IN a small part of southern Scotland lies a garden that is home to some of the rarest plants and botanicals normally found in the foothill of the Himalayas.

Craigieburn Gardens and Nursery in Moffat, Dumfriesshire, has a unique focus that brings a touch of Nepal to Scotland. And it all started from a life-changing event 25 years ago that saw Mount Everest sherpa Daten Ji reach out and rescue the woman who was to become his lifelong friend, Janet McGowan.

Now the two are forever bonded by the rescue during a botanical trek in 1995 which led to Daten Ji, known as Dawa, change the course of his and his family’s life and set up home at Craigieburn.

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For Dawa, he knew by his early teens that his path would lead him up Mount Everest and his training took shape over the following years before starting out at the age of 23. Dawa doesn’t describe it as a career choice – he says you simply are a sherpa.

“Sherpa is part of you. It is who you are,” said Dawa. “I remember I was a teenager when I was desperate to do it. When I started the job I was very excited and wanted to show guide leaders what I could do. There were risks, but I didn’t think about it then. I got to the top of Everest three times and other summits about eight times.”

For all his determination, the role of a sherpa can be a huge price to pay, as Mrs McGowan saw first hand during her trips where widows in their twenties were not uncommon.

And had it not been for their chance meeting, who knows what would have been Dawa’s fate in the years to come.

“I lost my mother in January 1995 and I met Janet in the August that year and I think it was meant to be. I was the guide who had been told to look after a group and to look after the lady and that is what I did,” he said.

While walking in a monsoon Mrs McGowan slipped into the Arun River and for Dawa instinct took over and he jumped in. “I found her and grabbed her hand and pulled her out,” he said.

Mrs McGowan said it was a moment in time when they both realised what had just happened.

“Without saying too much about it, he saved my life that day,” she said.

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Mrs McGowan made subsequent trips to Nepal and offered to help Dawa and he joined her at Craigieburn for six months initially.

She added: “He had very little English, but he came here and had a real interest in the garden, which we were doing up at the time. Against all odds he attended the local college and passed his horticultural course. Later he brought his wife over and they have raised their family here.”

The beautiful grounds tended by Dawa would normally welcome visitors from all over the world from spring through to autumn, but were eerily quiet at the beginning of spring while the country was gripped in lockdown.

When restrictions were lifted, Craigieburn welcomed back visitors to view the magnificent gardens.

“I can honestly say I love what I do. I love my job as a gardener and I love people to see what we have done here. Everything has been a little bit later this year with lockdown, but it was so good to see people here again,” he added.

Over the years Dawa has brought back seeds or cuttings of what plants he could from his visits back to Nepal and he has had a great success rate. In the garden colourful Tibetan Buddhist prayer flags flutter close to the Himalayan blue poppies, Meconopsis, and it is a little part of home.

Dawa added: “I must have brought 95 varieties back with me and I have never lost one of them. People ask how they grow here well the plants are used to winters which are cold and dry and here in Scotland the are cold and damp, but they have survived here.”

They are now working on a project that will be unveiled by one of the exhibitors at next year’s Chelsea Flower Show who is creating a Buddhist Himalayan themed garden. Dawa has been growing Himalayan plants for the design.

With travel restrictions in place for part of this year, Mrs McGowan says one of the positives of lockdown has been the locals who have discovered the gardens for the first time.

“We have always had visitors from all over the world, from Australia to America to other parts of the UK and I have always thought it was a shame people don’t see what they have locally. This year we have seen local people discover us for the first time, which is lovely. It was very quiet with these wide open spaces during lockdown and just us.”

Mrs McGowan, however, knows how lucky they were to have such beautiful grounds to walk around and is very aware of how outdoors and nature can help with people’s wellbeing. It is one reason why she is supportive of The Herald’s campaign to create a memorial garden as a tribute to Scots who have lost their lives to coronavirus and somewhere for people to go and reflect. We have been offered a site in Pollok Country Park by Glasgow City Council and have raised more than £27,000 towards our £50,000 fundraising target.

“I think it is a wonderful idea. We have all realised just how important outdoor spaces have become to us during lockdown and how important they are for our mental health,” added Mrs McGowan.

And while Dawa is very at home in the garden among the plants, he hasn’t turned his back on mountain life altogether as he offered his services to Moffat Mountain Rescue.

“We go out on training exercises with emergency services, and I like to joke with them that we’re not on mountains just a nice hillwalk.”

To donate go to: gofundme.com/ herald-garden-of-remembrance. You can also send donations via post to The Herald Garden of Remembrance Campaign, Herald & Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow, G32 8FG. If you can help email: memorialgarden@theherald.co.uk