Crathes Castle, Banchory, Aberdeenshire, AB31 5QJ
Why Should We Visit?
The four-acre walled garden here is one of the most outstanding in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. The gardens are contained within a series of high walls and ancient yew hedges and punctuated with striking features, including a fountain, a 19th century dovecot and a giant Prunus lusitanica that is more than 250 years old. Beyond the walls, sign-posted trails lead into woodland populated by woodpeckers and red squirrels, and where there is an opportunity to explore the canopy from above on a Go Ape treetop adventure experience.
Story Of The Garden?
The pink-harled tower house of Crathes Castle was built in 1596 on land that had been given to the Burnett family almost three centuries earlier by King Robert the Bruce and it stands in what was once the Royal Forest of Drum.
Records from the castle show that by the seventeenth century vegetables including peas and parsnips were under cultivation and over the centuries the layout of the four-acre walled garden changed many times as fashions in gardening grew and waned.
In the 1920s the castle’s owners, Sir James and Lady Sybil Burnett, influenced by the writings of renowned garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, created the most northerly arts and crafts garden in the UK, incorporating many of the features of the earlier gardens into a series of rooms enclosed by the high walls and ancient yew hedges.
Highlights?
The planting at Crathes is exciting and often surprising and despite the northerly situation, the high walls allow many surprising plants to flourish here, including, bomarea, a tender climber from the Andes, and Lobelia tupa.
For the best view, climb the stairs in the castle and look down on the formal layout of the gardens.
Don’t Miss
The restored range of Mackenzie & Moncur greenhouses within the walled garden is home to a National Collection of Malmaison carnations, the flower worn by Oscar Wilde in his buttonhole. These are demanding, short-lived plants that came close to dying out but which are now enjoying a resurgence.
Anything Else To Look Out For?
The fields surrounding Crathes contain a series of 12 pits. These indentations, which were spotted as part of an aerial survey project that picked up unusual patterns of crop growth, were identified by archaeologists as the world’s oldest lunar calendar.
Best Time To Visit?
The June Borders at Crathes are renowned for their rich mix of plants and clever colour combinations, but there is plenty of drama to be found in early autumn too when the woodlands surrounding Crathes begin to show the early hints that in a few weeks will become red, gold, scarlet and bronze.
Within the walls many trees and shrubs are also starting to colour-up, including stewartias, acers and viburnums, while a katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) fills the garden with the scent of toffee apples as its leaves start to turn.
Soon the dogwoods will start to drop their leaves to reveal stems of scarlet, lime green and orange.
Any Recommendations In The Area?
The Burn O’ Vat is a dramatic gorge in the Muir of Dinnet National Nature Reserve, which lies 20 miles upstream of Crathes on the River Dee. Carved out of the bedrock by glacial action, the deep pothole and cave that sit below a waterfall can be explored on foot as part of the network of trails that criss-cross the nature reserve.
Directions
Crathes Castle sits 3.5 miles east of Banchory on the A93.
Details
The castle is open from Thursday to Monday, 10am - 4pm.
Tel: 0844 4932
Email: crathes@nts.org.uk
Www.nts.org.uk
Leith Hall Garden and Estate
Leith Hall sits at 186m above sea level, but despite its altitude and the severity of winters in this part of Aberdeenshire, there has been a garden here since the 18th century.
Recently the distinctive rock garden, which was for many years one of Leith Hall’s outstanding features, has been restored and the garden also contains fine examples of Pictish artwork. These carved stones are a feature of the landscape in Aberdeenshire although no-one has yet been able to decipher their meaning.
Paths zig-zag their way through the steeply-sloping site, with its huge beds of catmint and perennials, and a moon gate is set into the surrounding walls. The walled garden is filled with fruit trees and shrub roses and patterns, including spirals and saltires, are mown into the lawns.
Leith Hall is also home to many fine trees and bulbs flourish under these in spring while, from the highest point in the garden, there are views over the surrounding hills.
Leith Hall Garden and Estate
Huntly, Aberdeenshire AB54 4NQ
Www.nts.org
In Association With Discover Scottish Gardens. See discoverscottishgardens.org
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