Threave Garden and Nature Reserve
The National Trust for Scotland's garden and nature reserve near Castle Douglas, a garden of many rooms made by trainee gardeners, with Threave House and a bat reserve.
Just outside Castle Douglas, Threave Garden belongs to the National Trust for Scotland, and it is the only garden in Scotland given over to training gardeners.
Since 1960 it has been home to the Trust's School of Heritage Gardening, and the garden has been shaped by generations of trainee gardeners.
It is laid out as a series of garden rooms, each in a different style: a rose garden, a rockery, a walled garden with glasshouses and more. In the middle stands Threave House, a red sandstone Scottish Baronial house of 1871, with many rooms shown as they were in the 1930s.
Beyond the garden stretches a nature reserve, with views to the Galloway Hills, ospreys and red kites overhead, geese in winter, and Scotland's only bat reserve, home to eight species. The garden, cafe and shop open daily from ten.
Garden, cafe and shop 10am to 5pm; Threave House 11am to 3pm; the nature reserve dawn to dusk.
Adults £10, families £25.
- Where
- Near Castle Douglas, DG7 1RX.
- Gardeners' school
- Since 1960.
- Bats
- Eight species.
On the Threave Estate just west of Castle Douglas, DG7 1RX.
Designs Gallery and CafeA gallery shop and cafe on King Street in Castle Douglas since 1998, with books, crafts and jewellery and a cafe with a garden.2 miles5 min by road
Threave CastleThe Black Douglases' island tower.2 miles5 min by road
Orchardton TowerThe only free-standing round tower house in Scotland, built two centuries after round towers went out of use.7 miles15 min by road
Galloway Kite TrailA circuit of Loch Ken under a sky that has red kites in it again.9 miles15 min by road
Sandyhills BeachA sandy bay on the Solway.15 miles24 min by road
Scotland, in print.
Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.
For further reading, before you go.