Walled garden is one of Scotland’s most impressive designed landscapes

In September the walled garden that sits amidst one of Scotland’s most impressive designed landscapes is bursting with late-season colour. Growing amongst the asters and dahlias here are shrubs from Chile and other more temperate parts of the world, which luxuriate in the mild climate of south west Scotland.

Castle Kennedy Gardens is spread across 75 acres with some of that land occupying a narrow isthmus between two lochs. It is a dramatic setting and one that has been developed for more than 300 years, beginning when the 2nd Earl of Stair, who had been a diplomat to the French court at Versailles, came home with ambitious ideas of how he could improve his land.

It took the efforts of hundreds of men and horses from two battalions, but eventually the Royal Scots Greys and the Inniskilling Fusiliers shaped the giant earthworks and terraced embankments that today still provide structure and useful vantage points from where visitors can look out over the gardens.

Amongst the landmarks are two castles, the first the ruins of Castle Kennedy and the other Lochinch Castle, which the present Earl and his family occupy today.

The name is familiar to the many gardeners who grow Buddleja ‘Lochinch’, which emerged as a seedling here in the 1940s and which has gone on to be a staple of gardens around the country.

Running through the landscape are great avenues of trees that were laid out at the same time as the landforms were being created. The towering Monkey Puzzles and Western Red Cedars would have been new to Europeans when they were planted here and the gardens are also home to the very first rhododendrons of their kind to be cultivated  in Europe.

The giant Rhododendron arboreum, including one which is a British champion, were introduced to Castle Kennedy by Sir Joseph Hooker in 1851 and have gone on to thrive ever since.

Castle Kennedy Champion trees (Image: Discover Gardens) Other exotics include tree ferns and Cordyline australis, better known as the Cabbage Palm tree.

Trees are one of the most outstanding features of Castle Kennedy gardens and the estate is home to some of the largest of their kind in the country. At the moment these are beginning to show signs of changing colour and the effect is intensified by the larch trees that grow on the hillside beyond the estate.

These hillsides and the gardens itself are teeming with wildlife, including a resident flock of Greylag Geese on the Black Loch. In the coming months these will be joined by huge numbers of Greenland White Fronted Geese which will arrive to spend the winter feeding around the margins of the water.

As well as the lochs, Castle Kennedy also has a canal and a two-acre round pond which also attract wildlife.

From Saturday, October 19 until Thursday, 31 October, the gardens will be hosting a Halloween Festival, with trails through the woods and free activities for all the family.

Details
The entrance to the gardens is on the A75, five miles east of Stranraer. The gardens, tea room and plant centre are open daily until November 3, 10am - 5pm. Tickets: £7/£6.50/£2.50. There is free entry for disabled visitors and under-3s.Tel: 01776 702024

info@castlekennedygardens.co.uk
www.castlekennedygardens.com