At the heart of Kailzie lies the magnificent walled garden with its 18 foot high walls!
It boasts one of the very first built Mackenzie and Moncur glasshouses which has now almost completed a program of careful restoration. It is packed with fuchsias, pelargoniums and exotics over the summer.
You will find the formal rose garden wrapped with hedges shaped and close-clipped into deep green castellations, to create a natural room of peace and beauty – a fabulous place to enjoy a seat.
The vegetable and flower garden has been reimagined and newly laid to give easy access to all. You will see the very best examples of traditional show vegetables and flowers.
Alongside these highly honed traditional techniques contemporary bedding and pot floral displays abound.
The famous Kailzie laburnum arch when in full bloom is a breathtaking sight, with its cascading clusters of bright yellow flowers creating a tunnel-like effect that beckons visitors to walk through it.
The arches provide a perfect place for taking memorable photos – particularly for our brides! On the walls find our old apple trees with their delicate pink and white blossoms in the spring and their abundant fruit in the Autumn.
The herbaceous border is backed by a copper beach hedge – a departure from the more traditional backdrops – but one that give tremendous texture to the constantly changing display of colours throughout the growing season.
Each plant is carefully chosen and placed to create a harmonious and balanced display that evolves throughout the growing season. Each plant is a star in its own right, yet together they create a stunning tapestry that is greater than the sum of its parts.
An 1811 sundial by Adie of Edinburgh lies as a centrepiece to a sightline to the ornamental fountain to the South and one of the earliest James Parker sculptures to the north. (a more recent work ‘Sphere’ is placed at the Courtyard entrance).
The gardens lie at 700 feet and this requires careful plant and shrub selection due to the intense cold that can be experienced over the winter months.
For the keen plant enthusiast this is a selection of plants you will find in the walled garden:
Many shrub roses such as Rosa Albas: Celestial and Great Maidens Blush, Rosa Centifolia: Fantin Latour, Rosa Centifolia Muscosa: Rosa Gallica: Gallica Complicanta, Rosa Mundi and Tuscany Superb, Rosa Rugosa: Blanc Double de Coubert, Frau Dagmar Hartopp, Pink Grootendurst, Alba Roseraie de L ‘Hay, and Sarah Vanfleet. Among other shrubs roses there are Cantabrigenisis, Filipes, Fedschenkoana, Highdownensis, Microphylla, Microphylla Doncasteri, Macrantha, Rubrifolia Scarlet Fire and Virginiana.
On the walls the climbers include Felicite et Perpetue and Wedding Day. There are also several varieties of Potentillas such as Abbotswood, Elizabeth, Catherine Dykes, Mandschurica, Tangerine, Redace, Jackman’s Variety and Whiterain.
We have now set to work on repairs of our beautiful glasshouses. They were constructed in 1860 and so still stand over 190 years later!
The firm of Mackenzie and Moncur became experts in the construction of hothouses. Its clients included members of the Royal Family and they had many other large contracts all over Great Britain, Ireland and even overseas. Their hot houses were popular with the nobility and aristocracy, as well as public bodies such as hospitals, asylums, churches, universities and schools.
The whole of the walled garden is rotated to the south east (clockwise) compared to the Courtyard. This was to maximise the amount of sun falling on the glasshouses.
At the winter solstice – the sun will still strike the entire glasshouse during the day! The steep roof angle was precisely calculated to ensure that shadows would not be cast as the noon height of the sun changes over the year.
