Barr village gardeners offer inspiration through Scotland’s Gardens

By Caroline Sommerville
Published on 01/07/2012 12:19

Scottish scheme showcases great design, colour and planting in Ayrshire gardens

A VISIT to an iconic garden inspired an amateur gardener to be bold with colour. The inspiration was Great Dixter, in East Sussex; the inspired one was Ann McGinnis, in her Ayrshire cottage garden. The former is renowned for its design, plantsmanship and commitment to colour without boundaries. The latter has an approach to colour that works at the other end of the design spectrum, using blocks, in a much smaller setting. A visitor to Great Dixter could wonder what such a garden can offer others; at Thistle Cottage, Barr, they will find their answer.

Ann has an unusually shaped garden. The back faces the village, and a side plot is used half for flowers, half for fruit and vegetables. After visiting Great Dixter, she realised the role colour plays and chose colour-themed borders to make her own statement.

In early summer, the pink and purple area has peony roses, oriental poppies and lupins; the yellow and orange border has snapdragons, and the white border blurs into silvery grey and blue with delphiniums, irises and aconitums. In spring, she lets daffodils have their show in the blue border, but after they have gone it’s strictly about keeping to the colours.

Thanks to the acid soil, large numbers of rhododendrons and azaleas flower from March to July in a normal spring. Ann says this year has been challenging; a late frost stopped many of these plants in their tracks.

Along with its vegetable and fruit plots and borders, the south-facing garden has four ponds that support wildlife and fish. It also overlooks the village and has a beautiful view to the hills.

Ann organises Barr’s participation in Scotland’s Gardens and, in a village of about 200 residents, there is an unusually high number opening under the scheme. Nine gardens will open next weekend.

The village opening forms a backdrop for a fringe festival at Alton Albany Farm and B&B, to raise money for charity. Last year, the village’s opening was hit by torrential rain, so this year Andrea and her husband Alasdair have offered their farm buildings as a place to display art and antiques.

Gardening in Barr is a community affair. Alan Ringrose not only sees to it his own garden is up to scratch to take part in the opening, he helps out some of his neighbours who are less able to garden. He and his wife Isobel have been at 21 Glenginnet Road for 12 years, and this is their sixth opening for Scotland’s Gardens.

The layout had been done by the previous owner but the couple have built on that. The grassy rear was turned into a vegetable plot. Steps lead from conservatory up to a patio and pond, herbaceous borders and lawn, and Alan has also installed a model railway.

The village is set in farmland at more than 500ft above sea level. To counter wind damage, Alan employs a tip he saw at Culzean Castle: netting. Each spring he lays a mesh across the herbaceous borders – plants grow through and get support lower down.

In this hidden corner of Ayrshire, it’s another example of how to take inspiration from the big players. k

The gardens of Barr, near Girvan, are open on Saturday and Sunday, 1pm-5pm. Admission includes entry to the fringe festival at Alton Albany Farm. A minibus is available. Thistles Cottage, 6 The Avenue, is for sale with CKD Galbraith