Boutique Self Catering Accommodation near Fort William
Crinan went to stay with a friend while we (his irresponsible parents) were away for a few days. To make us feel jealous, Crinan sent us this holiday diary and we thought we would share it with you. I stayed with Maggie for a few days and this is me with her and one of […]
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Two nights ago we officially moved from summer into autumn and whilst I was on Mull there was a huge harvest moon that slid up over the horizon to light the landscape for the whole night. Autumn has arrived early this year with the first tree turning in late July and when the rain came […]
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Here on the West Coast of Scotland, we are lucky enough to live in a temperate rain forest. Some people complain about the high rainfall and Highland mists but in a global context we are lucky to be the home of some internationally significant plants – Bryophytes. Wikipedia defines Bryophytes as “an informal group consisting […]
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When I arrived at Ard Daraich in 2004 the Maclarens had a thriving nursery garden that specialised in Rhododendrons and Azaleas. There was a busy potting shed in the old garage with a huge pine table used for potting propped up on wooden blocks to raise it to working height. Outside, there were raised display […]
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It’s morning, and I go into the garden to seek out flowers. Wandering about the woodland I look up, and it’s as if someone has lit a match, the canopy of the trees is showing patches of fire that dance in the sunlight. On the rocks and ground a number of red, purple and orange […]
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When you grow up somewhere different, in my case the south of England, there are some things you miss even though you would never turn back the clock. I have been surprised by the things that have lodged in my heart and that I still pine for. One of the most surprising is the sound […]
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When you become a gardener one of the first principles you learn is to try and make a plant selection that provides something of interest throughout the year. This is a challenge in any garden but by no means impossible and as you live with your garden over the years you come to look forward […]
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At Ard Daraich we do a particular form of gardening. Norrie calls it Extreme Gardening or Gardening with the Elements. We live at the bottom of a steep infertile hill; blanket peat over granite and we use the topography to inform the design as paths meander up the hill. Where there is little soil […]
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