2011 News
Now we are in the New Year we have resolved to keep the website up to date. The first piece of news is that we are opening again in 2011 on Sunday 26th June. This year we will be supporting a local charity, the Alford Car Transport Service. The aim of this charity is to enable people to attend health and similar related appointments, where public or family transport is unavailable or inappropriate. The drivers are all volunteers who give their time freely to help those in need, especially in our rural area where transport is non-existent or unsuitable.
We hope to make some further developments to the garden before then but the devastating December in Aberdeenshire has again put paid to any work as snow has remained on the ground throughout the month.
2010 News
The winter of 2009/10 proved to be a long and damaging one for the garden.
In the walled garden several roses on the pergola were very badly affected by the low temperatures. On a brighter note, however, an Eccremocarpus Scaber (Chilean Glory Flower) emerged from the winter unscathed and can be seen climbing the wall of the Bothy at the end of the garden.
In the garden grounds, deer, rather than sub-zero temperatures, proved to be the garden's greatest enemy. All of the small leaved Rhododendrons, Aucubas, Hollies and numerous other shrubs were eaten by starving deer. They even ate the Yew hedge at the far end of the driveway and this explains it rather thin appearance.
The winter this year slowed down developments in the garden but with better weather in the spring a new garden has been started in the Old Walled Garden. The aim is to create a woodland garden containing more unusual and perhaps tender plans and trees that will benefit from the shelter that this area provides. Initial plantings have included Rhododendron, Eucryphia, Acers, Embothrium and a Crinondendron. It will be interesting to see how this garden progresses.