The Scottish Summer Garden Festival is going ahead as a virtual event following a decision by organisers, Discover Scottish Gardens that restricted travel is no reason for garden lovers to miss out on the glory of the season in full bloom.
The on-line spectacle will run from Saturday, 13 June until Saturday, 15 August and dozens of gardens across the country will be taking part, offering workshops, practical advice and video tours.
More than 400 gardens, nurseries and garden centres make up the Discover Scottish Gardens network and amongst those taking part in the festival will be Gordon Castle in Moray, where, on Saturday, 4 July, owner Zara Gordon-Lennox will be marking the birthday of the restored walled garden which has come back to life following a reimagining by renowned landscape designer Arne Maynard and on 15 and 16 August she’ll be broadcasting from the cutting beds where the flowers sold in the estate shop are grown.
Also on 4 July, Des Cotton, Head Gardener, Glamis Castle, will be running on-line workshops on summer pruning and training espalier apples trees as well as providing a guide to micro-irrigation, taking gardeners through the steps to setting up an irrigation system for their own pots and borders.
Meanwhile at New Hopetoun Gardens near Edinburgh, former Beechgrove presenter Lesley Watson, will be introducing footage of the garden centre’s annual Art in the Garden event, looking back at some of the most notable installations and inspiring gardeners to think of ways that they can work with different materials to add art to their own spaces.
Discover Scotland’s Gardens already runs the successful Scottish Snowdrop, Rhododendron & Bluebell and Tree Festivals across the gardening year.
Catherine Erskine, DSG chair, says: “This was to be our first Summer Garden Festival, celebrating the exuberance of Scotland’s gardens in full bloom.
“We want people to enjoy the wonders of Scottish gardens from the comfort of their own homes. The festival is about anything and everything that happens in gardens, not just the practical or aesthetic elements, and this way all that is fully accessible.”
The Festival will include cottages and castles, head gardeners, plant experts, world-renowned gardens and hidden Scottish gems. It will be a chance to step into the world of these amazing spaces and the people who cultivate them, while gaining advice and inspiration.
There will be inspiration on how to get creative in the garden with children and there will be something for everyone even if they don’t have a garden of their own.
A full list of events is available from discoverscottishgardens.org/
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