10 Best Gardens

Scotland has some of the most beautiful gardens in the British Isles. Here's our pick of the bunch.

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
Just one mile from the city centre in 70 acre grounds of the Royal Botanic Garden, the hustle and bustle of Edinburgh seems like a million miles away.

Just about every sort of growing environment has been created, sometimes with great difficulty. From the woodland areas, to the alpine house, rock garden, herbaceous borders, arboretum, ecological garden, Chinese hillside and peat walls, the botanic garden is a wonder to behold. And that's before you've even stepped inside the famous glasshouses that give home to some spectacular tropical plants.

www.rbge.org.uk Tel: +44 (0)131 552 7171 Open daily,10am-4pm (November-February), 10am- 6pm (March), 10am-7pm (April-September), 10am-6pm (October);Glasshouses close 3.30pm (November-February), 5pm (March-October); Garden admission: free; Glasshouse admission: adults £3.50, concessions £3, children £1, families £8 Dunrobin Castle & Garden, Golspie, Highlands Situated on the east coast of the northern Highlands, Dunrobin Castle and its magnificent formal gardens look out across the Moray Firth.

The garden was laid out by Sir Charles Barry in 1850, who also designed the Houses of Parliament in London.

To match the castle, the garden has a strong French influence, with circular pools and fountains surrounded by two formal beds.

The garden holds to its original vision but has been enhanced by recent features like the reintroduction of an old-fashioned method of tree culture and a vegetable garden a...

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• By : Sally Toms
• In : Best of Scotland
• Issue : 41
• Page : 54
• Words : 756