Gardens of the West Coast of Scotland and Lake District

6th July - 11th July 2008 (5 nights, 6 days)
The Grange Hotel (Grange over Sands) and the Marine Hotel (Troon) 

£669 
We are sorry, no single rooms are currently available

 

Starts Ampfield House with additional pick up points at Newbury and Redditch

This five night, six-day executive coach tour commences from Ampfield House, Romsey with pick ups at Newbury and a coffee stop at Redditch.  En route to and from Scotland, there will be a stay at The Grange Hotel at Grange over Sands - the gateway to the Lake District.  As well as being in a prime location, this hotel is renowned for comfort and first class cuisine.  Garden visits in the north of England will include a private visit to Gresgarth Hall, home of landscape designer and plantswoman Arabella Lennox-Boyd and to the Dorothy Clive Garden at Market Drayton, Shropshire which we will visit on the first day of the tour.  This garden has wide appeal in terms of design and inspirational planting.  Summer interest includes colourful shrubs, unusual perennials and many conifers.   Our base in Scotland will be the four star Marine Hotel at Troon, on the beautiful Ayrshire cost looking out to the Isle of Arran.  All rooms are en suite and the hotel has excellent leisure facilities that include a pool, gym and sauna.  

On the second day of the tour we travel along the eastern shore of Lake Windermere to Holehird Gardens, maintained and owned by the Lakeland Horticultural Society.  Here there are 10 acres of attractive gardens on a hillside site overlooking the lake and with breathtaking views of the fells from the terrace.  Specimen trees, a new alpine house, restored Victorian greenhouses, fine herbaceous borders, shrubs and climbers are just some of the highlights.  After an early lunch at Holehird, we’ll continue to the Scottish border and Dumfries and Galloway.  At Castle Douglas, we will visit Threave Castle and Garden.  This vast estate includes the 65-acre garden that has been a horticultural school for trainee gardeners since 1960 and the principal interest is the working walled garden with its range of glasshouses, orchard and wall-trained fruit and vegetables.  Later in the day we’ll arrive in Troon to check in to the Marine Hotel with time to freshen up and relax before dinner.

After breakfast the following morning, we depart for Culzean Castle Gardens just south of Ayr.  These gardens surround a cliff top medieval castle, which was extensively remodeled by Robert Adam from 1777 with many fine architectural features remaining.  These are regarded as the flagship gardens for The National Trust of Scotland with all the traditional elements of a grand garden at the turn of the century. Highlights include a fine pleasure garden with a spectacular fountain and a vast walled garden with herbaceous and vegetable plantings.  We then continue to Logan Botanic Garden near Stranraer.  At Logan Botanic Garden, one of Scotland’s best collection of tender perennials can be found thanks to Logan’ s mild climate on a peninsula washed by the Gulf Stream - diascias, fuchsia and salvia to name a few.  Beautiful specimens from South and Central America, South Africa, Australasia and The Mediterranean flourish here and all in all this presents an exotic plant collection and a fascinating visit.  

Day four –We take a ferry trip from Weymss Bay to the Isle of Bute to visit Mount Stewart Gardens.  The lovely Isle of Bute is easily reached and offers that special dimension of island life in tranquil natural surroundings.  At Mount Stewart there is a wealth of horticultural interest in what is regarded as one of Scotland’s finest gardens.  As well as a considerable mature pinetum and decorative rock gardens near the house, the kitchen garden and “wee” garden are the two most important elements, the latter being far from “wee” - eight acres of mixed and exotic plantings including most tender plants not usually grown outside a greenhouse can be found here.   The kitchen garden, originally designed as an ornamental potager by the late Rosemary Verey, has a Pavilion Glasshouse set in its midst containing rare flora from South East Asia.  Entry to the house is also included.

After checking out of the hotel on our final day, we drive to Glenwham Garden to meet the owners and tour the garden.  Tessa and Bill Knott were frequent visitors to this peaceful part of Scotland and in 1974 they fell in love with the area and bought a dilapidated farmhouse and 103 acres of open hillside, without even seeing the property.  The inspiration to develop the garden came initially from visits to Logan Botanic Garden, some 15 miles to the southwest and without any formal training in horticulture but with plenty of support from various plant collectors and the International Dendrology Society.  Trees were planted initially for their hardiness and also for their fast growth rate.  A lovely mix of native and exotic plants creates a tapestry of colour and native plants inhabit the ponds that have been excavated.  Wherever you walk there are fine plants at every turn and whatever the season there is a great variety of rare and first class plants, an array of colour and a profusion of scents.  At the end of the visit, lunch can be taken in the licensed restaurant before we continue to the Lake District and our overnight stop at Grange over Sands. There will be time to relax, stroll in the grounds and use the leisure facilities before dinner.

Day 6 - Gresgarth Hall return to Ampfield via Redditch, Newbury.    At Gresgarth Hall, Arabella Lennox-Boyd has created one of the most exciting gardens in England, combining Italian style with British plantsmanship.  Lavishly planted terraces lead down to a lake, wild and bog gardens.  There is an extensive walled kitchen garden, large herbaceous borders, woodland areas, a serpentine beech walk and a striking Chinese style bridge leading to a fine arboretum.  Refreshments at Gresgarth, late lunch at Redditch and tea stop at Newbury.

Or contact Tim Mason at Hillier.  Tim_mason@hillier.co.uk    Tel: 01794 368944