”When my husband & I bought 103 acres of Galloway (site unseen!) in South West Scotland over the telephone in 1971, all we knew was that we had acquired land described as ‘fit for afforestation’. Our first view of the land, on a gloriously sunny winter’s day consisted of bog, bracken & gorse, interspersed with the odd willow, surrounding the Georgian reservoir for the Dunragit Estate. It was not until our second visit that we discovered a ruin looming out of the mist, nestling like an eagle’s eyrie in the gully below. As we explored the ruins, disturbing a herd of cattle, I spied a rickety ladder leading up to the loft. Climbing up, I found myself looking out of a broken skylight at the vast expanse of Luce Bay with the Mull of Galloway stretching into the distance. I shouted down to Bill ‘ THIS IS WHERE WE ARE GOING TO LIVE.’

We moved to Galloway in 1974 to raise our young family and farm the land. The task of making a garden was not our first priority, athough I brought my plants from Herefordshire with me! After a visit to Logan Botanic Garden nearby, on the Rhins of Galloway I was inspired to start making a Garden. Due to the warming influences of the Gulf Stream, I realised that I would be able to grow many tender plants from the Southern hemisphere, and due to the acidity of the ground with a PH of 6.5 many of the ericaceous plants like Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Magnolias, would thrive. Although I had no horticultural training I felt emboldened to begin creating the gardens on the scale you see today.” Tess.