An intimate and magical garden created by the artist, Edward Atkinson Hornel (1864-1933) and his sister, Tizzy. One of the ‘Glasgow Boys’, Hornel’s work is exhibited in the house alongside work by his contemporaries.

The garden, with its twisting paths and herbaceous borders, covers half an acre. It stretches from the pink walls of Broughton House to the estuary of the River Dee.

Nearer the house, Japan’s influence on the garden can be seen. There are acers, wisteria, peonies, toad lilies and Kirengeshoma palmata with a network of streams and ponds.

Further from the house, the garden takes on a more Edwardian feel, with various garden rooms. There are cherry and apple trees, various herbaceous plants as well as a magnificent Eucryphia glutinosa.

There’s also a productive vegetable patch at the far end of the garden with rhubarb, gooseberries and strawberries growing.

The central path once marked the boundary with the neighbouring garden. Hornel bought the adjoining property and rented out the house while incorporating most of the land into the garden.

There is various stoneware dotted about the garden including troughs, curling stones and several 17th and 18th century sundials.

Several plants in the garden are named after Hornel’s sister, including an orchid – Dactylorhiza ‘Tizzy Hornel’.

Hornel continued to travel to the Far East. In 1907, he wrote to a friend from Sri Lanka: ‘…I daresay you would smile if you could hear all the great schemes Miss H and I are evolving for Broughton House & its garden’.

Hornel was also a great antiquarian and book collector. His large reference library of c15,000 books includes 2,500 books of works by and about Robert Burns.

Free entry for members of the National Trust.