A WALLED GARDEN

Gardening writer Janice Hopper heads north of the border to Caithness to take a tour of the Castle of Mey and its beautiful walled garden

- Janice Hopper

As I stood in the most northerly walled garden in mainland Britain, the waves crashing in the distance and the wind swirling around the coastline, this two-acre garden felt remarkably protected, enclosed and full of life.

I’d arrived at the Castle of Mey, the former holiday residence of the Queen Mother. Her grandson, the Prince of Wales, continues to enjoy an annual holiday here, and with his acknowledged appreciation of organic produce and environmental matters it’s hardly surprising that the gardens are one of his key interests. I was visiting to witness the Prince opening a new luxury B&B neighbouring the Castle of Mey. Called The Granary Lodge, it’s the perfect base for guests who wish to explore the castle,grounds and gardens at their leisure. The man charged with overseeing the gardens in this remote, blustery locationis head gardener Chris Parkinson. Chris took up the role relatively recently in April 2018, and he’s just created a new layout of triangular flower beds, coincidentally resembling the shape of a St Andrew’s flag. Chris was understandably nervous and excited on the day we met, as it would be the first time the Prince had inspected the new work. No pressure!

The finished beds include delphiniums, a range of miscanthus, astilbe ‘Flamingo’ and Liatris spicata ‘Floristan Violet’ in bed one. Bed two is rich with hemerocallis ‘Custard Cream’, iris ‘Lady in Waiting’, trollius ‘Orange Queen’, fern dryopteris ‘Linearis Polydactila’ and cordyline ‘Cardinal’. The third bed features veronica ‘Royal Candles’, pieris ‘Forest Flame’ and Viburnum davidii. Rounded off by bed four, blossoming with mixed deciduous azaleas, a range of rhododendrons, escallonia ‘C F Ball’, Skimmia japonica and Salix caprea ‘Pendula’.

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