Gardens

This charming cottage featured in Scotland Grows magazine last August has been renovated from heavily overgrown and unloved, to showcase a wonderful range of perennials for every aspect. Some very challenging steep banks have been terraced and even the walls have been planted up. Every corner is a delight with a raised bed for vegetables built into the bank and climbers up the height of a beech archway.

A great example of a tiny multi-layered garden packed full of plants of all shapes and sizes with the height of the shared boundary showcasing rambling and climbing roses and clematis.

The park will make a lovely stop for a picnic during our ‘StrathPetal’ weekend in June. Proudly owned and managed by our community, the park is becoming a wonderful place for people and nature. Our community orchard is entering its second season and includes a fine selection of heritage varieties, including the local Coul Blush. The apples are accompanied by cherries, plums, quince and cobnut. Open areas are being managed as a wildflower meadow, and our drainage dyke supports an abundance of native wetland plants. Other areas have been planted with native trees and shrubs, from birches and willows to wild cherry and crab apple. The recently installed path network provides access for everyone and children will enjoy the new play park. Find out more at www.strathpeffercommunitypark.com

Several acres of mature informal garden with fantastic views, restructured and developed over 40 years. Shrubs, trees and perennial beds with all aspects, raised vegetable beds, a polytunnel packed full of delicious produce and woodland.

Wheelchair access over grass. Dogs welcome on shortish leads.

A lovely gentle open medium sized garden. The front perennial bed has interest all year round while the patio at the rear is 'pot paradise' with plants of all shapes and sizes around seating. A small rose and lavender bed fills a corner. There is a wooden raised herb bed, vegetable and fruit beds. A recently planted 'hedge' of buddlejas of all colours is proving a wonderful replacement for the old conifer hedge. Wheelchair accessible to view. Just a few steps for the more able. 

A diverse medium sized garden with grass and mature shrubs on one side and steps up to a sheltered patio area on the other surrounded by raised beds incorporating a small pond.

A wealth of colour and interest all the year round this garden is the pride and joy of its owners. Low, established shrubs border the whole garden which is always developing as perennials for all seasons spread and mingle, while there's always space for welcome newcomers. A small pond has waterlilies and three 'floating stones'. There are some mature trees including fruit and lovely 'managed wild' areas where plants are allowed to do their own thing! Flat and accessible, although gravel paths at rear may prohibit wheelchairs.

Approached over a gravel entrance area with a few steps this hidden gem is full of surprises. The entrance patio area leads to a lawn with young flowering trees, pretty tiered raised beds of perennials and a small pond. Steps go to a seating area in full sun, then a vegetable area with raised beds. A gate leads into a wild area with a winding and sloping path to the exit. A really pretty 'unexpected' garden in the centre of the village which the owner plans to bring back to life and plant up to suit each of its many aspects.

This wide open mature garden is being developed to create a lower maintenance space. It’s a child-friendly area, largely accessible with a stunning shaped variegated holly and 4 mature yews. The older photograph shows the holly and yews when newly planted and the large area of grass used to be a tennis court. A large greenhouse, sun room, a fruit cage with blueberries and currants and raised vegetable beds all come together to make a large productive area for edibles. The borders towards the back are being cleared of rampant ivy to expose several feet of extra garden! Steps lead down to a patio behind the house which gets the late sun.  A 10 year old monkey puzzle tree is thriving in the front area along with a border of low shrubs and perennials.

Drumpellier (next door to 35 Ulladale Crescent) is somewhat further on in development but has had similar challenges to overcome, particularly steep slopes and wildlife. Gardening at 60 deg is definitely a speciality in this neck of the village 'woods'. The gravel access is tiered and wonderful imaginative sloping raised beds are home to a variety of bulbs and perennials. Vegetables and herbs are grown in raised beds to the side of the house and a retaining sloped wall at the back provides shelter for slim borders. A steep stepped path leads up to a grassed area with various fruit trees and bordered by pampas, then on to a wilder slope with a fabulous selection of over 200 trees, largely deciduous and all native to the region.

This must be one of the most challenging gardens in the village, wild and hilly and offering great views over Strathpeffer from secret spots to hide away from village bustle. Under development for the last year there's no doubt that the hard work put in will turn this plot into the dream garden envisaged. Two very steep acres lead from the house up towards Ord Wood and have been cleared of gorse and trees to make room for everything from a petanque rink above a high wall to an orchard, vegetable plots and a home-made greenhouse. Around the house itself, where the soil is poor, new flower beds and borders have been started. The slopes at the front of the house and behind it are faced with local stone and have very poor soil, but will provide ideal areas for rockery plants. The garden has the advantage of all plots being south facing.

This is a charming, totally hidden garden with access up a sloping, winding gravel path past large rhododendrons and hedged with beech and conifer. The very sheltered borders are packed full of perennials in summer: hardy geranium, astrantia, roses, hostas, japanese anemone and foxgloves. Early spring is an abundance of snowdrops, fritillary and tulips. There are various mature shrubs around two sloping lawn areas. A terrace up a few steps at the front of the house provides space for seating around seasonal pots. Stone edging and retaining walls are a feature throughout. The path leads round the right of the house, past bamboo and perennial sweet peas to the exit at the back gate, leading to the vennel and access to the village.

Steps lead to the gravel area in front of the house, with seasonal pots and a climbing rose against the front wall. To the right of the house, a huge conifer stump is becoming a feature since the tree was felled in 2023, alongside an arch clothed in ‘a mile a minute’. Steps, with a handrail, lead to a small walled crazy paved patio with a sundial and stonecrops growing happily. Beyond is a steeply sloped grass area with well-established rhododendrons and shrubs, a large rowan tree and a huge gean. An aged damson tree grows up the back of the house. The mixed hedge on the left boundary includes daphne laureola (the only one in the village?) and firethorn. Dogs welcome but  on leads please.

This one year old organic, wildlife friendly garden is in an elevated south-facing position on the outskirts of the village. Still under development it runs the length of the house and has spectacular views. The paths and steps reflect the contours of the site around a creative arrangement of raised beds for vegetables and flowers, areas for perennials and shrubs, a polytunnel, hens, fruit trees and soft fruit. The very beautiful but very new stone walls and steps are in the words of the owner: 'waiting to be clothed'. No dogs

This large south facing garden has sloped gravel access and a steep slope to the top but a good part of the garden can be viewed from the driveway. To the left of the house there is a lawned slope bordered by evergreen and mature deciduous shrubs (Pieris, twisted hazel, laurel and rhododendrons), with a colourful flower border along the edge. The owner looks for long lasting perennials which attract wildlife. Wisterias climb a frame of Victorian washing poles and rope, behind a low box hedge. A wild shady bank makes an excellent habitat for foxgloves, hellebores and lungwort. Behind the house are new raised WoodBlox vegetable beds and a WoodBlox retaining wall with dogwoods planted on the rear boundary. There are seasonally planted pots and a half barrel water feature along the side and at the back of the house. Dogs on short leads and please note the owner’s dog is likely to be present.

This is one of the few level gardens in the village and is fully accessible to wheelchair users. Around the extensive grass areas, the site is dominated by mature native trees protected by a tree preservation order and continually managed for enjoyment and long-term public amenity.The garden lies on the flat-topped crest of the ridge between Strathpeffer and the Conon Valley with expansive views. Land drainage is a major issue due to a shallow stagno gley top soil over a clay subsoil with a high winter water table.There is a large traditionally worked kitchen garden that was under water 20 years ago, but now provides year-round produce. There’s a wealth of shrubs and hedges – many left to ‘do their own thing’ for wildlife which is abundant - a Hosta collection, lupins and delphiniums, a mound which is home to a ‘compass’ with a pine and twisted rowan in the centre, expert cold compost and large scale leafmould production and a cold greenhouse.

This garden has been developed from a greenfield site on a SE facing slope, 400 ft above sea level. A gravel access leads to raised vegetable and fruit beds, sheltered by newly planted beech hedging. Opposite and up steps there is a sweeping perennial border including a number of shrubs, behind which are a pond, a sitting area and the summer house. The boundaries have been planted with a mix of rosa rugosa, hawthorn, guelder rose and mixed native hedging while the young orchard is underplanted with wild flowers. No dogs.

A recently developed organic garden with wide slightly sloping accessible access and undulating terrain. 650 mixed native trees have been planted around the boundary to provide privacy and shelter, with larch at the entrance. There is a wild area (without access) behind the house planted with fruit trees. The owner gardens mainly for wildlife, fruit and veg. However the garden contains well established shrubs, magnolia, pieris, rhododendrons, forsythia and viburnum underplanted with bulbs and primulas. There is a pond and a greenhouse. Two wildflower borders have been established and should look good in June! Gravel around the house limits wheelchair access. No dogs.

There is steep hard surface access to this colourful garden with gravel around the house. Roses and jasmine clothe the cottages. A bed of wonderful seasonal planting is to the left with half barrels of similar planting at the bottom of the steep lawned slope to the right. All are greatly admired by passers-by. If the owners are present and there is open access, visitors will be able to see behind the cottage where a lovely natural pond, established stumpery and seating area with a steep path leading down to where the hens roam freely. No dogs.

Started three years ago on 700 tonnes of infill, this garden comprises shrubbed terraces, roses and two late summer beds of juvenile grasses. It has a sheltered, south-facing border along its terrace and a glasshouse where you can visit The3Growbags.com garden shop - % of sales to StrathPetal this weekend. 

A 2 acre site over 400 ft above sea level with a large area reclaimed over the last 5 years from very rough ground used to rear pigs by previous owners.  Now largely grassed and planted with over 40 native trees, bulrushes flourish in the boggy section. Beds in the main garden are planted with a colourful mix of perennials and the grass has species shrubs.  A yew hedge protects raised vegetable beds from the marauding deer. Soft fruit is grown nearby.  A natural spring and the outflow of nearby field drains have been used to create a pond and bog garden.  The greenhouse is home to tomatoes, courgettes and physalis.  Native shrubs populate the steep grassy slope behind the house.  The entrance and driveway are wheelchair accessible from which a large part of the garden can be seen.

Access limited to the driveway only - this garden is bordered on one side by beautiful rhododendrons and azaleas in Spring and boasts a beautiful display of scented roses all down the driveway through the summer. Fruit and other perennials fill the area where the garden narrows at the road junction. The planting is surrounded by grass, mature trees, hedging and shrubs.

The planting in the main flower beds in Strathpeffer Square was redesigned in 2020 and together with planters and hanging baskets is looked after by volunteers. The two pink stemmed acers in the lower bed are Sango-Kaku which together with the grasses provide wonderful all year colour and interest. Low spreading perennials form mats of ground cover and a good backdrop for the taller perennials throughout the centre of the bed. The bed under the mature trees suffers from poor soil as the trees take away all the goodness, so dry tolerant spreading perennials and bulbs have been used to create a ‘managed wild’ look. The bright green and blue grasses take over from each other in summer and winter.

The planters and hanging baskets were funded through the Strathpeffer Initiative many years ago and are planted up summer and winter with a combination of bulbs and annuals. Begonias are overwintered and regenerate each year to save funds. The planted areas around the fountain and the old cascade are earmarked for renovation during 2024. It is hoped the cascade basins can be made into a boulder/bog garden.

Beautiful all-year-round perennial borders designed by a landscape gardener Ernest George of Geo Designs 3 years ago; A maturing pergola with climbers; vegetable and fruit beds; all surrounded by lawns and mature shrubs & trees. A wisteria which clothes one wall will have finished flowering by 15 June so here's how it looks now! OVER THE HEDGE VIEWING ONLY.

St Anne’s Church Grounds Renovation Project

The project is to develop the unused grounds surrounding St Anne’s Church as a healing and mindful space with all the features of a sensory garden including surfaces, objects and plants that stimulate our senses through touch, sight, scent, taste and hearing. The garden will represent a local contribution to nature conservation and biodiversity and will support mental health and well-being through connecting with nature and gardening.

View the proposed site plan here.

White Lodge View front garden OVER FENCE ONLY. White Lodge is one of the oldest houses in the village.  Lawn, pots aplenty, perennials & shrubs in front borders. Refreshments for StrathPetal accessed through side entrance – follow signs. Wheelchair accessible

The Gardens at the Old Station were renovated several years ago and are still under development. They are looked after by a volunteer group. Several large trees were felled to improve light and the large bed in the car park was replanted. The garden space is a haven for wildlife and has a ‘managed wild’ feel with extensive hosta planting in the railway bed, rosa rugosa along the borders, a corner of tree peonies, dicentra, primula and geum and several clematis. More Spring bulbs are planted each year and the group continues to simplify things to keep maintenance to a minimum. Two new trees were planted for the Coronation in 2023, a Medlar and a Crab Apple. More volunteer gardeners always welcome! Work parties on a Wednesday 1.30-3 incl tea and chat. Contact Morven at the Museum.