The traditional walled garden at Castle Fraser has excellent accessibility for all visitors thanks to its solid paths. Take a wander through and breathe in the wonderful scents. As well as herbaceous and medicinal borders, you’ll find a rich array of fruit and vegetables, including currants and gooseberries grown traditionally on poles.
Looking south west towards the castle from the garden offers one of the finest views in the estate!
History
Early estate plans show a garden close to the castle, in typical Scottish style. But all this changed in the 18th century, when the whole estate was redesigned. The current walled garden was built further away from the castle in 1795. It used to have a heating system that internally warmed the walls and the glasshouses, which provided the castle with fruit, vegetables and cut flowers. The garden also contained a vinery and two peach houses in Victorian times. All of the walls are now trained with espaliered fruit trees of apples and pears.
Vegetable plot
Elyza Fraser was a pioneer of fruit and vegetable production in the 18th century and instigated the now widely used system of crop rotation to ensure the health of the soil and productivity. The vegetable plot demonstrates this system to great effect in its traditional quartered design but with its own modern twist.
You can see all of the major popular vegetable varieties growing in the height of the season, from peas and carrots through to giant cabbages and pumpkins. The Fraser family originated from Normandy in France and the word Fraser is derived from the word fraise (strawberry) – these plants feature heavily in the garden, especially the small alpine strawberry which are very sweet even though they are tiny and white!
There are some gnarled, old but very productive plum trees, apricots and even kiwi fruit. You can also see the unusual column style of planting for red, black and white currants and gooseberries.
To this day, the walled garden still produces a variety of home-grown fruit and vegetables that are used in the tearoom and available for sale for visitors to take home.
Cut flowers and vibrant borders
Great houses such as Castle Fraser would always be decorated seasonally for the family and guests with flowers taken from the garden. This tradition continues with cut flowers being grown annually to create table displays and for special occasions. The display within the garden is seasonal, with no particular colour palette – just a riot of flowers that can be cut and dried.
Some plants such as Nicotiana (tobacco plant) have a dual use. The leaves are dried each year and used by our beekeepers in their smokers to placate the bees whilst handling the honeycomb and inspecting the hives. The smoke is not harmful to the bees, and is kinder and more pleasant as it is a natural leaf.
The vibrant border is a themed area displaying tender and unusual plants that are more lively and eclectic in colour combination and structure. The theme is more jungle than English country garden! The display changes each year but some key plants can always be found such as Aeonium from the Canary Islands and also the zingy Tithonia from Mexico.
Orchard
The orchard is a modern addition to the garden area, thanks to generous support from the Aberdeen Members’ Centre. It is home to a small collection of heritage and unusual varieties, such as ‘Adams Pearmain’ (from 1826) and ‘Morgan Sweet’ (from the late 1700s). Both these varieties ripen late and are great for cooking, preserving and (best of all) cider-making. Many of the apples are used by a local cider maker to create an award-winning product which is bottle fermented in the Champenoise style.
The orchard trees are underplanted with a succession of early bulbs, such as Frittilaria and Camassia. Sections are left uncut to encourage insects and other pollinators. The year ends with Devil’s-bit scabious, which the butterflies love, even into late September.
