 1 March - 30 September (2025)

467

T:01557 814141 E:luckiehargs@btinternet.com

A new and developing garden on the outskirts of Gatehouse of Fleet. A rock and spring herbaceous garden of around an acre, with a wide range of alpines, Himalayan and New Zealand plants, shrubs and small trees. There is a rock garden, modern crevice gardens, troughs, a large alpine house and bulb frame. New boulder, scree and stumpery beds, a pond and a woodland area are being developed. Small productive vegetable and fruit garden, plus a bluebell bank in May.

Directions: From Gatehouse High Street, turn north onto Station Road, immediately west at the Fleet Bridge by The Ship Inn. After almost one mile turn left signed to Anwoth Old Church. Luckie Harg’s is the first on the right after 400 yards. The nearest bus stop is on Gatehouse High Street, walk about 15 minutes to Luckie Harg’s.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Scottish Rock Garden Club 60%

3 Millhall

Shore Road, Kirkcudbright DG6 4TQ
Mr Alan Shamash

By arrangement between 1 March - 31 October (2025)

7

T:01557 870352 E:shamash@freeuk.com

Impressive five-acre garden with a large collection of mature shrubs, including over 200 rhododendron species, many camellias, magnolias including campbellii, embothriums, telopeas, perennials, over 200 hydrangeas and many other rare Southern Hemisphere plants. The garden has several interesting paths and is on a hillside running along the rocky shore of the Dee Estuary in Kirkcudbright Bay.

Directions: On the B727 between Kirkcudbright and Borgue on the west shore of the Dee Estuary. Parking at Dhoon Beach public car park, about three miles south of Kirkcudbright. There is a five-minute walk to the house. Please note there will be no vehicular access to 3 Millhall and all visitors should park at Dhoon Beach and walk up to the property.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Alzheimer's Research UK 60%

Tal-y-Fan

Laurieston Road, Gatehouse of Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire DG7 2BE
Janet & Sarah Wood

By arrangement between 1 March - 30 September (2025)

T:01557 815287 E:woodhill2uk@yahoo.co.uk

An over mature one acre plot is being developed into a many faceted garden with a varied mix of interesting plants. The Secret Path leads to Acer Valley and the Won-Kei Parterre, overlooked by the Loch Corbie Monster. A narrow log-lined way leads to West Wood, from where you follow the Burnside Path by the Flame Tree Forest and through the bamboo arch to Dry Wood to find Wood's Henge. Then up through Bluebell Wood to the top of The Rock, where Big Red, the giant squirrel resides, with views across the Fleet Valley. Back down and cross the lawns below the pond before heading up the granite path to the greenhouse, polytunnel, compost bins and the car park, with its collection of pots and troughs. Visit the front lawn and its well-stocked beds on your way out. Light refreshments may be available by arrangement.

Directions: Take the Laurieston Road north from Gatehouse of Fleet. After one mile fork right and then right at postcode sign. Turn left at top of slope. Tal-y-Fan (red roof) is at the very end.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Kilbryde Castle

Dunblane FK15 9NF
Sir James and Lady Campbell

By arrangement between 16 March - 30 September (2025)

67

T:01786 824897 E:carolaandjames@googlemail.com

W:www.kilbrydecastle.com

Kilbryde Castle gardens cover some 12 acres and are situated above the Ardoch Burn and below the castle. The gardens are split into three parts: informal, woodland and wild. Natural planting (azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias) is found in the woodland garden. There are glorious snowdrops, spring bulbs, and autumn colour provided by clematis and acers.

Directions: Three miles from Dunblane and Doune, off the A820 between Dunblane and Doune. On Scotland’s Gardens Scheme open days the garden is signposted from the A820.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Leighton Library Trust 60%

The Carriage House

Blair Estate, Dalry KA24 4ER
Mr and Mrs Luke Borwick

By arrangement between 29 March - 26 October (2025)

57

T:07831 301294 E:lina@blairtrust.co.uk

Set within the historic Blair policies dating back to the 1500s, at the Carriage House the Borwicks have planted a beautiful arboretum. Built on the vision of generations of Blairs of creating a sanctuary of rare species trees, over the past four years a collection of over 160 trees and shrubs has transformed a 10-acre field into a peaceful refuge with year-round variety and colour. Mown pathways offer different vistas and points of interest including mermaids rescuing a girl, carved by a local artist from a Portuguese Laurel stump. View the 24-year old Wellingtonia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) grown from Blair seed, an avenue of eight different lime trees which earned a Queen's Green Canopy Award, a Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Golden Dawn', and other rare trees. From a bench created from our own wood, enjoy the arboretum’s energy – a special experience. New since 2024 is a beautiful Cumbrian green slate commemorative stone, with superb engraving by the Cordozo Kindersley Workshop: it frames Blair Castle perfectly and honours the three related families who have nurtured this special place since 1105. The Blair crest heads the inscription with the motto “Amo Probos”, and the Royal Scots Greys badge “second to none” recognises the generations of family members serving our country in Scotland’s only cavalry regiment. Wander the Carriage House garden, created from a field since 2002 and planted with many varieties of roses and mature shrubs.

Directions: A737 from Beith. At the roundabout before Dalry take the first left signposted Stewarton. Then go straight on, signposted Bike Route Irvine. Keep going for approximately two miles and keep the estate wall on the right until you come to South Lodge (white building). Turn right down the drive for Blair Estate - The Carriage House is on the right. Public transport to Dalry. Follow SatNav KA24 4ER and enter Blair Estate through the South Lodge.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: The National Trust for Scotland 60%

Bonhard House

Perth PH2 7PQ
Stephen and Charlotte Hay

By arrangement between Groups welcome to enquire (2025)

67

T:07990 574570 E:stephenjohnhay@me.com

Traditional 19th-century garden of five acres approached through an avenue of magnificent oaks. Mature trees, six classified by the National Tree Register as 'remarkable', including a monkey puzzle (1852, one of the first 12 brought to Scotland), sequoias, Douglas fir and a variety of hollies. Reinstated and new herbaceous borders. Rhododendron and azalea beds. Recently planted spring and summer flowering meadow areas with a variety of fruit and nut trees. Beehive and a productive vegetable garden. A new larch arbour with climbing roses and clematis. Grass paths meander through a pond area with shrubs and mature trees. A pinetum with 25 different varieties. Garden emphasis on wildlife habitat as well as aesthetics. Resident red squirrels. Plentiful and varied birdlife.

Directions: On the A94 just under a mile north of Perth take the right turn, signed Murrayshall Country Estate. After approximately one mile take the entrance right marked Bonhard House, at a sharp left turn. From Balbeggie turn left, signposted for Bonhard, one mile north of Scone. Turn right in a half-a-mile, pass any sign for Bonhard Nursery, and enter the drive at sharp right turn.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Freedom from Fistula Foundation 60%

Berandhu

Appin, Argyll PA38 4DD
John and Fiona Landale

By arrangement between 1 April - 31 October (2025)

T:01631 730585 M: 07900 377414 E:johnllandale@gmail.com

A sheltered one-and-a-half acre coastal garden in a scenic setting offering fabulous views over Loch Laich to Loch Linnhe, Castle Stalker and the Morvern hills beyond. Craggy limestone abounds on the undulating site, some of which forms natural rockeries. Native trees mix with introduced firs and conifers. A variety of rhododendrons and azaleas provide spring and early summer colour. A mix of limestone overlaid with peat gives an unusual mix of wild flowers. This well-tended garden also has lovely wild areas of bog garden and woodland.

Directions: In Appin turn off the A828 Connel to Ballachulish road at Gunn's Garage signposted for Port Appin. After one mile when the road turns uphill, it's the first entrance on the right, half way up the hill.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Alzheimer Scotland 30% & The Appin Village Hall 30%

Grandhome

Danestone, Aberdeen AB22 8AR
Mrs WJB Paton

By arrangement between 1 April - 31 October (2025)

26

T:01224 722202 E:admin@grandhome.co.uk

Eighteenth-century walled garden incorporating a rose garden and policies with daffodils, tulips, rhododendrons, azaleas, mature trees and shrubs.

Directions: From the north end of North Anderson Drive, continue on the A92 over Persley Bridge, turning left at the Tesco roundabout. After 1¾ miles, turn left through the pillars on a left-hand bend.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Rosewells

Baldinnie, Ceres KY15 5LE
Birgitta and Gordon MacDonald

By arrangement between 1 April - 31 August (2025)

67

E:g.macdonald54@hotmail.co.uk

Rosewells, designed by the garden owners, has developed over the last 30 years. It started as a one-and-a-half acre, overgrown paddock. The design is based on the texture and foliage of trees and shrubs to create year-round interest. In spring and summer, colour and scent become increasingly important. In spring, highlights are around 55 magnolias and numerous rhododendrons, many of which are chosen for their foliage. Other highlights include flowering cornus, trillium, fritillaries, erythroniums, peonies, roses, ferns and acers. There have been a number of developments in recent years. More winding paths have been developed creating wildlife friendly areas. There is a new lavender walk which leads to a covered seating area at the bottom of the garden.

Directions: B940 between Pitscottie and Peat Inn, one mile from Pitscottie. Rosewells is the ochre-coloured house.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Save the Children UK 60%

Kirklands

Saline KY12 9TS
Peter and Gill Hart

By arrangement between 1 April - 30 September (2025)

23c467

T:07787 115477 E:peter@kirklandsgarden.co.uk

W:www.kirklandsgarden.co.uk

Kirklands, built in 1832, has been the Hart family home for 48 years. Over the years we have created a garden. The walled garden was reinstated from a paddock to include terracing and raised beds. In 2023 we introduced two bee hives. The woodland garden comes into life in February with snowdrops followed, over the months, by bluebells, hellebores, trilliums, fritillaries, rhododendrons, meconopsis, candelabra primulas and irises. The rockery displays dwarf rhododendrons and azaleas. The herbaceous borders reach their peak in the summer, continuing into early autumn with a display of bright yellow rudbeckia, verbena and echinacea. Down by the Saline Burn there are 30 species of primula in all colours of the rainbow. Over the red or blue bridge there are 20 acres of naturally regenerating woodland with a pathway by the stream. To keep the grandchildren occupied, Peter built a tree house, climbing frame and rope swing, though we hope they will take an interest in gardening too!

Directions: Junction 4, M90, then B914. Parking in the centre of the village, then a short walk to the garden. Limited disabled parking at Kirklands.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Saline & District Heritage Society 60%

South Flisk

Blebo Craigs, Cupar KY15 5UQ
Mr and Mrs George Young

By arrangement between 1 April - 30 June (2025)

2c46

T:01334 850859 E:southfliskgarden@gmail.com

W:www.standrewspottery.co.uk

The spectacular views to Perthshire and Angus and large flooded quarry full of fish (and occasional otter) planted with impressive marginals, make this garden very special. Flights of old stone steps, cliffs, boulders, exotic ferns and mature trees form a backdrop for carpets of primroses, bluebells, spring bulbs and woodland plants like trilliums, camassia, meconopsis and colourful primulas, with rhododendrons in flower from March to July. In front of the house is a charming, mature walled garden with traditional cottage-garden planting. Next to the house is the St Andrews Pottery where George will demonstrate his pottery skills for those who need a break from the garden! A new water garden with a stream running through was created in 2023.

Directions: Six miles west of St Andrews off B939 between Strathkinness and Pitscottie. There is a small stone bus shelter opposite the road into the village and sign Blebo Craigs. See map on our website - standrewspottery.co.uk. Bus to Blebo Craigs.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Médecins Sans Frontières 60%

House of Aigas and Field Centre

by Beauly IV4 7AD
Sir John and Lady Lister-Kaye

By arrangement between 1 April - 31 October (2025)

6ek

T:01463 782443 E:info@aigas.co.uk

W:www.aigas.co.uk

The House of Aigas has a small arboretum of named Victorian specimen trees and modern additions. The garden consists of extensive rockeries, herbaceous borders, ponds and shrubs. Aigas Field Centre rangers lead regular guided walks on nature trails through woodland, moorland and around a loch.
Champion Trees: Douglas fir, Atlas cedar and Sequoiadendron giganteum

Directions: Four-and-a-half miles from Beauly on the A831 Cannich/Glen Affric road.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Highland Hospice: Aird branch 60%

Glassmount House

by Kirkcaldy KY2 5UT
Peter, James and Irene Thomson

By arrangement between 1 April - 30 September (2025)

7

T:01592 890214 E:mcmoonter@yahoo.co.uk

Densely planted walled garden with surrounding woodland. An A-listed sundial, Mackenzie & Moncur greenhouse and historical doocot are complemented by a number of newer structures. Daffodils are followed by a mass of candelabra and cowslip primula, meconopsis and Cardiocrinum giganteum. Hedges and topiary form backdrops for an abundance of bulbs, clematis, rambling roses and perennials, creating interest through the summer into September. The garden is now extending beyond the walls, with new areas of naturalistic planting blending the boundary between the surrounding fields and the woodland.

Directions: From Kirkcaldy, head west on the B9157. Turn left immediately after the railway bridge on the edge of town. Follow the single track road for one-and-a-half miles and cross the crossroads. Glassmount House is the first turning on your right.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Parkinsons UK 60%

Burnside

Littlemill Road, Drongan KA6 7EN
Sue Simpson and George Watt

By arrangement between 1 April - 30 September (2025)

067

T:01292 592445 E:suesimpson33@btinternet.com

This maturing and constantly changing six-and-a-half acre garden began in 2006. There is a wide range of plants from trees to alpines, giving colour and variability all year. Next to the road flows the Drumbowie Burn, parallel to which is a woodland border with snowdrops, erythroniums, hellebores, trilliums, rhododendrons and acers. Near the house are a raised bed and large collection of troughs, with an interesting range of alpines. The garden boasts herbaceous beds, ericaceous garden, screes, three alpine glasshouses with award-winning plants, an extensive Streptocarpus collection, polytunnel, pond and arboretum - underplanted with daffodils, camassia, fritillaries and crocus. With a view towards matrimonial harmony, there are two sheds which may be of interest. The garden is only 15 minutes from Dumfries House.

Directions: From the A77 Ayr bypass take the A70 Cumnock for 5¼ miles, at Coalhall, turn onto the B730 Drongan (south) for 2½ miles. Burnside entrance is immediately adjacent to a black/white parapeted bridge. Ordnance survey grid ref: NS455162.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Alzheimer's Research UK 60%

Dundonnell House

Little Loch Broom, Wester Ross IV23 2QW
Dundonnell Estates

By arrangement between 1 April - 31 October (2025)

6e7

T:07789 390028 E:sueandwill@icloud.com

Camellias, magnolias and bulbs in spring, rhododendrons and laburnum walk in this ancient walled garden. Exciting planting gives all year round interest, centred around one of the oldest yew trees in Scotland. A water sculpture, unique Victorian glass house, riverside walk, arboretum - all in the valley below the peaks of An Teallach.
Champion Trees: Yew and Holly

Directions: Turn off the A835 at Braemore on to the A832. After 11 miles take the Badralloch turn for a ½ mile.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Médecins Sans Frontières 30% & Environmental Investigation Agency 30%

Thirlestane

Kelso TD5 8PD
Catherine Ross and John Wylie

By arrangement between 1 April - 31 October (2025)

67

T:01573 420487 E:catherineaross37@gmail.com

Thirlestane is a large informal garden. There is a walled garden with colour-themed borders and an orchard with many old varieties of fruit trees. In front of the house prairie planting is surrounded by high beech hedges. The young nine-acre wood has trees and shrubs selected for autumn colour and for decorative bark and fruit. These include Persian Ironwood, Golden Rain Tree, Scarlet Oak, Monarch Birch, Himalayan Birch, Tibetan Cherry, Chinese Hawthorn and various maples.

Directions: Thirlestane is near Yetholm, not to be confused with Thirlestane Castle, Lauder. Do not follow SatNav, it will try to take you to Lochside. From Kelso, take the B6352 towards Yetholm for about six miles. Continue past a cottage on the edge of the road. Thirlestane is next on the left, opposite the road to Lochside. From Yetholm, take the road to Kelso for about two miles. After a very sharp corner, Thirlestane is on the right.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Alzheimer Scotland 60%

Kirkmuir Cottage

KIlwinning Road, Stewarton KA3 3DZ
Mr and Mrs Brian Macpherson

By arrangement between 1 April - 31 August (2025)

7

E:dhmmacp@gmail.com

This garden was created in 1997 from a small field and includes a large pond which was originally a small quarry. It covers approximately one-and-a-half-acres of mature garden and, using hedging and shrubbery the garden is split into garden 'rooms' including woodland, formal borders, laburnum arch, herbaceous borders, rhododendrons and azaleas. Large lawn area and wildlife pond. The garden also features many interesting and unusual artefacts and sculptures.

Directions: From the M77 take the B778 to Stewarton. At the traffic lights, turn left and continue to the mini-roundabout. Turn right towards the B778 Kilwinning. Continue for 100 yards under the railway bridge, take an immediate left at the war memorial and continue along Kilwinning Road until you reach the countryside. Kirkmuir is the first farm road on the right hand side. The cottage and garden is on the left at the end of the farm road. Please follow these directions not SatNav.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Capability Scotland 60%

Craigowan

Ballinluig PH9 0NE
Simon Jones

By arrangement between 6 April - 30 June (2025)

67

T:07856 859219 E:simonqjones@mail.com

We welcome you to view our five-acre, family-developed showpiece garden, maturing over the last 35 years. The extensive range of around a thousand species and hybrid rhododendrons flower from January to their peak in April and May depending on frost damage due to our location at 500 feet above sea level. These are backed up by ornamental trees, perennials and an extensive herbaceous border in a diverse mix of woodland, prepared beds and specialist rhododendron planting areas. We are on a hillside but have tried to make the garden as accessible as possible to all. Most visitors require at least an hour for a basic viewing.

Directions: From north or southbound of the A9 to Ballinluig junction. Pass the Ballinluig filling station and motor grill on your right. Turn right at the primary school following the Tulliemet/Dalcapon sign; this is a single track road with passing places. About half-a-mile up the road take a left turning to Dalcapon, a further mile up the road is Craigowan garden. It is surrounded by a deer fence on the left. Please park on paviours adjoining the house.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: LUPUS UK 60%

Auldbyres Farm Garden

Coylton KA6 6HG
Marshall and Sue Veitch

By arrangement between 12 April - 31 August (2025)

67

E:su.pavet@btinternet.com

Surrounded by a working farm, this compact, established garden has mature shrubs, wildlife pond, bog garden and stream, borrowing stunning countryside views towards Ayr and Arran. Well-behaved spring borders give way to a riot of summer perennial favourites. Many 'found objects' of agricultural interest. Extensive containers brighten the farmyard with seasonal displays.

Directions: In Coylton take the road signposted B742, past Coylton Arms Pub in Low Coylton, Auldbyres is signposted on the left after ½ mile.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre 60%

Old Farm Cottage

The Ladywell, Nemphlar, Lanark ML11 9GX
Ian and Anne Sinclair

By arrangement between 18 April - 30 September (2025)

467

T:01555 663345 M: 07833 204180 E:anniesinclair58@gmail.com

Ian and Anne have been developing this delightful one acre garden for twenty five years and it now has something to interest visitors from springtime through until autumn. In April and May daffodils, narcissi, camassias, hellebores, trilliums, spring flowering shrubs and trees light up the garden. A large array of colourful trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plantings, many of them scented, can be enjoyed throughout the rest of the year. Prunus Amanogawa, Amelanchiers, Katsura trees and the spectacular fruit of Cornus kousas are just a few of the plants that you can expect to see. The garden will be of interest not only for gardeners but bird watchers, walkers and photographers.

Directions: Leave the A73 at Cartland Bridge (Lanark to Carluke Road) or the A72 (Clyde Valley Road) at Crossford. Both routes are well signposted. The garden is on the Nemphlar spur of the Clyde Walkway, just off the West Nemphlar Road on Ladywell Lane. One mile walk from Cartland Bridge bus stop.

Admission: £4.00, children free

Charities: Dogs Trust 60%

Ardno

Cairndow PA26 8BE
Denzil How

By arrangement between 1 May - 30 September (2025)

7

T:Rob Backhouse Gardener 01499 302304 E:denzil.how@btconnect.com

From the rich, varied landscape, a romantic garden has been created from scratch over the past 25 years. Visitors can stroll in the walled garden near the house, or explore the old oak wood planted with many interesting shrubs. These are growing up fast, adding shape and colour. Across the burn is the gorge and a wonderful waterfall. The woodland garden ends in the meadow, planted with irises and a collection of unusual trees, which continues down to the beach and a magnificent huge rock. My garden is a place to be peaceful in. Come and enjoy, but be prepared as some of the paths are steep with lots of steps and are unfortunately not suitable for wheelchairs.

Directions: Situated at the top end of Loch Fyne between Cairndow and St Catherines, off the A815.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Rediweld Foundation 60%

Glenkyllachy

Tomatin IV13 7YA
Mr and Mrs Philip Mackenzie

By arrangement between 1 May - 31 October (2025)

7

E:emmaglenkyllachy@gmail.com

In a magnificent Highland glen, 1200 feet above sea level, Glenkyllachy is a beautiful garden of shrubs, herbaceous plants, rhododendrons, trees, and spectacular views down the Findhorn River. There are some rare specimens and a recently planted arboretum. Rhododendrons and bulbs flower in May/June, herbaceous plants bloom through July/August with glorious autumn colours in September and October. There is a very productive vegetable garden, polytunnel, fruit cage and greenhouse as well as original sculptures and a Highgrove-inspired wall which provide year round interest. Featured on TV Beechgrove, in The English Garden Magazine and recently in Scottish Field (November 2023). The garden is constantly evolving with new areas being developed and planting schemes changed.

Directions: Turn off the A9 at Tomatin and take the Coignafearn/Garbole single-track road down the north-side of the River Findhorn, there is a cattle grid and gate on the right 500 yards AFTER the humpback bridge and the sign to Farr.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Marie Curie 60%

Brooklands

Crocketford DG2 8QH
Mr and Mrs Robert Herries

By arrangement between 1 May - 30 September (2025)

67

T:Gardener, Matthew Grieve: 07765 491902

Large old walled garden with a wide selection of plants, including some interesting shrubs and climbers and a kitchen garden. Mature woodland with many established rhododendrons and azaleas, and carpeted with snowdrops in February.

Directions: Turn off the A712 Crocketford to New Galloway Road one mile outside Crocketford at the Gothic gatehouse (on the right travelling north).

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

The Old Farmhouse

Dunning Road, Auchterarder PH3 1DU
Jane and Nigel Gallier

By arrangement between 1 May - 30 June (2025)

6

T:01764 662471 E:thegalliers@msn.com

A garden of approximately one acre with herbaceous borders, a gravel garden, vegetable garden, trained fruit trees in half-wine barrels, wild areas under-planted with bulbs, and woodland areas, with other areas still being developed. As you approach the house, look out for our kamikaze hens. The garden is not always immaculate; a well-ordered winter garden and a floriferous summer garden.

Directions: From the A9 take the A824 and halfway between Auchterarder and Aberuthven take the B8062 at Grand Eagles and head towards Dunning. We are on the left just before the A9 bridge.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: SSAFA Forces Help 60%

The Potting Shed

Broughton Place, Broughton, Biggar ML12 6HJ
Jane and Graham Buchanan-Dunlop

By arrangement between 1 May - 31 October (2025)

c67

T:01899 830574 E:buchanandunlop@btinternet.com

A one-acre garden begun from scratch in 2008, on an exposed hillside at 900 feet. It contains herbaceous plants, climbers, shrubs and trees - all selected for wind resistance and ability to cope with the poor, stony soil. There are usually fine views to the Southern Uplands.

Directions: Signposted from the main A701 Edinburgh - Moffat Road, immediately north of Broughton village.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Nomad Beat Ltd: Peebles Community Music School 60%

Beechwood

Broughton, Peeblesshire ML12 6HH
Susheila and James Gordon

By arrangement between 1 May - 30 September (2025)

267

T:07810 837068 or 01899 830443 E:susheilarachan@gmail.com

W:www.rachan.co.uk

An informal sculptor's garden adjacent to a mature woodland and pond. A well-planted stream runs through the garden. There are varied perennial meadows to encourage wildlife and provide forage for the resident bees, it also features many examples of the owners' artworks which are inspired by the natural world.

Directions: Approximately one mile south of Broughton take the B712 off the A701. Then first left turn onto unmade road.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: MND Scotland 60%

Old Allangrange

Munlochy IV8 8NZ
J J Gladwin

By arrangement between 1 May - 31 October (2025)

e

T:01463 811304 E:office@blackislegardendesign.com

We have an ornamental garden surrounding the house (new information discovered dates it from the 17th rather than 18th Century), and a three acre productive garden with two Keder greenhouses, designed using agroforestry and permaculture principles and gardened bio-dynamically using no-dig technique. The ornamental garden has different areas with distinctive characters. There is a parterre in front of the house with informal planting, a lower garden, an ornamental propagation garden, a mound and orchard. Hedges, (pleached lime, yew, beech, box, holly and mixed species field hedges) clipped in various styles connect the different areas of the garden. We have started to remove perimeter wire fences replacing them with log hedges and brash bunds. With a keen interest in gardening for biodiversity from the soil upwards, no chemicals have been used since our arrival in 1995. The development and improvement of the garden is ongoing.
Champion Trees: Yew and sweet chestnut.

Directions: From Inverness head four miles north on the A9, and follow the directions for Black Isle Brewery. Park up at the Brewery and walk down to the garden. Directions will be given in the shop.

Admission: £7.50, children free

Charities: Flourish 60%

Barochreal

Kilninver, Oban, Argyll PA34 4UT
Nigel and Antoinette Mitchell

By arrangement between 1 May - 30 September (2025)

46

T:01852 316151 E:antoinettemitchell1946@gmail.com

W:www.barochreal.co.uk

The garden was started in 2006. Fencing and stone walling define it from the rest of Barochreal land. Every year an area has been added, resulting in the gardens you will see today. There are rhododendron banks, a water feature, waterfalls and burns, a pond, a walled rose garden, active beehives (now housed in a purpose-built bee shelter built in 2021), tiered areas, a greenhouse and wild garden across the burn. Maintained walking tracks in the fields lead to viewpoints. Biodiversity studies revealed that rare butterflies inhabit the small glen by the waterfall. There are forty different species of moths including rare micro moths and over seventy species of wildflowers in the fields, including three types of wild orchid. There is an abundance of wildlife including red squirrels, pine martens and a wide range of birds can be seen. This garden is a haven of tranquillity, as seen in episode 9 of 2022 Beechgrove Garden.

Directions: Fifteen minutes south of Oban. On the main A816 Oban to Lochgilphead road just to the south of the village of Kilninver on the left-hand side of the road. Bus Oban - Lochgilpead stops at Kilninver School, short walk after. Please disregard SatNav and use what3words address instead www.w3w.co/albums.forest.tinned

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Scottish SPCA 60%

Dal an Eas

Kilmore, Oban PA34 4XU
Mary Lindsay

By arrangement between 1 May - 30 September (2025)

2c7

T:01631 770246 E:marylindsayargyll@googlemail.com

An informal organic country garden with the aim of increasing the biodiversity of native plants and insects while adding interest and colour with introduced trees, shrubs and naturalised perennials. There is a structured garden round the house and beyond there are extensive flower-filled ‘meadows’ with five different species of native orchid. Grass paths lead to waterfalls, vegetable plot, woodland garden, views and ancient archaeological sites.

Directions: From Oban take the A816 to Kilmore three-and-a-half miles south of Oban. Turn left on the road to Barran and Musdale. Keep left at the junction for Connel. Dal an Eas is approximately one mile on the left before the big hedges.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Amat

Amat Lodge, Ardgay IV24 3BS
Jonny and Sara Shaw

By arrangement between 1 May - 31 July (2025)

6e7

T:07712 266500 E:sara.amat@aol.co.uk

Over the last few years there have been big changes in the garden and there is now much more interest during the summer months. There is a new mini stumpery and many changes to the original borders. The river Carron flows around the edge of the garden and the old Amat Caledonian Forest is close by. Large specimen trees surround the house, plus many new ones planted in the policies in the last few years. There are several herbaceous borders, rhododendrons, trees and shrubs, all set in a large lawn. It is possible to go on a short woodland and river walk and you may see red squirrels which were reintroduced some years ago and are often in and around the garden.
Champion Trees: Abies Procera, Noble Fir

Directions: Take the road from Ardgay to Croick, nine miles. Turn left at the red phone box and the garden is 500 yards on the left.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Alzheimer Scotland 30% & Marie Curie 30%

West Leas

near Bonchester Bridge TD9 8TD
Mr and Mrs Robert Laidlaw

By arrangement between 1 May - 31 October (2025)

67

T:01450 860711 E:ann@johnlaidlawandson.co.uk

The visitor to West Leas can share in an exciting and dramatic project on a grand scale, one that is constantly growing and evolving. A feat of liquid engineering, with a cascading stream contrasting with slow water pools. At its core is a passion for plants, allied to a love and understanding of the land in which they are set. Collections of perennials and shrubs lighten up the landscape to magical effect. The lily pond and woodland planting was added in 2019 and a courtyard garden links to the humidity controlled garden rooms housing a collection of exotics .

Directions: Signposted off the Jedburgh/Bonchester Bridge Road.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Macmillan Cancer Support: Borders Appeal 60%

The Secret Garden

Isle of Lismore, Oban, Argyll PA34 5UL
Eva Tombs

By arrangement between 1 May - 1 September (2025)

2c

T:07786 374931 E:eva.tombs@gmail.com

A unique garden at the centre of a biodynamic farm on the Island of Lismore in the Inner Hebrides. The garden created from a field has a strong geometric layout that reflects the ecclesiastical history of the island. It has a vegetable garden, a tree nursery, a physic garden, an orchard and a polytunnel. The garden is a haven for wildflowers, birds, bees and butterflies. Standing stones, meadows, new woodlands, mountains and the sea encompass the whole. There is also a herd of rare breed Shetland cattle, chickens, ducks and friendly cats.

Directions: Please telephone for directions. Approximately two miles from Port Appin ferry.

Admission: £6.00, children free

Charities: Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance 30% & Oban Gaelic Choir 30%

Portmore

Eddleston EH45 8QU
Mr and Mrs David Reid

By arrangement between 1 June - 31 August (2025)

1c45d7

T:07905 776894

W:www.portmoregardens.co.uk

Lovingly created by the current owners over the past 30 years; the gardens surrounding the David Bryce-designed mansion house contain mature trees and offer fine views of the surrounding countryside. Large walled garden with box-edged herbaceous borders is planted in stunning colour harmonies, potager, rose garden, pleached lime walk and ornamental fruit cages. The Victorian glasshouses contain fruit trees, roses, geraniums, pelargoniums and a wide variety of tender plants. There is also an Italianate grotto and water garden with shrubs and Meconopsis. The woodland walks are lined with rhododendrons, azaleas and shrub roses. Starred in Good Gardens Guide and featured in Kenneth Cox’s book Scotland for Gardeners and on Beechgrove.

Designed Landscape: http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00318

Directions: Off the A703 one mile north of Eddleston. Bus 62.

Admission: details can be found on the garden's website

Charities: Abundant Borders (SCIO) 60%

Clonyard Farm

Colvend, Dalbeattie DG5 4QW
Matthew and Pam Pumphrey

By arrangement between 15 June - 30 June (2025)

0467

E:clonyard@btinternet.com

Open by arrangement for wildflowers. Informal garden around traditional stone buildings with views over pasture, wetland and a loch to mature mixed forest. The garden joins a wildflower meadow dominated by black knapweed and established yellow rattle. It features three species of native orchids and a former mill pond, a notable damselfly site. Both are maintained specifically to allow native wildlife and plants to thrive. There is an ornamental vegetable garden and around the house mixed plantings merge from sun to shade and woodland planting to provide all-year-round interest. There are meadow, wetland and woodland walks to two lochs and a crannog. Refreshments available on request.

Directions: On the north side of the A710 approximately four miles from the crossroads with the A711 in Dalbeattie, adjacent to Clonyard House Hotel and one mile from Colvend village. Parking at the Farm. Bus service from Dalbeattie but current timetables should be checked. Clonyard Farm is a request stop.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: Marie Curie: DG5 Group 60%

Larch House

Clerklands, Near Lilliesleaf TD6 9JR
David and Julia King

By arrangement between 1 July - 31 August (2025)

37

T:01835 870888 E:northcorner14@btinternet.com

The garden at Larch House is constantly evolving. Extending to over three acres and building on a layout, design and planting by the previous owners, further landscaping and renovation is ongoing. It includes a terraced area of vegetables and cut flowers edged by fruit trees, several mixed borders surrounding a lawn, a large natural wildlife pond and a newly-planted bog garden. The garden leads into a mixed wood planted about six years ago where meandering paths, sometimes steep, lead to extensive views of the Cheviots. Many of the paths are gravel and may prove difficult for wheelchairs.

Directions: Clerklands is a small hamlet approximately two miles from Lilliesleaf. On the A7 from Selkirk, turn left and follow signs to Clerklands. After approximately three miles the house will be clearly signed. On the A7 from Hawick, turn right and follow signs towards Lilliesleaf and the house will be clearly signed. Car parking is on site.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: All proceeds to SGS Beneficiaries

Craigowan

Ballinluig PH9 0NE
Simon Jones

By arrangement between 20 September - 20 October (2025)

67

T:07856 859219 E:simonqjones@mail.com

We welcome you to view our five-acre, family-developed showpiece garden, maturing over the last 35 years. The extensive range of around a thousand species and hybrid rhododendrons flower from January to their peak in April and May depending on frost damage due to our location at 500 feet above sea level. These are backed up by ornamental trees, perennials and an extensive herbaceous border in a diverse mix of woodland, prepared beds and specialist rhododendron planting areas. We are on a hillside but have tried to make the garden as accessible as possible to all. Most visitors require at least an hour for a basic viewing.

Directions: From north or southbound of the A9 to Ballinluig junction. Pass the Ballinluig filling station and motor grill on your right. Turn right at the primary school following the Tulliemet/Dalcapon sign; this is a single track road with passing places. About half-a-mile up the road take a left turning to Dalcapon, a further mile up the road is Craigowan garden. It is surrounded by a deer fence on the left. Please park on paviours adjoining the house.

Admission: £5.00, children free

Charities: LUPUS UK 60%