‘A special place’ – £1m gardens at Loch Ness-side castle complete after 7 years

Seven years and more than £1 million in the making, Scotland’s richest man is celebrating the completion of his showpiece and most exclusive garden.

In fact, the green oasis at Aldourie Castle on the banks of Loch Ness will only be seen by the public one day a year as part of Scotland’s Garden Scheme.

Billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen does not do things by halves.

When he celebrated his 50th birthday at the castle he flew in Lionel Ritchie. When he wanted to create a superb garden, he chose the doyen of landscape designers, Tom Stuart-Smith, a ten-times Chelsea gold award winner who has also cast his horticultural hex on Windsor Castle and Chatsworth House among many others.

As its head gardener, Stuart-Smith chose an unassuming Scot who has had a relatively meteoric – and unlikely – flowering rise from bombs to begonias.

Working as a weapons technician at RAF Leuchars in Fife, Elliott Forsyth first encountered the more peaceful alternative inspiration of botanical gardens.

After embarking on a horticultural path that included training at RHS Wisley and Edinburgh Botanic Garden his first job was creating a walled garden for “A Texas oil barron.”

Before his move to Aldourie he was head gardener at Cambo in Fife for over 18 years and lead horticulturist at Kernel Urban Farm at St Andrews Botanical Garden.

Mr Forsyth has overseen Stuart-Smith’s designs for the 500 acres – seven of which are ornamental. He is also head gardener for Mr Povlsen’s 13 Scottish estates, under the fashion tycoon’s WildLand banner.

The results are stunning – over 40 Beech topiary standing as swirling sentinels in the impressive west garden.

Countless thousands of bulbs have been planted, wildflower meadows sown in sweeping waves, while a sculptured Victorian-style walled garden bursts with a numerous variety of vegetables and herbs.

The woodlands – with even an outdoor gym in the pipeline – have been fashioned to create both a place of contemplation and a haven for wildlife.

The vegetable production area has been carried out to organic principles.

Now it looks impressive – but the best is yet to come.

“It is predominantly a late season garden but Tom’s emphasis on form ensures it looks good in all seasons” says Mr Forsyth.

“That’s it completed now, though the maintenance and ongoing development is continuous. We have a team of seven other gardeners – two of which are just devoted to cut flowers.

“Anders has been involved all the way – all the big decisions he approves, and has an eye for detail, but he trusts people to get on with it. He really enjoys the garden.

“Tom has his own style – very naturalistic coupled with more contemporary formal elements. The castle dates from 1626 but we had no significant footprint for the gardens to follow so Tom’s team were free to re-imagine what it could be.

“We have also carried out extensive perennial planting and have introduced large numbers of grasses and perennials from all over the world. The planting is naturalistic inspired by natural habitats – from the prairies, northern Europe and Mediterranean for example. In the woodlands and arboretum we had to clear some of the land of rhododendrons and deal with dry sandy sub soil, which was the main problem in these areas.

“At the peak of the build we had a large team of contractors almost like a small village of portacabins and car parks.

“Tom does not want it to be a static garden, encouraging development and refinement as we move forward. It is this contrast between the wild plants and the formal layout with the topiary that is so great. Together with his team they make frequent visits. The garden is at its best in August and September.”

A small suspension bridge has even been built to link the formal gardens to the arboretum and a delightful Dell – the brainchild of Mr Forsyth – that is a place of mediative tranquillity next to a softly babbling burn, encroached with swallowing trachystemon orientalis plants with their plate-sized leaves.

More than 1000 trees have been planted.

Mr Forsyth (58) admits the gardens are not for regular public showing – mainly for the 24 guests who pay for a £20,000-a-night stay at the castle and their cottages – and the Povlsen family.

But on September 14, the public will get an opportunity to look at what has been created as part of Scotland’s Gardens’ Scheme. A one-day annual public opening is planned – as well as the occasional visit by specialist garden groups.

Mr Povlsen bought Aldourie Castle in 2014. When Stuart-Smith first visited the next year it was “50 acres of mown grass and a custard-coloured castle which was terribly bland”.

A new belvedere pavilion, designed by Ptolemy Dean, the lead architect on Aldourie’s transformation, has been created, in which visitors can immerse themselves fully in nature. The steading has a yoga room, dining and dancing space together with a whisky tasting room and a small shop.

The formal garden has a criss-cross of herbaceous borders to add to the immersive effect.

Soft pink Japanese anemones, lilac asters and golden grasses are all set to bloom in a late summer pastoral palette.

Mrs Povlsen has also been hugely involved in the castle’s interior furnishings, says Tim Kirkwood, the CEO of WildLand.

“This is a special place for Anne and Anders. They have both been deeply and passionately involved over the transformation of Aldourie, especially the garden,” he said.

“It has cost over £1 million but the results are incredible. It is a garden for all seasons, but especially the late summer.”

In winter, the skeletons of plants and flower heads are left untouched to lend interest – in spring and early summer yew hedging turns rust-like that harmonises with the castle’s terracotta façade.

The walled garden, once just a single wall, and a couple of glasshouses restored by the previous owner, Roger Tempest, is an abundance of vegetables and fruit spread over 1.3 acres.

Heritage apples and pears wind over a wrought-iron tunnel – another of Mr Povlsen’s touches, says Mr Forsyth.

After seven years, the verdant modern reimagining of a castle and its gardens envisioned by the Povlsens is complete.

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