Summer Garden Tour – Fife

The Tower, Wormit

We were welcomed by Peter Davey who, with his wife Angela, has lived in the property since 1976. During that time the steep hillside has been gradually transformed (or reclaimed) from a neglected one-acre Edwardian landscaped garden.  It now has an intricate mix of restored paths, rockeries and water features but also open areas with seating and colourful planting, from which there are panoramic views over the River Tay.

We enjoyed viewing a photobook filled with before and after pictures of the restoration and redevelopment of the site.

Willowhill, Forgan

This garden of three acres has been developed by Eric Wright and Sally Lorimore over the last 25 years on former agricultural land and is still evolving with new projects.

The mixed borders which surround the house are designed with vibrant colour combinations, inspired by Great Dixter. We saw a spectacular display of roses in full flower, herbaceous perennials and annuals all planted in wide borders. There is a 160-foot ‘no dig’ border created in 2019/2020 with shades of white, blue, purple and pale yellow and another newer ‘no dig’ border in shades of peach, burgundy, yellow, chocolate and acid yellow which complemented a new potting shed built of natural stone. There is a blog about their no dig experiences at: https://scotlandsgardens.org/no-dig/

We were impressed to see a tall Echium pininana in full flower in a sheltered spot beside the house, while further away were less intensively managed areas including a pond, grassland and woodland. The soil is considered too rich for a true wild flower meadow but the grassed areas have been planted with bulbs such as Camassia and Crocosmia to add interest.

Once again, we enjoyed viewing a photobook, filled with pictures showing the development of the garden. This also gave us an indication of the beauty of the garden at other times and particularly in the spring bulb season.

Earlshall Castle

Earlshall provided a complete contrast to the previous visits, having been established at the end of the 19th century when Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer, was commissioned to restore the dilapidated 16th century castle and create a two-acre walled garden around it.

The gardens are best known for their extensive topiary, all transplanted by Lorimer from a derelict site in Edinburgh when they were already 125 years old.  The walled garden encloses a rose garden, croquet lawn, vegetable area and an orchard.

We were warmly welcomed by our hosts Paul and Josine Veenhuijzen. Paul accompanied us around the garden after which we joined him and Josine in the Long Room of the castle for a light meal followed by a talk on the history of the site.

Tuesday 24 June

 Edenhill

Edenhill is a Victorian villa in St Andrews which has been the home of John Angus for the last 40 years. The south-facing back garden, on light neutral soil, is largely mature and was designed and planted some years ago with the assistance of Scottish designer Michael Innes and since then has been continually enhanced by John.

We enjoyed our detailed tour where David Austen roses Olivia and Princess Alexandra of Kent were looking at their best, together with a Carpenteria californica in full flower, an attractive Phygelius capensis, several cornus species and a variety of mature trees, including a monkey puzzle.

We also admired the work of local sculptor James Parker, who has created some eye-catching works for Edenhill. The most recent addition is a stainless-steel rill, set within a low boundary wall that separates the patio from the remainder of the garden.

The garden was designed for relaxation with seats carefully placed to enjoy different aspects of the plantings.

St Andrews Botanic Garden

This 18-acre site was developed as a botanic garden in the 1960s following the move of the original 1884 town quadrangle site to more extensive grounds. Now managed as a charity separate from the university, the garden experienced difficult financial times with low levels of maintenance and management, eventually forcing the closure of the greenhouses.
Current director Dr Harry Watkins, was appointed in 2020 with a remit to renew and revive the garden. Harry studied landscape architecture and obtained his PhD from the University of Sheffield. His key interests in novel ecosystems and urban ecology have informed his ambitious and innovative plans for the development of the garden with a planning horizon of up to 40 years.

Harry spent significant time with our group explaining the key objective – for the garden to be a dynamic testbed for trying out new methods and techniques which can be scaled to contribute to the ecological resilience of ecosystems around us.
He described and demonstrated three current projects in detail, all looking at the evolutionary consequences, both intended and unintended, of specific plantings in different conditions and all with an experimental approach. Our tour of the garden prompted much discussion and we were encouraged to return as the garden will undoubtedly change significantly over the years.
The first project, which will look at plant adaptation and invasion in response to climate change, in woodland margins, using 40 per cent Fife species and 60 per cent introduced species is now at the early stages of ground clearance. This is being done by planting cereal crops to compete with native weeds and hopefully clear the ground. Harry admitted that if this did not work he may need to resort to other means – possibly even the introduction of a herd of pigs!

The second involved creating the topography and habitat of sand dunes to study the impact of colonisation of dunes using worldwide species. A boardwalk enables good access for all and a surprising success has been the introduction and flowering of Stanleya pinnata from Utah, US. A further stage of the project will involve the creation of mobile dunes although we were not sure how this will be achieved.
The third project is investigating the ecology of post-industrial landscapes using the area previously covered by greenhouses, since demolished. Brick and debris has been crushed to form a base within which a remarkable range of self-sown species have germinated and rapidly colonised.
There are other areas of the garden still to be tackled, including an extensive rock garden that had become overgrown with trees, some of which were felled last winter. A large area of ornamental shrubs has been cleared to provide space for visitors to relax and some orchid species have already appeared within the new grass that has grown there.

46 South Street, St Andrews

This is a remarkable walled garden behind a substantial town house close to the centre of the town and it is the last intact example of a medieval “long rig,” a long strip of land. We were welcomed by June Baxter who, with her late husband, has owned the property since 1978, when the garden was totally derelict. Whilst she then planted some trees and shrubs the garden was largely developed after she moved to the property in 1990, with assistance in design by Michael Innes.
Close to the house there are delightful roses and shrubs, including a fine Carpentaria californica, once again in full flower, and we then passed through an orchard underplanted with meadow flowers.
Beyond this is a parterre seating area planted with roses and other aromatics backed by a historic doocot, (dovecote) where, without exception, members of the group found time to stop and sit and enjoy birdsong in this quiet enclosed space.

Cambo House

Our final stop of the day was at Cambo to see the 2.5-acre walled garden dating from the 19th century. We were guided by Head Gardener Callum, who explained that this had been the kitchen garden for the house and post Second World War it had a variety of uses including as a market garden and a Christmas tree nursery.
In more recent times, the garden has been redeveloped and planted with perennials and grasses, inspired by the style of Piet Oudolf. Unusually, a stream runs right through the middle of the garden so the land slopes down from both sides giving a variety of aspects. There are attractive cast-iron bridges over the stream, beside which wild flowers grow.
The garden has recently stopped using pesticides, and whilst this resulted in an increase in pests initially, the position is now more stable with greater biodiversity in evidence.

Wednesday 25 June

South Flisk

We were welcomed by Julia Young to her highly unusual garden based around a large flooded quarry planted with marginals. Flights of stone steps, cliffs, boulders, exotic ferns and mature trees form a backdrop for carpets of woodland plants including trilliums in spring and now a colourful array of primulas. Julia explained that she has gardened the site for the last 30 years and makes good use of occasional fallen trees to open up previously shaded areas and give an opportunity for new planting. By contrast, in front of the house is a mature garden with traditional cottage-garden planting.

Rosewells

Rosewells was designed by the owners, Birgitta and Gordon MacDonald, and has developed over the last 30 years on a 1.5-acre overgrown paddock.  This was truly a blank canvas on which they have created an intricate garden with many paths and interesting design features. Trees were initially planted around the boundary to provide shelter but some of these have now been removed to make more open views

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. Highlights of our visit included several Cornus in flower, (including C. ‘Porlock’), together with peonies, roses, ferns and acers. We were just in time to see the last flowers of the giant Himalayan lilies Cardiocrinum giganteum.

In recent years more winding paths have been developed to create wildlife friendly areas, with many areas of seating to enjoy the tranquility of the garden.

Teasses

This is a historic Victorian estate that deteriorated during the last century and has been substantially restored in recent years by the current owners. The walled garden is used as an event space; its popularity has provided funding for restoration and redesign of the garden which extends to some 60 acres.

A new greenhouse has been built on the footprint of a derelict predecessor.  Unusually the original walls are only on the north side of the garden and they had heating pipes inside to improve the production of trained fruit trees. As at Cambo, the garden dips in the centre along a west-east axis and rises again to the south.

We had an extensive tour with the estate manager, Craig Cameron, which included viewing the large Victorian house and its surrounding gardens. These have been extensively re-landscaped by the current owners over the last 20 years to create drifts of planting which can be viewed from the main rooms of the house. A new lavender garden which has replaced a former rose garden and the yew hedges in this area were festooned with the Chilean flame flower, Tropaeolum speciosum.

We admired a magnificent stone doocot that was constructed to mark the owners’ 50th wedding anniversary. Beyond the gardens is a large agricultural estate which has been managed on organic principles for many years and with substantial planting of new hedgerows to restore the landscape to its traditional appearance.

Thursday 26 June

The Japanese Garden, Cowden

The Japanese Garden is a complete contrast to all the other gardens we had visited.
At the turn of the 20th Century, local resident and Scottish adventurer Ella Christie returned home from a trip to Japan inspired to build her own Japanese garden. She chose a female designer – the gifted Taki Handa – to create the seven-acre site in the grounds of the family estate, Cowden Castle. In doing so, The Japanese Garden at Cowden became the first and only garden of its size and scale to be designed by a woman. It remains a unique and utterly authentic bridge between Scottish and Japanese culture.
Sadly, it fell into disrepair after the Second World War and was seriously vandalised in the 1960s but is now being brought back to life by a team of experts including the renowned Japanese architect and garden designer Professor Masao Fukuhara.
We were shown round in two groups by Rob Grindrod, the estate gardener, and a volunteer. We learned details of the restoration project and the challenges of the ongoing management to maintain the authentic character of the garden.

In summary, a wonderful trip of 12 gardens impeccably organised by Michael Turner. Many thanks to him for providing such a varied programme and to fellow travellers for sharing so much knowledge and enjoyment during the trip.

Text and photos courtesy of Maddy & Geoff Hughes