scottish garden advisor bolfracks renovating existing gardens high altitude cold

Gardening Gadgets from Rhyme & Reason

Gardening in Scotland is great fun, not impossible and a great challenge.

I work in 4 gardens as a freelance garden advisor. The gardens are in north Perthshire and South Inverness-shire.

Two are high (over 1000') and subject to some really tough weather. Bolfracks is north facing and steep. The fourth is perfect from my point of view; established with trees, water, lawns, herbaceous borders and the most perfect sloped walled garden with lean-to greenhouses.

2 women, a digger and several men managed to remove a hideous fifty foot long set of rock gardens in a day

I work with the clients and their gardeners, to make the best of their garden. Using local contractors, we take gardens back to their basic structure and then start re-building with trees, shrubs and flowering plants.

This year, we have removed some 1960's rock gardens in Perthshire and replaced it at a reasonable cost with lovely grass banking. We are currently planting 300 naturalising bulbs on the bank to bring colour and interest to the bank in the spring.

Bolfracks is open to the public from 1st April to 31st October, (with a % going to Scotland's Garden Scheme).

I have been working at Bolfracks since 2003 and we have made some drastic changes over the last few years. The garden is at about 400' and has the west coast influence, being right in the middle of Scotland near Loch Tay.

$The Wendy house at Bolfracks from the top of the burn garden$

from the Kilmokea bed, over the green house towards Glen Lyon

$The gates at Bolfracks from the Burn garden to the Mausoleum garden$

The Mausoleum Garden is a lovely peaceful wild area in the centre of the garden. Specimen trees, lovely wild roses, and in spring a succession of wonderful crocus, narcissus and mini daffodils.

The garden is divided into three. One half is a spring garden with a burn running through it, with rhododendrons, azaleas, primula and other acid loving plants (see above).

The other half has roses and herbaceous perennials overlaid on the original vegetable garden. It has undergone a huge renovation recently, we have removed 3 borders to clear them of weeds. We have saved as many of the plants as possible and either sold them on at our visitor centre or replanted them elsewhere in the garden.

$The new garden entrance at Bolfracks - a riot of colours in the spring - calmer later in the summer - wonderful autumn colour$

$The East Drive at Bolfracks in April, nearly half a mile of wonderful daffodils$

How to get to Bolfracks

Over the next couple of months I will be putting together a list of the plants which survive in these gardens, and maybe some of the casualties. All are on the same latitude, different heights, but physically close together.

Blue Foxgloves great for gardening photography and horseriding

Plant supports, garden ties, garden tools for pruning, weeding and planting.
Our Copper Labels were in the RHS 2006 Welcome Pack