The Castle is made up of a 16th century Tower house with later additions. It is very much a design of its times with vaulted ceilings, circular stair cases and a Great Hall. You can now get married there if you have a mind too.
There is a Radio gardening programme in these parts called the Beechgrove Potting Shed based at BBC Scotland in Aberdeen. I listen to it often and have even sent in the odd question in the past about rust on the Brachyglottis (the panel of experts confirmed it was the worst they had ever seen).
One of the panel, Douglas MacDonald, had been the Head Gardener at Crathes for many years. Much of his advice began with “When I was at Crathes...
So the NTS garden at Crathes has long been known to me by name. We've been able to visit several times since moving to the area. The photos were taken on two different occasions. The first on a warm October day and the other in July when it poured with rain. In spite of the downpour there was something magical about the garden in the rain.
Crathes gardens are renowned for two things. One is sumptuous planting of the herbaceous borders of the walled garden and the other is the topiary.
A magnificent yew hedge,decorated with clipped topiary balls, divides the Lower Garden from the Upper Garden.The ancient hedge gives the garden an established feel but also provides year-round structure.
The topiary theme continues along the edge of the Croquet Lawn. Yes, these are hardy souls playing croquet in the rain!
Row of rounded hollies and Irish yews continue up towards the castle.
The garden is divided into 8 themed colour areas.The borders were originally laid out in the 1930s by the then owner Lady Burnett, inspired by the colourful schemes of Gertrude Jekyll and visits to Hidcote Manor in Gloucestershire.
The borders are packed with summer colour. Due to the rain on our second visit we spent some time in crowded into the Doocot with other visitors. Nobody seemed inclined to talk so I spent a lot of the time studying the roof detail....
It was still pouring so we moved on to the glasshouses.
And beautiful blooms
Finally the rain eased a bit and we were able to get out to admire the herbaceous borders.
The rain spotted flower of Lilium lancifolium (syn. L. tigrinum)
Tropaeolum speciosum rampaging through one of the topiary hedges.
Eryngium Alpinum
The delicate papery blooms of the Deutzia shrub
The best time to visit Crathes in all it's glory is probably June but whenever you visit it is a gem of garden.
Oh and by the way there is an excellent tearoom and there are plants for sale that have been cultivated in the Castle garden. Two definite assets in my book.
Crathes is one of my favourite castle gardens in Scotland; the tree at the centre of the perennial garden is magical. I can't recall the variety though it's written in my notes somewhere (Portugese Laurel maybe?).
ReplyDeleteThey have several good speciman trees at Crathes, most of them good for autumn colour. It is a beautifully laid out garden with balance and symmetry and so much to look at.
DeleteOh that feels my Gardeners soul. Needed to see those amazing flowers growing, and not covered in snow.
ReplyDeleteCelebrating another word verification free blogger.
Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams
Glad you like it Jen. You sound like a campaigner. I'm so glad I'm not the only one irritated by the word verifications. I did away with them a while ago and haven't seen an increase in spam (touch wood!)
DeleteWhat a treat! Beautiful walks.
ReplyDeleteItis a treat even in the rain.
DeleteWow, thanks for the tour Janet! A delight to read especially whilst relaxing sat on bed using the laptop. So many beautiful gardens, so little time, but blog posts like this are great in giving you an insight into what's out there. A lovely garden!
ReplyDeleteCrathes is a very traditional garden but still stunning nonetheless!
DeleteWhat a beautiful place. I haven't visited any gardens in Scotland unfortunately. Visits to Glasgow and Edinburgh have been too short, Peterhead was in the depths of winter and our holiday last year to Skye and Mull was garden free too. I will have to draw up a list and see if we can plan a holiday around them next year. Thank you for sharing your photos, this really is why blogs are so great. Inspiration for future trips.
ReplyDeleteNo Dunvegan then when you were in Skye? There are not that many famous gardens in skye or Mull and lots of other things to do. Partners don't always want to do gardens and nothing else...
DeleteThere are a lot of good gardens in aberdeenshire if you want to holiday in that direction and there's one in Montrosethat opens to the public once a year and to fellow bloggers anytime...
This does look like a gem. I know topiary is not popular at the moment, but I absolutely love it and appreciate seeing those pics. I can also see the inspiration of Gertrude Jekyll. How wonderful it would be to acquire some plants from there.
ReplyDeleteI always come away with some plant or other, Holley and they are good quality.
DeleteWhat a spooky coincidence Janet, I was looking for images (internet) from this garden just last week.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the memories and great tour around. It has been some time since I have visited this garden. I’ve been twice (pre children and with). I believe we had a nice lunch there. It is the topiary I remember and very high and packed borders with narrow paths between them. It is a bit of a drive from here. I’ve a garden tour up next too – an even longer drive away :-)
It is quite a long way from you, Shirley. You could have a short break and visit several gardens in the area...
DeleteThe croquet game doesn't look like a particularly rousing one... I didn't realize until I started blogging just how pervasive those National Trust gardens are in the UK. They really are an amazing treasure/resource, and always so beautifully maintained. Our equivalents are much fewer and farther between, and pretty much non-existent in this part of the country.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your photo of the lily. Colors like that show so beautifully on gray days.
Perhaps the weather was getting to the croquet stalwarts. Although I tend to think of croquet as being a bit sedate... the National trust buildings and gardens are a wonderful resource but upkeep is very expensive. The Scottish National Trust got itself in a financial pickle over the last few years and head to sell of buildings in Edinburgh among other things. They had a bit of an airy fairy attitude to money, hopefully the new board members have sorted it all out...
DeleteA lovely garden, what a great place to visit!
ReplyDeleteEven in the rain, Kelli!
DeleteEnjoyed the tour Janet. What a romantic setting it must be for weddings. I have added it to the many Scottish gardens I would like to visit and have noted that there are cakes and plants :)
ReplyDeleteAre you planning a Scottish garden tour, Anna?
DeleteBeautiful tour. I hope to one day make it "across the pond" and see all the beautiful gardens and castles. I would not know where to start.
ReplyDeleteIf you make it across the pond, we can give you a list of suggestions...
DeleteCrathes was on my list of places to visit in the UK last year, but we didn't manage to get there, and now I wish we had! That topiary is amazing, isn't it? And I was thinking about getting rid of the word verification, which has become more annoying, so I shall follow your example and see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame you missed, Crathes Lyn but it's one for next time! As for word verification I stopped using it a while back and haven't had any problems.
DeleteSign of a good garden, that it looks great even when it is pouring down. Beautiful herbaceous borders. I love that shot of the gate framed by topiary.
ReplyDelete