Boutique Self Catering Accommodation near Fort William
Fund Raising for Bug Life or “Saving the small things that run the planet.” One evening in January we were watching Channel 4 news as you do. After the endless agonising about Brexit, they introduced a new feature with the words “And now for the really important issue of the day”. They did a series […]
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As the RSPB weekend of action approaches, 26th to 28th January 2019, we have started to prepare. There are masses of garden birds here at Ard Daraich and often visitors are transfixed by the number and noise they make. I have written elsewhere about the collared doves who arrived as a pair, a year or […]
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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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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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As a previous owner of this house was famous enough to have a rose named after her, it was inevitable that we would try and grow not only Rosa Constance Spry but also a number of others. Maybe we assumed it wouldn’t work but with the enthusiasm of our dear friend Linda Coggin, who […]
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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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