Tour Threave Gardens Scotland

Hi Sandy, I am searching for information about the history of Threave Gardens. Can you help ? Fiona Malloch.

Threave was given to the National Trust for Scotland by its owner. Major Alan Gordon, and the trust assumed responsibility on the major's death in 1957. In 1960 it was decided to start a school of horticulture at Threave, using the house as a school and hostel and developing about 65 acres of field and woodland around the building as a garden. This garden is now well developed, with a large part of the design and maintenance work being undertaken by students who spend two years on a full-time residential course. The area covered by the garden is on a west-facing slope, originally parkland with clumps of mature hardwoods. The fairly heavy, silty soil holds water well and even in the driest summers does not require irrigation. Over the years this area has been landscaped into a series of gardens, providing suitable habitats for an extensive range of plants. The original layout consisted of a one acre walled garden with traditional green-houses and a few shrub borders. The main horticultural interest of the owner was his collection of some two hundred cultivars of daffodils in the woods and grass that surround the house. This collection has been added to over the years and is now one of the main features in early spring.