Dawyck Botanic Garden

Stobo

Peebles EH45 9JU

Why We Should Visit

This steep, hillside garden in the Borders is home to one of the finest tree collections in the country and in autumn its soaring pines and spreading beeches are at their finest.

Set at 850ft above sea level, Dawyck has the ideal climate from growing trees from some of the world’s most mountainous regions, including Tibet, Nepal and North America and many of the species that grow here are rare in their native zones.

For visitors the garden provides a spectacular setting to enjoy some of the smallest and largest specimens that the plant world has to offer and to breathe the clean air of the Borders.

Story of the Garden

From the 17th century onwards, the Dawyck Estate was owned by several families, all who shared a passion for covering the hills around Stobo with trees arriving from America and the Orient. By the time that the garden passed into the care of the Royal Botanic Garden in 1978, it was home to many notable trees and work has been ongoing since then to maintain and enlarge the collection and to help conserve rare Scottish plants, such as the Woolly Willow (Salix lanata).

Highlights

From Giant Redwoods, Dawn Redwoods and Douglas Firs, grown from seed collected by the great Scottish plant hunter, David Douglas himself, Dawyck has a fine assortment of soaring Leviathans. The oldest tree in the collection is a Silver fir (Abies alba), which was planted in 1680, while the original Dawyk Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck), unusual in that it takes on a columnar shape as it matures, still grows in the garden.

Don’t Miss

The Scrape Burn makes a dramatic centrepiece to the garden and its banks are damp and mossy. In fact Dawyck is home to the world’s first cryptogamic sanctuary, an enclave where mosses, liverworts, lichens and other simple plants are conserved and studied. Fungi in particular predominate in autumn and across Dawyck’s 25 hectares many different species flourish.

Anything Else to Look Out For?

Many of Dawyck’s huge collection of azaleas take on good autumn colour. These, along with rhododendrons, are some of the garden’s most spectacular collections and even now the indumentum - the velvet-like substance that covers the backs of some species of rhododendron - is worth discovering.

Best Time to Visit

Dawyck is a year-round garden and in winter, when the canopy is bare, the pines can be seen at their very best. There are snowdrops in spring and in May huge numbers of blue poppies (Meconopsis) grow around the fringes of the trees. The cafe remains open all year.

Any Recommendations in the Area?

The imposing ruins of Dryburgh Abbey sit beside the River Tweed at Newton St Boswells. St Walter Scott is buried in the nave and the grounds are home to many fine trees and in spring there are carpets of daffodils.

Directions

Dawyck is eight miles south of Peebles on the B712

Details

Dawyck Botanic Garden is open daily, 10am - 5pm

Tickets: £8/£7/free (under 15)

Tel: 01796 481207

https://www.rbge.org.uk/dawyck

Hollytree Lodge at Muckhart, near Dollar is a one acre garden that has been divided into a series of different enclosures. The garden has many unusual trees and shrubs, including snow gum, Dawn redwood, acers and a Persian ironwood, which in autumn all produce spectacular colours.

There’s a small Japanese garden too and a mini orchard, which in spring is spangled with bulbs, followed by wildflowers in summer.

Water features include a formal rill and a wildlife pond and the vivid colours of rhododendrons and azaleas, which appear in spring, are followed in summer by herbaceous plants in mixed borders.

The garden is run along organic lines in order to support the bees that live in its hives.

Hollytree Lodge is open to visitors by appointment through the charity, Scotland's Gardens Scheme, whose members open their gardens in aid of good causes. www.scotlandsgardens.org

Hollytree Lodge

Muckhart

Dollar FK14 7JW

In association with Discover Scottish Gardens.

www.discoverscottishgardens.org.