A year in the garden
Our garden looks so different over the seasons, take a look at what to expect month by month when you visit.
Those who visit us frequently might be surprised at the appearance of some areas of the Garden. We have been working with a tiny dedicated team of gardeners since lockdown and have not been able to plant our usual summer bedding displays, which need a large team and close working. Since March 2020 we have focused on general maintenance and keeping the trees healthy, so the formal gardens are not as manicured as they’d usually be.
There are some encouraging conservation benefits. Wildflowers are flourishing, and many areas are enjoying a less intensive horticultural approach. The formal Parterre and Aviary gardens have been planted with green manures, allowing for deep mulching once the foliage dies back. This is a new way of gardening for us, and long-term, it will do the garden a lot of good.
March
The garden starts to wake from its winter sleep. Scillas will be flowering and colour will be creeping into the spring bedding displays. Early daffodils begin to show. On the way to Tay Bridge see colourful stemmed and winter flowering shrubs.
April
Spring bedding is in full flower. The Parterre and Aviary Garden is a mixture of tulips and myosotis. Elsewhere is a profusion of wallflowers, narcissus and bellis medicis. Daffodil Valley, Tay Bridge and Tulip Patch will be full of daffodils.
May
Cascade Bank looks good with spring flowering shrubs. Late May is our bedding changeover when the ornamental beds will be planted with summer bedding. Other parts of the garden will show colour from Bluebells and Lily of the Valley. The trees will begin to burst into leaf.
June
The Parterre will be a mixture of greens, pinks and yellow. Each year we have a new carpet bed design based on the collection or upcoming exhibitions. Flowers and scent will fill the Rose garden.
July & August
The ornamental beds will be looking their best during the summer months of July and August, and the water plants and marginals in Frog Fountain will also be looking good.
September
The bedding in Tropical Mound and the Bachelors’ Wing will still be looking good. Autumn crocus, Colchium speciosum ‘Album’ will be in full flower on the Parterre. In late September conkers begin to fall from our Horse Chestnut trees.
October
Winter bedding changeover begins, we pull out the summer plants and put in spring bulbs and flowering plants. The trees will change to deep, magnificent golden hues.
November & December
The garden hibernates for winter. Variegated hollies and evergreen shrubs give the garden depth while winter flowering shrubs give Tay Bridge and the Winter Garden colour. Christmas trees and light sculpture end our year in the garden.
You may also be interested in
Statues wrapped for winter
During winter we wrap our statues against frost. Don’t be surprised to see ghostly shapes in the grounds.
Explore the gardens
Discover garden highlights that include the Parterre, Aviary and Rose Garden.
Art in the garden
From 18-century sculptures and carpet bedding displays to contemporary art pieces.