Glorious Gardens from Above episode 15 – Aberdeenshire: Christine Walkden heads to the Scottish county of Aberdeenshire.
Her balloon takes her to Crathes Castle, ancient seat of Scottish nobles, where she learns about the challenges of gardening in an unforgiving climate and meets Doug, whose father left his mark on the estate. And she gets to grips with some smelly skunk cabbage at what claims to be Britain’s highest garden, Tillypronie.
Glorious Gardens from Above episode 15 – Aberdeenshire
Crathes Castle
The castle estate contains 530 acres (2.1 km2) of woodlands and fields, including nearly 4 acres (1.6 ha) of walled garden. Within the walled garden are gravel paths with surrounding specimen plants mostly in herbaceous borders. Many of the plants are labelled with taxonomic descriptions. There is also a grass croquet court at a higher terraced level within the walled garden. Ancient topiary hedges of Irish yew dating from 1702 separate the gardens into eight themed areas. Crathes and its grounds are open to tourists throughout the year. A visitors centre provides information about the castle and its surroundings. There is a tea shop on site and a car park for any size of car.
Crathes Castle is a 16th-century castle near Banchory in the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland. This harled castle was built by the Burnetts of Leys and was held in that family for almost 400 years. The castle and grounds are owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland and are open to the public.
Tillypronie
The gardens include formal terraces and are noted for an extensive collection of trees and shrubs. There is also a water garden, an arboretum and a productive walled garden. The estate woodlands are a distinctive feature of the local scenery.
The designed landscape at Tillypronie was laid out in the late-19th century and the gardens were established in the early-20th century with further development since 1951.
