Threave Garden & Estate
Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway DG7 1RX
Threave Garden is located in south-west Scotland near the town of Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway. Threave is the home of the National Trust for Scotland’s School of Heritage Gardening which will celebrate 60 years of training professional horticulturists in 2020.
Threave is unique among the gardens in the care of the National Trust for Scotland as it has evolved from parkland to a diverse resource for training horticulture students. It is not a garden associated with one historical period – the era of the ‘big house’ or castle – but one that is constantly changing with the needs of the gardening school. The most recent project was the creation of a Garden of Contemplation which was completed last winter.
The garden is divided into a series of smaller areas to showcase different styles and offer training opportunities, including a rose garden, rockery, display glasshouses, woodland gardens and herbaceous and shrub beds. Threave also has a one-acre walled garden which was constructed in 1872 to a traditional design to produce fruit, vegetables and cut flowers. Fruit and vegetables are still grown here using organic principles and used in the estate cafés.
At the centre stands Threave House, designed in the Scottish Baronial style in 1871 for the Gordon family with many of its rooms displayed as they were in the 1930s.
Threave is magnificent in spring when the gardens are carpeted with over 200 varieties of daffodil, including the mass planted bank of Narcissus ‘Southern Gem’, complementing the spring-flowering shrubs and trees. Summer and autumn are just as special when the herbaceous beds and borders are a feast for the eyes; filled with colour, fragrance and texture.
The wider estate caters for more adventurous tastes and includes the flagship bat reserve.
Website: https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/threave-garden
Telephone: 01556 502575
Opening times: 1 Apr–31 Oct, daily, 10am-5pm; 1 Nov–22 Dec, daily, 10am–4pm; 23 Dec–20 Mar 2020, closed
Free for National Trust for Scotland members or adult £9, family £20, one adult family £13, concession £8
Garden of the Week is in association with Discover Scottish Gardens. For more information, advice and day-out ideas, visit discoverscottishgardens.org
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