Dumfries House Estate

DUMFRIES HOUSE ESTATE

Partner Garden
Free access for RHS members at selected times

Dumfries House
Cumnock
KA18 2NJ

5 acres (walled garden), 600 acres (estate)

Tel
01290 425959

Visit website

Opening Hours

Walled garden only 10.30am–4.30pm, daily, 1 Apr–31 Oct; Mon–Fri, 1 Nov–31 Mar.

Admission

Please see website for admission prices.

RHS members

Free access (member 1 only for joint memberships) applies when open.

Facilities

  • Accessible garden
  • Baby changing facilities
  • Children’s play area
  • Children's activities
  • Dogs welcome
  • Free carer entry
  • Gift shop
  • Group rates
  • Parking
  • Picnic area
  • Plant sales
  • Refreshments
  • Toilets

Features

  • Autumn colour
  • Glasshouse (open to public)
  • Herbaceous border
  • Japanese garden

About the garden

Owned by
The Princes Foundation

Dumfries House Estate consists of 600 acres of garden and designed landscape set within an organically managed 900-acre farm. The main five-acre Queen Elizabeth II Walled Garden has been restored as part of His Majesty The King’s vision for Dumfries House and Estate to be a focal point for Heritage-led regeneration. The opening of the walled garden in 2014 by Her Majesty The Queen followed two years of renovation and replanting. It remains one of the most ambitious and significant gardening renovation projects carried out in Scotland.

The Queen Elizabeth II Walled Garden includes a one-acre education garden. The remaining four acres includes exotic borders, a central pool surrounded by herbaceous borders and boxed parterres filled with colourful perennials, a 130ft border of delphiniums and phlox, a large rose garden, thought to be one of the largest in Scotland, pleached hedges, cutting borders and much more.

Movement and circulation around the garden benefit from a central axis pathway interlinked with mixed plantings of flowering borders, topiary, an extensive vegetable area and fruit garden. A variety of hand-crafted garden structures have been developed on site, including the Gothic belvedere designed by His Majesty, positioned on the top terrace offering a spectacular view over the garden below.

It should be noted The Queen Elizabeth II Walled Garden is part of the larger Dumfries Estate, Garden and 18th-century Palladian house that includes formally planted parterres to the front of the house, a 10-acre arboretum that includes two large naturally landscaped ponds; a large maze, parkland walks and trails, a large woodland garden with a variety of garden buildings and features, a number of bridges that cross a series of burns and the main river that runs through the estate.

Plants of special interest

  • Agapanthus
  • Asters
  • Begonias
  • Bluebells
  • Chrysanthemums
  • Clematis
  • Conifers
  • Cornus (for winter stems or spring bracts)
  • Cut flowers
  • Daffodils
  • Delphiniums
  • Fruit blossom
  • Fruit bushes/trees
  • Irises
  • Maple
  • Rhododendrons/azaleas
  • Roses
  • Snowdrops
  • Spring bulbs
  • Sweet peas
  • Topiary
  • Vegetables
  • Wildflowers

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.