It is a historic garden where rare species flourish, fed by meeting of the warm waters of the Gulf Stream from the Caribbean and the unique Highland landscape of the coast of Wester Ross.
The picturesque Inverewe Gardens, a 54-acre tropical oasis with a unique microclimate, was created out of bare rock and a few scrub willows in 1862 by 20-year-old Osgood Mackenzie, the son of Sir Francis Mackenzie, laird of Gairloch.
On the death of his father Osgood and his brothers inherited the Gairloch Estate, and with his mother’s help Osgood bought the 12,000-acre Inverewe and Kernsary Estate.
Now the garden, managed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), is home to an array of colourful, exotic plants from around the world, including the most northerly planting of rare Wollemi pines, Himalayan blue poppies, olearia from New Zealand, Tasmanian eucalypts, and rhododendrons from China, Nepal and the Indian subcontinent.
The plants flourish here, despite the northerly latitude, thanks to the warm currents of the Gulf Stream and the foresight of Mr Mackenzie, who planted over 100 acres of woodland to shelter the garden.
A floral world-first was revealed in April when a multi-coloured rhododendron was found among the some 400 different varieties at the garden.
Since being planted by Mr Mackenzie and his daughter in the 1900s, the rhododendrons have been generating hybrids, and a combination of conditions is thought to have been responsible for this unique kaleidoscopic variety.
A family affair, after Mr Mackenzie’s death in 1922 his daughter Mairi took over the garden, whose husband built the present Inverewe House in 1935 after the original having been destroyed by a fire. The garden was opened to the public for the first time during the Second World War.
In 2018, plans for a 65ft viewing tower overlooking Loch Ewe were unveiled.
The tower was to provide unique panoramic views for visitors with minimal impact on surroundings and be used to host educational talks.
The sustainable development plans marked the latest in a series of projects undertaken by the NTS to enhance the visitor experience at the heritage garden, which attracted almost 200,000 visitors the previous year.
Now the conservation charity has announced that plans for the observation have been halted, with focus redirected on the creation of a Garden on the Edge, an ambitious project to add to the garden’s existing shelterbelt – planting trees to protect the garden from the harsh westerly winds and salt spray.
The garden is inspired by the extreme Pacific coastal landscape of Chile, with similar exposed weather fronts. It will look both out to sea and back over the shelterbelt and will be planted with trees such as araucarias and eucryphias which can grow well in wet maritime climates such as at Inverewe.
Clea Warner, of the NTS, said: “We’re sorry we’ve had to take the decision to halt the tower project for the time being.
“Although planning permission was in place, subsequent investigations revealed ground conditions and other factors that would have taken the project well beyond the available charitable funds. We have already invested millions of pounds in Inverewe through new features and wayfinding, the refurbishment of Inverewe House and refreshed catering facilities.
“We are also about to embark on the Garden on the Edge which opens an unexplored area of Inverewe through imaginative planting and landscaping inspired by Osgood Mackenzie’s herculean efforts to create a shelterbelt to protect the rest of the garden along with his experimental vision."
Earlier this year the remains of ancient settlements, including roundhouses and a bloomery mound – a site of ancient metalworking where ore is turned into workable metal for the production of tools and jewellery, were discovered.
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