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Photography Competition
Congratulations to our Photography Competition winners! Thank you to all participants, and the voting audience.
Judges Choice Award - Maggie Wormald
The Competition’s Judges:
Brian Cunningham - Beechgrove Garden Presenter, Head Gardener at Scone Palace and Scotland’s Gardens Scheme’s Ambassador;
Lizzie Schofield - Beechgrove Garden Contributor, Garden Opener at Cuthberts Brae, Scotland’s Gardens Scheme’s Ambassador, Instagram content creator with over 53k followers;
Richard Bath – the Editor of Scottish Field Magazine.
‘We were very impressed with the photographs submitted to the competition and it was hard to initially narrow the choice down to five. However, there was one photograph that stood out for all of us, and it was Maggie Wormald’s shot of 2 Durnamuck. The picture caught our attention right away, it has mountains in the background and blue sky, grasses and colourful flowers. It is an archetypally Scottish Highland scene. If I had that border in that setting, I’d pat myself on the back. You can look at this picture for half an hour and still see interesting things. The composition is great, all elements add up to its beauty. We would like to congratulate all the contestants, it was a pleasure to review your photographs that were full of creativity, colour and wonderful stories behind.’
Audience Award - Sophie Blanchard
The winning photo received 153 votes. Our Audience commented: ‘A beautiful gate looking out on a beautiful view over a beautiful part of Scotland. Love the combination of stonework and metal!’, ‘Simply stunning! Makes me want to visit.’ and ‘Lovely photo - what an amazing garden feature!’.
Media Partner
CATEGORIES
Submitted photographs will compete in two judging categories:
Judge’s Choice Award - Judged by our panel of judges
Audience Award - judged via our audiences on our social media platforms
PRIZES
We will showcase the winning photograph in our social media, on a gallery on our website and in our next Guidebook.
For each category, we will also offer a prize of £150 for the top photograph OR will donate the same amount to the charity of the winner’s choice.
Our Media Partner Scottish Field will grant one year subscription of the magazine to the winner of each category.
PHOTO GALLERY
Browse the photographs shortlisted for the Competition.
Burgie Arboretum
What a wonderful find and such a gem of a wild garden. On a fairly windswept Monday we had the place entirely to ourselves and enjoyed a long walk around the ponds and the woodland. A very fierce swan mother chased us away if we got too close to her two cygnets hiding amongst the grass and wildflowers.
Gordon Castle
Willowhill
This was my first visit to Willowhill - I went in May and enjoyed the spring display so much I also went back in August to see it in midsummer! It's a very calm and relaxing garden with distinct areas and a huge range of plants and flowers, all beautifully layered and combined. I came away with some lovely images of the flowers and plants there - I hope these photos have captured some of the essence of this lovely garden.
2 Durnamuck
A stunning day for Durnamuck Garden open. Beautiful sunshine with gale force winds. So special to see the plants swaying with the wind. and framed by the landscape. This is garden design at its best and rounded off with wonderful tea and cakes , plant sales and friendly hosts! A lovely day out.
Willowhill
2 Durnamuck
Royal Botanic Gardens
RGB is always special. They have transformed the QueenMothers Garden maze area into lots of beautiful Dahlia’s in it.
Earlshall Castle
A rare opportunity to visit a unique historic garden with quirky and modern elements.
Earlshall Castle
Parkvilla
I am the garden owner. I have developed the garden over 32 years. I'm not an artist and the garden is a way for me to create something beautiful, living, changing and a haven for wildlife. I hope that others enjoy it too via the Garden Scheme.
Parkvilla
An-Grianan
The garden contains something to interest every visitor. It reflects the character and interests of the owners who took a pride in showing it to and chatting with visitors. The vegetable garden had a variety of fruit and vegetables in beds and polytunnels, lots to inspire fellow gardeners.
Gordon Castle Walled Garden
Gordon Castle walled Garden was at its peak in July and although well known for its lavender beds the poppies in front of the well known garden cottage caught my eye.
Floors Castle
Portrack - The Garden of Cosmic Speculation
We visited during the open weekend, travelling to Scotland just to see it. We had heard about this amazing garden via several sources and it did not disappoint. It was a great day and amazing weather.
Portrack - The Garden of Cosmic Speculation
Portmore
It was a glorious day in July, and I was with two friends, both accomplished gardeners. We had not seen Portmore before. This border stopped us in our tracks. The scheme was deceptively simple, the colours perfectly complementary. We all made notes and left inspired.
Broadwoodside
A beautiful garden created in a thoughtful, fun, peaceful, magical way. A delight at every turn, a joy to visit, it was stunning! The person in the photo running through the tree lined arch is me (I set the composition up), it sums up how I feel about Broadwoodside.
Portmore
Auldbyres Farm
Our garden visitors that day carried bright umbrellas and were cheerful and interested, despite the rain!
Hospitalfield House
Drummond Castle
Cloan House
At best we are only stewards of gardens: Land and gardens really belong to everyone. My delight in Cloan House gardens was increased by seeing the joy it brought to visitors of all ages.
Cloan House
Shepherd House
The garden was bought in 1957 by Sir Charles and Lady Ann Fraser who have created the beautiful garden that it is today. It is so full off interesting plants and artifacts you dont know where to look next.
Shepherd House
We congratulate all who took part in the competition - your photos and stories made us even more proud of our amazing Garden Openers, Volunteers and Visitors.
Thank you to all who have visited our gardens in 2022. We look forward to seeing you again next year.
Gordon Castle
This was our second visit to Gordon Castle. The garden has certainly developed since we were last here and some early summer colour was just beginning to appear. It is a very calming space to visit, particularly after such a difficult couple of years.
Bolfracks
Bolfracks is a masterclass of gardening on a slope. The rich variety of interest displayed in the Autumn showed that the enjoyment of garden visiting does not have to be limited to just the summer months.
Stobo Castle
This delightful secret arboretum is a reminder of a visit to Japan, the mature trees with the Oriental features blend to form a tranquil stroll garden, the waterfall, ponds and stream are majestic, having returned in Autumn the colours did not disappoint, will be a definite fixture along with many others super gardens open throughout the year.
Willowhill
Whitewin House
A beautifully laid out garden with welcome refreshments and loads of inspirational gardening ideas to take away ! The hosts were so friendly and informative - it was a pleasure to visit Whitewin House and look forward to revisiting in the future to see how the garden develops.
Thank you for supporting Scotland’s Gardens Scheme
We enable garden owners to open their gardens, raising valuable funds for charity through garden gate tickets, plant sales and teas.
Can you donate £4 today to help us to continue and improve our volunteer support and develop our garden opening programme for all to enjoy?
Earlshall Castle
Gordon Castle Walled Garden
I have watched the ongoing restoration of the Walled Garden with regular visits in all seasons. It is fascinating to see the how the garden is tended, how healthy the plants are and compare them with my own garden. The cafe uses produce from the garden for tasty meals.
Parkvilla
Inveraray Castle & Gardens
The garden is beautiful with lovely views and a woodland walk. The castle is a stunning backdrop to the garden which has statues, old trees, views of the castle and river.
Glebe House
The walled garden's symmetry of box hedges, clipped Yew, topiary and neat lawns in a formal layout are an unexpected feature in a small village. The mix of plants, ornamental features and colours within the formality gives ideas for experimenting in other garden styles.
Floors Castle
Floors Castle is a very special place, not only for me but for the whole community. Their cafe uses produce thats grown on the estates gardens and greenhouses. It's about appreciating nature and making it accessible to everyone. I feel like greenhouses are under appreciated and over looked by most people but I think they give a good insight into the inner daily workings and hard work that goes into these beautiful gardens.
Floors Castle
Logie House
Everything at Logie was vibrant in May and the alliums strikingly offset the house.
Portrack - The Garden of Cosmic Speculation
The Old Mill Garden
A Sunday visit to my mother and father in laws garden with the family to take in the amazing varicoloured Rhododendrons flourishing in the afternoon summer sun.
The Old Mill Garden
The Old Mill Garden
Broadwoodside
Broadwoodside
Hospitalfield House
I studied art here 39 years ago, it is the oldest art school in europe.
Drummond Castle
A special charity open day with the money raised going to local good causes
Drummond Castle
The Quoy of Houton
Despite an overcast weather you could see the garden looks beautiful and well maintained by its owner. Even the house cat enjoy it.
The Quoy of Houton
Combination of a stunning silver garden gate with a view toward the sea.
