Herb garden

There are many hidden gems within Pitmedden Garden, one of which is our very own herb garden that contains over 150 different herbs.

From culinary to medicinal uses, herbs have been known and widely grown since ancient times. Many found their way to Scotland through history from China, along the Silk Road to Italy with Roman legions, as well as those from North American explorers and Celtic ancestors. Herbs have been used to enrich flavours in cooked or baked food, as well as different teas. More often than not, they have served a medicinal purpose, be it for healing, treating severe illnesses or maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They were even used as insecticides, to dye clothes and (of course) to spread heavenly scents! There truly is a herb for every occasion.

At Pitmedden, we keep our stock of annuals in our herb garden going by allowing plants to seed naturally. Some seeds we need to collect and store, while others self-seed.

An uncommon tree – the medlar (Mespilus germanica) – can be found in the herb garden along with some unusual herbs such as white horehound (Marrubium vulgare) and marsh skullcap (Scutellaria galericulata).

Currently, the herb garden is also being used as a trial ground to experiment with box hedge alternatives. We hope to find a suitable alternative that would provide a solution to replace the box hedging in the garden, should the box blight issues become unmanageable.