Restoring the Past

Visitors to Dumfries House this Easter will arrive in time to catch one of the estate’s newest spectacles. Beneath a double avenue of lime trees, 600,000 daffodils are in full bloom, blowing their cheerful trumpets in celebration of spring.

After a long and very harsh winter, nothing could be more welcome than these heralds of the new season, which have shrugged off months of snow and ice to lift the spirits of everyone who sees them.

The bulbs were planted in two stages using special equipment brought over from the Netherlands and six different varieties have been grown together in order to give depth of tone and a long flowering period.

Now they form twin ribbons of yellow that march up the hillside to The Temple, an imposing decorative archway which was restored by the estate.

This is gardening on a grand scale and it has brought new life to the 18th century designed landscape that spreads out on either side of the Lugar Water near Cumnock.

It was in 2007 that HRH Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, stepped in to rescue Dumfries House estate from an uncertain future. He was determined that the house, designed by Robert Adam, and its unique collection of Chippendale furniture should not be split up and sold off.

An intensive period of restoration followed, reviving both the house and its policies and today the huge Queen Elizabeth Walled Garden is the impressive centrepiece of 2000 acres of native woods, specimen trees, parkland and farms.

Ten years ago, this was a derelict space filled with scrub and weeds, its bricks and structures crumbling into ruin. Today the picture couldn’t be more different. Now the garden rises on broad terraces filled with decorate plants, vegetables, espaliered fruit trees and cut flowers. Water cascades from a huge fountain shaped like a thistle and elegant glasshouses are positioned to catch the best of the sun.

Step into the main range in spring and the scent of hyacinths and scented-leaf pelargoniums fills the air while, just outside, Chartreuse-green euphorbias spill from the borders and spring bulbs grow in stone urns.

The garden covers four acres and, at the western end, a further acre is occupied by the Kauffman Education Garden, where children from across Ayrshire come to get hands-on experience of growing food.

This walled garden, along with 600 acres of parkland and extensive informal gardens, is the responsibility of Brian Corr who, for the last two years has held the position of Head of Gardens.

Brian moved to Dumfries House from the National Trust for Scotland’s School of Heritage Gardening at Threave, and one of his first tasks on arrival was to set up an education scheme for staff. Now all nine of the estate’s gardeners, many of whom came through the ranks of the Prince’s Trust, are completing the Royal Horticultural Society’s Level 2 Certificate in Practical Horticulture.

Dumfries House has such extensive gardens that it offers the perfect environment for such training. Along the banks of a burn that tumbles past the visitor centre and Coach House Café are woodland gardens planted with spring bulbs, colourful rhododendrons and scented azaleas.

Directly in front of the magnificent Palladian mansion lies a large parterre, its yew hedges enclosing tulips and roses.

Around the Lodge and holiday cottages there are smooth lawns and more than 30 large containers, which must be kept looking good all year round. A perfectly circular yew maze sits close to the Adam Bridge over the Lugar while on the other side of the river the arboretum, which was one of the earliest areas of the gardens to be restored, is getting into its stride.

“The key to keeping it all working is continuous planning and attention to detail,” says Brian, who, since his arrival, has relocated the vegetable areas within the walled garden, overseen a survey of the estate’s trees and fine-tuned almost every planted area within the estate.

“The restoration was carried out by garden designer Michael Innes and we are now adding to his plans.”

Part of this involves replacing those plants that have failed to cope with the estate’s heavy clay soil. Many of these are in the arboretum, which sits below the level of the water table, so can often become waterlogged.

“Here we haven’t restricted ourselves to a narrow range of trees that are known to survive in these conditions, instead we have planted a wide selection of decorative species and, where something doesn’t work, we then replace it with something else.”

Brian has also changed the management of the arboretum, cutting the grass short so that problems can be spotted early and maintaining a grass-free area around each tree to prevent competition for water and nutrients.

And throughout the gardens, regular mulching with compost is having a positive effect on the heavy soil, while the vegetable gardens have benefited from the many tonnes of manure from the estate’s farm that are spread on the soil during the winter.

This may be a garden with royal connections, but apart from a nominal charge for entry to the walled garden, the estate operates a policy of open access that has seen it become an important resource for the local community, as well as a tourist attraction.

Brian says: “We maintain the gardens to a very high standard so that regular visitors as well as those from further afield, will always see it at its best.”

Garden Notebook
Location: Two miles west of Cumnock on the A70.
Size: 4 acre walled garden, large parterre and 600 acres of parkland and woodland gardens.
Soil: Heavy clay, prone to waterlogging.
Features: Ornate bridges, garden pavilions and a circular maze.
Open: Daily from dawn until dusk.
Contact: Dumfries House, Cumnock, East Ayrshire, KA18 2NJ, Tel: 01290 425959, www.dumfries-house.org.uk.