Pitmedden Garden | one of the best in Scotland

Nestled in the Aberdeenshire countryside is a beautifully formal 17th century walled garden.
Pitmedden Garden is an immaculate masterpiece of intricate patterns, sculptures, parterres and colourful planting. There are over 30,000 bedding plants as well as an orchard and almost 6 miles of meticulously clipped box hedging.
Pitmedden House was home to the Seton family who landscaped the gardens in the 1670s. In 1800 it was recognised as “one of the best laid out gardens in the north of Scotland”.
Unfortunately the house was badly damaged in a fire in 1818. The house we see today was built in 1860.
The estate was sold to Alexander Keith, a local farmer in 1894 whose son gave the property to the National Trust for Scotland in 1952
The gardens take their inspiration from those of the Palace of Holyrood House and comprise four parterres depicting the lion, the daisy, Tempus fugit and to pay homage to the Setons, their coat of arms.

This is the human sundial. Stand with your feet lined up to the month (written in Doric dialect) on the large central stone, your shadow will land on one of the numbers along the periphery, telling the time to a surprisingly accurate degree!

There are also over 170 fruit trees!

The Thunderhouse Pavilion, and its twin on the opposite side of the garden, are original structures which date back to the 1670s when the garden was landscaped.
There are 3 sundials on the pavilion! One faces west; one faces south; and one faces east.

The sundial in the tempus fugit garden dates from around 1675. It is a polyhedral sundial featuring 24 facets which tells the time on sunny days. It is also a moon-dial, capable of telling the time on a clear moonlit night.

There is also a beautifully refurbished farmer’s cottage.
Here is a traditional herb garden planted with over 150 different herbs. In keeping with the theme of time, the sundial in the herb garden has been underplanted with thyme!

The fascinating Museum of Farming Life will take you right back to a previous generation with its amazing retro exhibits. It was bequested to the NTS in the 1980s by William Cook from the nearby village of Tarves. Wandering around the exhibits gives you an insight into what life as a farmer would have been like before modern farming techniques and machinery were invented.

Although you can’t go into the house itself (except for the tea room) you are able to wander around the gardens and the museums.
There are also two woodland walks:
the white trail takes you around the perimeter of the house and garden
the yellow trail takes you through the woodland across the estate
We visited in May 2023 before all the flowers were out, so we went back again in the summertime to see it in all its colourful glory!