*************
Garden Owners,
Please copy this information and paste it into an email to:   wb [at] armchair-travel [dot] com

Please make any changes in BRIGHT RED in your email back to us.

Regards,
Armchair Travel Co Ltd
http://www.armchair-travel.com
*************



Garden Name: Achamore Gardens
Last Modified: 01/02/2010
Garden ID: 0462

pic: 0462_Achamore.jpg

Owner: Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust
Address:
Isle of Gigha
Argyll & Bute

Postcode: PA41 7AA
County: Scotland

tel: 01583 505275
fax: 01583 505275
website: www.gigha.org.uk
email: gardens {at} gigha.org.uk

Features: 
Formal and informal group plantings, the use of exotics and the more unusual plants growing within a collection of Rhododendron, superb bryophyte and fern collection and a compartmental woodland garden with stunning views out toward the sea.
The Isle of Gigha is probably one of the easiest, least expensive and one of the prettiest of all the Hebridean islands to visit.

English Heritage Grade:


Opening Times:
Every day; dawn to dusk.

Best Times of Year to Visit: 
May and June

To see: 
Rhododendrons and azaleas

National Collection: 
Horlick Collection of rhododendrons.

National Garden Scheme days: No
Comments: 

Parties / Coaches: Yes 
Comments: Helpful to book, but welcome.

Viewing by Appointment: Yes
Comments: Telephone Hotel. 

House Open for Viewing: No
Comments: 

Admission Prices:
Adult £4.50; Child £2 (under 10's free); Season £10
Tours for 20+ can be arranged and are led by the Head Gardener - please contact Dr. Eleanor Logan for details.

Parking: Yes
Lavatories: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Shop: Yes
Plants for Sale: Yes
Lunches: No
Teas: Yes
Refreshments: Yes
Picnics: Yes
Dogs allowed: Yes
Only on Lead: Yes
Events: Yes

Other Facilities:
Teas, coffee and meals available in hotel or boathouse. Partial access for disabled. Season shop selling teas and cakes, and seasonal plant sales. For events see own website.


Designer: 
Description of Garden:
On the Community-owned Isle of Gigha, there are 54 acres of Achamore Gardens. The warming influence of the North Atlantic Drift allows an even greater array of sub-tropical and temperate plants to grow happily outdoors. The present compartment woodland layout was created by Colonel Horlick and his assistant Kitty Lloyd Jones in 1946. These woodland compartment, linked with meandering signposted paths, allow the vast number of rhododendrons to grow and flourish. Plant genera from around the world are represented within the gardens from the tender to the hardy.


History: 
The Clan McNeill became the undisputed Lairds in 1590 after a fierce power struggle between the MacDonalds and the McNeills. At the end of the 19th century Captain William Scarlett, the 3rd Lord Abinger, purchased the estate and built the listed 'B', Achamore House in 1884 to the design of John Honeyman. The main areas of woodland to the north and south of the house were planted by William Scarlett to provide shelter from the strong winds and salt spray and game cover. When Sir James Horlick acquired the estate in 1944 he wished to establish a garden to grow his more tender Rhododendrons. He managed this by cutting small clearings in the Ponticum and trees and by 1970 the garden was full and looked magnificent. On his death he left some of his collection to the National Trust for Scotland so that rare species could be propagated and shared with other great gardens.

On the 15th March 2002 the Island was purchased in a Historic buy-out by the inhabitants of Gigha. It is now owned and managed by the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust.

Local Inns: 


Accomodation: 
In Hotel
other B&Bs on the Island, see website for details

Restaurants: 
At Hotel.

Village/Town/Sightseeing: 
Isle of Gigha is a very picturesque Southern Hebridean Island.