From interview to Inverewe: 100 days of PLANTS

At the garden’s highest point we reached a viewing area. Damage caused by Storm Corrie had opened out the shelterbelt to expose spectacular, and devastating, views across the loch. The fallen trees (some of which were originally planted by Mackenzie himself) were almost sculpture-like. As Kevin told me about the plants lost to the garden as a result of the storm, the magnitude of the loss became clear. Grief and mourning are highly evocative words, but seem the only appropriate ones to describe the impact on Kevin and his team. The relationship between a garden and those who love it is a visceral one. I was struck by the fragility of the plant kingdom, and by the importance of recording for posterity the plants we have around us now.

Read more: Storm Corrie at Inverewe

June: training and team building

June was by far the project’s busiest month. Process documentation was finalised, garden audits were scheduled, clothing and equipment were ordered, prayers that clothing and equipment would arrive in time were said and (thankfully) answered. Risk Assessment training took me to the Hill House in Helensburgh. It was my first visit to the unique building, designed and furnished by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald. A steel box has been erected over the house to protect it from the elements. The contrast between this state of the art 21st-century conservation structure and the building it protects (which was revolutionary when it was built in 1900) made for a fascinating juxtaposition.

June was also the month of our first team meeting, bringing inventory managers and officers from across Scotland together in Edinburgh. Due to ongoing Covid restrictions, our interviews had been conducted online so it was a pleasure to sit down and talk face-to-face about the project and to set goals for the summer. Inevitably we used the team meeting as an opportunity to visit another garden, so a short drive later we arrived at Malleny Garden for group photographs. I had a real sense that the project was now getting started.

Read more: Meet the PLANTS project teams

With over 150 varieties, Malleny holds one of the largest collections of roses in Scotland, as well as the national collection of 19th-century shrubs roses. What better time to visit then, than in June, when they were blooming free and full all over the garden, their scents heavy in the air. We saw some favourites including Rosa ‘Stanwell Perpetual’ and Rosa ‘Paul's Himalayan Musk’.

July: Let the audit begin

Upon winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995, Seamus Heaney announced that he would spend some of his prize money on courses to enable him to identify the trees and plants around him on his daily walk in the countryside. I was reminded of Heaney’s desire to understand the natural world around him as the West Team headed out to audit gardens at Holmwood House and Culzean Castle, while the North Team went to Haddo House and Drum Castle.

The first audit I visited was at Holmwood House, an impressive villa located in the Southside of Glasgow and designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. Despite growing up less than 10 miles away, it was a property I had never visited until this trip. I was immediately struck by the grand but warm atmosphere of the house, and the friendly and infectious enthusiasm of the property and garden team. As I approached the property from the car park, I was proud to see my team spread out throughout the garden, noting the family, genus species and cultivar of each plant they encountered.

My visits to each garden have consolidated and re-energised my love for, and knowledge of, plants. I have come across plants I have known and loved for years and others that I have never set eyes on before. I am enjoying spending so much time with some of the finest plant collections in the UK. There have been certain challenges, of course, such as my visit to Haddo House to help the team identify species of pine planted as part of the International Conifer Conservation Programme. Was what we were looking at Pinus contorta var. latifolia or Pinus banksiana? Pines do vary in appearance when examined under a lens – their needles may be long or short and clustered in twos, threes, or fives – but in the moment it is difficult to remember which is which. These situations were certainly a team effort and specialised books are relied upon to confirm identification – as well as the correct way to spell Latin names!

So, overall, the first 100 days of the PLANTS project have been an inspiring, rewarding and humbling experience. The team’s preparation work and their initial audits have been a success. We are constantly learning about new plants and refining the way in which we audit, and we look forward to what awaits us as the summer unfolds.