I went to Dawyck with a couple of friends, completing a trilogy of gardens managed by Edinburgh Royal Botanics around Scotland (the other two I wrote about are the sort-of tropical Logan Botanics, and the hilly Benmore Botanics).
Dawyck is much closer to home and thus makes a far more relaxing day out. The gardens were first planted in the 1600s and gained trees from around the world thanks to 18th/19th-century explorers bringing back various seeds.
Walking around the place you do get the impression that this stuff’s been growing here for a few centuries. The stonework has an air not of decay, but certainly threatening to become overgrown if it wasn’t for the groundskeepers.
Most of it consists of trees, and I have to admit I can barely tell one from another. Sure, they’re broken up by water features and streams and hilly clearings, but for me, it’s just different kinds of greenery. Maybe it was the time of year we visited, or maybe it’s just the way the gardens were established, but I don’t recall seeing any flowers or colour.
There’s a neatly-maintained chapel which I think is still used (maybe?) by one of the families that used to own the land.
Tree-huggers will no doubt be sent into raptures by the oldest tree on the estate (about 400 years old), and all I can really say about it is: yup; it sure is big.
In amongst the trees and pathways and old, mossy stonework are a few more modern touches, like sculptures of… seeds? Snails? Just what the hell are those things? You have to let your imagination do the work, and you can probably guess where mine went…
*(No they didn’t.)
So… that was Dawyck. It was an odd way to end this particular trilogy of garden visits, not having any particularly notable views or features or novelties. It simply made for a pleasant morning’s stroll.
And when you just want to chill out with friends, a pleasant morning stroll is all you need!
Miss Twist speaks her brains 