Castle Kennedy Gardens
Rephad
Stranraer DG9 8BX
Why should we visit?
Few gardens can match the grandeur of Castle Kennedy. Set between two lochs and occupied by two castles, one a picturesque ruin, this is as imposing a landscape as any in Scotland. It has been home for centuries to the Earls of Stair who have lavished attention on its 75 acres and who continue to improve and refine the garden today.
Besides the horticulture, views and landscaping, the gardens have a tea room, gift shop and plant centre so there’s plenty to keep visitors busy for a whole day.
Story of the garden
The original Castle Kennedy was built in the 14th century, but it was the Second Earl of Stair who developed the gardens. His tenure as ambassador to the French court at Versailles in the early 18th century clearly gave him a taste for bold design and so, despite the castle having been destroyed by fire just a few years earlier, he employed men and horses of the Royal Scots Greys and the Inniskilling Fusiliers to build the huge earthworks that are one of Castle Kennedy’s most surprising features. Eventually many of the improvements made by the 2nd Earl lay neglected but the gardens were restored, replanted and extended in the mid-19th Century, initially by the 8th Earl when he stumbled upon a decaying copy of the original plan by William Adam in a gardener’s cottage on the estate. They were added to further in 1840 by the 10th Earl who also built Lochinch Castle and its gardens at the other end of the isthmus between the two lochs.
Later generations of the family planted trees and rhododendrons, all of which grew rapidly in the mild climate of south west Scotland until today towering trees and huge shrubs are a hallmark of the garden.
Highlights
The walled garden is filled with flowering plants and summer bedding that bring colour and scent to this enclosed space. Ferns and hydrangeas, which flower from summer onwards, grow in shadier areas beneath the trees. Elsewhere in the gardens an impressive avenue of monkey puzzle trees leads to Lochinch Castle, where a sunken garden is surrounded by rhododendrons.
Don’t Miss
The earthworks would be out of scale in any other garden, but not here where everything is super-sized including the huge lily pond – a full two acres in size – where this year’s water lilies are starting to flower, completely covering the surface of the water.
Anything else to look out for?
The garden was laid out to create vistas towards the castles and over the two lochs, which are joined by a narrow canal. In June late flowering rhododendron hybrids add colour and an Emvothrium (Chilean Firebush) is in flower.
Best time to visit?
Over the coming months there will be opportunities to find out more about the history and botanical treasures of Castle Kennedy gardens through guided walks around the landforms, walled garden and summer-flowering plants in the company of the estate’s former head garden. These are part of the Summer Garden Festival, organised by Discover Scottish Gardens, and events at Castle Kennedy also include open air performances of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and David Walliam’s Awful Auntie.
Any recommendations in the area?
The Galloway Forest Park is the largest forest park in the UK and Scotland’s first Dark Sky Park, where the absence of light pollution provides unrivalled views of the night skies. The park covers hills and moors, glens and rivers and there are visitor centres scattered across it, along with hiking and cycling trails and opportunities to see red deer and wild goats.
Directions
Castle Kennedy Gardens are situated approximately five miles east of Stranraer on the A75.
Detail
The gardens are open daily,
10am-5pm.
Tickets: £6.50/£5.50/£2
Tel: 01776 702024
info@castlekennedygardens.com
Www.castlekennedygardens.com
Logan Botanic Gardens, on the Rinns of Galloway, is staging a season-long programme of events as part of the Discover Scottish Gardens Summer Garden Festival.
Activities include guided walks and nature talks, regular arts and crafts classes for children, bug safaris and RSPB challenges.
On Thursday, July 14, rousing African drummers will be making the first of several appearances in the walled garden and on Saturday, July 30, local group, Life O’Reilly, will be providing the entertainment.
Logan is part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and it contains an important collection of semi-tropical plants, many of them endangered in the wild. Visitors to the gardens are greeted by an avenue of cabbage palms and a willow dinosaur roams the gunnera jungle.
Many of the plants that thrive at Logan grow nowhere else in Scotland, thanks to the influence of the Gulf Stream. The garden’s greenhouse was the first in the UK to be heated by renewable energy.
Logan Botanic Gardens
Port Logan
Nr Stranraer DG9 9ND
In Association With Discover Scottish Gardens. See www.discoverscottishgardens.org.
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