Dunninald Castle Gardens

By Montrose, DD10 9TD

Dunninald Castle is home to the Stansfeld family and has an acclaimed walled garden, set in a planned landscape of woods and wild plants. “In the best of all possible worlds, this garden would be a little smaller,” says Mary Stansfeld, director of the estate. “Maintaining it, with fewer gardeners than perhaps it once had, is like painting the Forth Bridge – hard to get around in the year – and some parts appear more den-like than garden.”

The walled garden is entered though the Union Gate, made in Montrose in 1907, with thistles, roses, shamrocks and daffodils representing the home nations. The garden comes with its own micro-climate, some two or three degrees warmer than outside. Though the borders and vegetable beds are apparently quiet, the fruit trees are in full scent and the air is alive with the sound of insects. The garden is also home to a family of red squirrels, who are usually to seen near the hazels and yew trees at the greenhouse or running along the top of the wall.

May is a lovely time of year for Dunninald, with each day seeing the emergence of new life. Fresh beech leaves and swathes of bluebells deck the wild garden in shades of indigo and lime green. In the walled garden, most plants are still dormant, neat splodges of potential on well-mulched soil. Over the course of the summer, like tubes of paint thrown on a canvas, they will extrude themselves wildly upwards and outwards. For the gardener, now is the best time of year. For a short time, there is a sense of control and purpose that the modest rows of broccoli and cabbage in the beds, and peas and tomatoes in the incubator, will one day appear on the table.

May also brings storms, and it is traditional that the Dunninald Bluebell Opening is preceded by a gale and accompanied by at least one shower of rain. Bluebells look their best when wet, and if it is not early morning and there is no dew, a light shower makes for perfect conditions.

Dunninald is a member of Scotland’s not-for-profit garden tourism group, Discover Scottish Gardens. The organisation promotes some of the best gardens, woodlands and plant nurseries across Scotland. From seasonal festivals and garden displays to events for all the family, there is always something new to discover.

Website:

http://www.dunninald.com/

www.discoverscottishgardens.org/garden/dunninald-castle-gardens

Telephone: 01674 672 031

Opening times: open daily until the end of August. 1-5pm.

Admission costs:

Entry to gardens are £4 / Free for children under 16