Dumfries House Estate, saved by King Charles III 18 years ago, has been crowned RHS Partner Garden of the Year 2025.
The 600-acre garden and designed landscape in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland – which until 2012 was overgrown and derelict – received the most votes from visitors, who called it ‘exceptional’, ‘spectacular’ and ‘inclusive’.
Dumfries House Estate spans 600 acres of gardens and designed landscape, set within a 2,000-acre estate that also includes an organically managed farm. Today, the estate is the headquarters of the King’s Foundation, which offers courses in traditional skills and crafts. Yet, two decades ago, it lay in disrepair, until the then Prince of Wales mounted a dramatic last-minute appeal to save it.
In 2007, His Majesty led a consortium of groups to raise the £45m needed to purchase it for public benefit and in 2012, he began restoring the site, including a derelict five-acre walled garden covered in Japanese knotweed, which was completed and reopened in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II. It is now considered the jewel in the garden’s crown.“His Majesty’s vision for Dumfries House Estate was to inspire, educate and train people, and encourage kids to get out into nature, especially in our local community, one of the most deprived areas in Scotland,” said Melissa Simpson, Head of Horticulture at Dumfries House Estate. “Winning the RHS Partner Garden of the Year – our first award for the garden – means such a lot to us. The King is absolutely delighted.”The garden champions sustainability, with between 600 and 1,000 small trees – both A native plant is one that originated or arrived naturally in a particular place without human involvement. In the British Isles, native plants are those that were here during the last ice age or have arrived unaided since.
The Queen Elizabeth II walled garden at Dumfries House Estate is one of the biggest walled gardens in Scotland. It is both a traditional kitchen garden and a showcase of floral interest, featuring a uniquely steep 11m drop of south-facing terraced beds. It includes heritage vegetables, dye plants and a wildlife garden – all used for teaching traditional skills. Ornamental areas feature peony borders, topiary, formal parterres filled with pollinator-friendly plants such as Agastache, Monarda and Verbena, four glasshouses and one of the largest collections of roses in the UK.
“We’ve also got a spectacular 50m-long Delphinium border,” said Melissa, who also oversees the gardens at Highgrove. “His Majesty loves delphiniums. There are only about 20 different varieties, but with the King, it’s more about the overall aesthetic they provide than how rare they are. He’s very hands on and during estate walks, you can guarantee he’ll have his secateurs and a small handsaw in his pocket, ready to prune a missed branch.”
Other highlights include a Japanese garden, a maze, tree-lined avenues and an arboretum filled with Metasequoia and both spring and autumn-flowering Prunus, but also azalea, Euonymus, Syringa and Rosa rugosa cultivars. Spring These are fleshy, rounded, underground storage organs, usually sold and planted while dormant. Examples include daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, lilies, onions and garlic. The term is often used to cover other underground storage organs, including corms, tubers and rhizomes.
“We’re constantly adding to the garden,” Melissa said. “We are in the process of developing a 15-acre woodland garden featuring lots of roses and a stumpery. There’s always something new to see.”
Dumfries House Estate has also seen an increase in the number of invertebrates, amphibians, birds such as kingfishers and woodpeckers, and mammals, including otters, since Melissa’s team stopped regularly mowing the grass areas.
A garden that sparks joy
Each year, the RHS Partner Garden of the Year competition celebrates the gardens that spark the most uplifting and joyful experiences for visitors. With more than 230 RHS Partner Gardens across the UK and overseas, the award shines a spotlight on the spaces that truly connect with people and inspire a love of gardening.
Dumfries House Estate has been crowned the Overall Winner for 2025, voted for by many visitors who praised its exceptional beauty and the calming experience the garden offers. “Coming from a working-class background and living in Glasgow’s more deprived areas, I never thought I’d appreciate a country house and its gardens. However, my visit to Dumfries House Estate opened my eyes. I brought my children here and just fell in love with the place,” said Quroum Beg, one of the voters.
“The well-planned gardens, especially the Queen Elizabeth Walled Garden, made me feel like I was in a novel, or a member of the royal family. I walked around it without feeling like an outsider. Gardeners were all saying hi, the plants were blooming and the smells were amazing. It wasn’t just the look of the place but the feeling it gave.”
