A wonderful Highlands garden planted with lush and exotic species

The awakening of the garden after the long and often fierce Highlands winter is pure joy and this is when Dundonnell reveals the first of its sleights of hand. The two-acre walled garden is right next to the lively upland Dundonnell River, so has very thin soil, no more than about 18-20cm deep, with gravel below. In a less wet area, this would mean the garden drying out quickly. Conversely, without the good drainage, the garden would be a bog. This happenstance of climate and geology means it can support a wide variety of plants that have their origins in many parts of the world. Perhaps it is this that makes the garden feel so expansive.

The man who oversees it all is Will Soos, who has worked here for the Rice family almost from the start. There is a long tradition in the Highlands of calling in on gardens and Dundonnell was certainly on the lists of horticulturally minded visitors from its earliest days. But, at the end of the 20th century, dwindling funds and a drawn-out sale of the property meant the grounds fell quickly into a shaggy wildness, as many such gardens do. 'When we arrived, you could see it had been a good garden, with interesting specimens from plant-hunting trips to China and Korea, but you couldn't walk along the paths as they were so overgrown,' Jane remembers.

The outer area of the fountain garden, where pale-flowered Rhododendron campanulatum and staphylea are underplanted with lilac-white Lunaria rediviva beside clipped box hedging.

Andrea Jones

Will was then working at nearby Inverewe, a superb Victorian botanic walled garden owned by the National Trust for Scotland. He had trained at another exceptional garden, Threave, and also worked for two specialist nurseries run by knowledgeable plants-people - Cally Gardens and Elizabeth MacGregor Nursery in Dumfries and Galloway. Jane met him at Inverewe and thought straight away, 'This is our man.' His approach from the outset at Dundonnell has been of patient stewardship, taking his lead from the land rather than imposing a set of ideas upon it.

It has worked in some style. Plants that were not thriving have been gradually replaced by ones that do well, and Will's depth of knowledge and daily contact with the garden means that, once they are well established, he can let plants have their head. One section of the garden weaves seamlessly into another, linked by several hundred metres of meticulously clipped box hedging. None of the plants are staked, though Will makes sturdy hazel obelisks for the climbers. In the middle of the walled garden is a vegetable garden, used enthusiastically by the family during their visits and planted up by Will to be most productive at these times. And he has expanded the planting. 'He'll say, “It would be good to have a border here,”' Jane says, laughing, and I reply, "Won't that be more work?" He responds, "It'll be fine." And it always is.' Scent is very important to Jane. From early spring, the witch hazels (Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' and 'Diane') light up the garden with their fiery colours and spike the air with their fragrance.

Rocky Creag Bheag is the backdrop to the kitchen garden, with fruit trees and roses on one side and a laburnum tunnel on the other. No-dig vegetable beds edged with fine white chives lead to a central circle of box surrounded by golden marjoram.

Andrea Jones

Amid this slow change, certain markers remind you not only of the longevity of this garden, but also its ancient setting. To Will's delight, many different species of lichen have jumped the walls and taken up residence, notably tree lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria), providing a kind of alchemy to the garden, a reminder of the ancient forest that is lichen's natural home. In the middle of the garden is a yew, thought to be the second oldest in Scotland at more than 1,000 years old. As seen from the house, it billows out as though it has been expertly cloud-pruned by a master Japanese topiarist, yet it is only the weather that fashions it. Underneath, the long limbs stretch up into the dense evergreen foliage, offering a perfect hiding place for Jane's many grandchildren when they come to stay. In fact, the whole garden invites exploration and play, like a Caledonian stage setting of A Midsummer Night's Dream, where to get lost in the woods is also a route to finding yourself.