Exhibition shines spotlight on 400 years of Scotland's garden history

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

Now a new exhibition explores the stories behind beloved outdoor spaces - from the small and humble city plots lovingly tended to supply veg for the dinner table, to grand and perfectly manicured aristocratic pleasure grounds - to reveal what they tell us about the people who shaped them, the world they lived in and the memories they evoke.
Field workers with their trays of strawberries, pictured near Musselburgh c.1935 (Image: Historic Environment Scotland)
Using images and other materials drawn from Historic Environment Scotland's vast archives, Seeds of Time: Scottish Gardens 1600 to Present Day at Fort George near Inverness, paints a vivid picture of how the nation's gardens and green spaces have evolved over four centuries.
It shows how, as well as providing spaces to nurture plants, vegetables, fruit and flowers, gardens can also mirror shifts in society, politics, empire and everyday life.
According to Claire Whitbread, HES Exhibitions Manager, they also reveal rich stories about past generations - what they ate, the flowers they admired and how they enjoyed their time in the outdoors.
Outline of gardens visible in the grounds of Lincluden Collegiate Church, Dumfries. (Image: Historic Environment Scotland)
'When thinking about our built heritage, castles, buildings and monuments may first come to mind, but our gardens are also a part of that history and provide a sort of living time capsule,' she says.
'These green spaces can show us so much about our past, from the grand designs of the aristocracy and the role of empire in revolutionising plant diversity at home, to the vital role city allotments have played in feeding the nation.'
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The exhibition explores the vast array of garden spaces, from sweeping formal gardens laid out to impress at Highland estates, to the arrival of exotic specimens brought home by botanists and empire explorers.
Nursery beds and greenhouse at Drummond Castle, Perth & Kinross, 28 July 1999. (Image: Historic Environment Scotland) For grand homes like Drummond Castle in Perth & Kinross, the nursery beds and greenhouses of the kitchen garden would be as tenderly nurtured as the formal gardens - then, as they still are now.
A hive of activity, within its 1.61 hectares flowers and shrubs would be reared to maturity before being transferred to the main garden, exotic fruits and flowers nurtured in heated greenhouses by teams of skilled gardeners and a regular supply of fruit and vegetables harvested for the castle kitchens.
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At the other end of the scale are the humble wartime allotments, carefully tilled and with each crop of veg a treasured addition to meagre rations.
Some, such as the 500 allotments that were created at The Meadows public park south of Edinburgh's city centre, provided vital fresh food for countless families. Crucial to the Dig for Victory effort, as peace dawned they would be a sore reminder of hard times.
Workers tend to crops at Tweed Vineyards, Clovenfords, Galashiels, in 1945 (Image: Historic Environment Scotland)
By 1950, local residents were campaigning to have the area re-turfed and over the following 16 years the once treasured allotments would be dismantled and removed.
The exhibition also spotlights the modern trend to revive a sense of community gardening: post-industrial plots reclaimed by urban communities seeking a return to 'grow it yourself' days and a shift from supermarket fruit and veg domination.
And it explores how gardens often reveal tiny glimpses of the people whose hands touched the soil, leaving fingerprints on plants and paths for generations to come to enjoy.
Sheila Maule, one of the judges at the Scottish Rock Garden Club flower show, in Cluny Church centre, Morningside, Edinburgh 11 April 1988. (Image: Historic Environment Scotland)
As well as telling a story of Scotland's horticultural history, the exhibition's images reflect the pleasure and comfort that ordinary gardens bring: the joy spread across the face of a woman as she takes in the beauty found in a tiny flower, a child's delight at being dwarfed by a huge crop of rhubarb and the simple pleasures of just sitting on the grass enjoying the sunshine.
Others tell the story of the effort that has gone into tending to the land, from digging for victory, to gathering berries for sale at market.
Crowds gather in Princes St Gardens, Edinburgh, at its original bandstand (1877-1900) (Image: Historic Environment Scotland)
The exhibition, which runs until October 20, serves as a reminder of the role gardens have played during times of upheaval, whether it be wars, economic struggles or lockdowns, adds Clare.
'This exhibition aims to show what we can learn from the gardens of our past and what we can take from those that continue to grow around us into the future.'