Gardens: From specimen firs to azaleas, the woodland garden of Inchmarlo House is a tranquil treasure trove

INCHMARLO House, a classical 18th century pile embellished with an elegant balustrade parapet, sits in a raised position on the south bank of the River Dee a mile west of Banchory in Aberdeenshire.

Once the home of the Bowhill family, the house is now owned by Charles Skene, who converted it into a care home ten years ago. The house, along with a scattering of properties built on the 100-acre estate now compromises the Inchmarlo Retirement Community Village, and is reached along a drive that winds its way up the hill.

At the heart of this estate on Royal Deeside is a hidden gem: a 5-acre, sloping woodland garden. Planned and planted by Alexandra Bowhill in the late 1800s from cuttings supplied by her daughter, Pamela, a rhododendron enthusiast married to Lord Adam Gordon of Littlewood Cross in Surrey, Inchmarlo owes its continuing existence to Charles Skene’s intervention: on purchase he determined to save and improve the garden in order to give pleasure to residents.

The moment you walk into the garden, through a small metal gate, and are enveloped by majestic trees soaring upwards you understand why Charles feels so passionately about this woodland. There is an instant feeling of tranquillity – you can’t even hear your footsteps on the pale grey, gravel paths.

Jewel-coloured rhododendrons and azaleas display red, pink and yellow flowers in contrast with the subtle maroons and yellows of fresh acer, sorbus and cercidiphyllum foliage. Contrasting texture comes from the rough brown bark of conifers, the smooth greys of beech and the gleaming white birch. The conifers, too, display soft blue and green pine needles.

But what makes this garden stand out is its historical presence, the result of rich and knowledgeable planting at a time when these specimens were being newly introduced and their ultimate size was unknown. Head gardener, Jim Wilkie, agrees; even after seven years working at Inchmarlo, he is still astonished by the variety and height of the trees. “Until you really start looking you don’t know what is here,” he says, referring to the imposing Scots pines, the rugged Douglas and silver firs “some of which measured 49 metres three years ago,” and the majestic beeches and oak.

The main gravel path bisected to right and left by other narrower paths – all are worth exploring – follows the contours of the hill, encouraging you onwards and upwards past the burn, towards open vistas or quiet contemplative areas furnished with benches.

Jim, who is assisted by eight groundsmen, says the team is always making discoveries about the garden – including the abundance of wildlife here. There are pine martens, red squirrels, a manageable amount of deer in the wider estate plus a variety of songbirds that thrive along with herons and passing buzzards.

Leading the way up the hill he points out that the garden is planted for year round interest. In late summer you will find fragrant white, flowering Eucryphia glutinosia tucked away in a sheltered spot in the lower part of the garden or a scarlet flash of Tropoleum shooting up a supporting evergreen. For autumn there is the rich variety of acers including Acer Palmatum ‘Bloodgood’ and lime green A Shirasawanum ‘Aureum’ which injects fiery tones along with the cercidiphyllum foliage.

Unusually for a woodland garden this place features a succession of planting to brighten the scheme all year round: and many specimens, such as the large leaved skunk cabbage, are planted on either side of the burn. The season starts with early bulbs and is followed by hostas and ferns and a range of perennials. These are especially evident in the Rainbow Garden, the penultimate scheme at the top of the hill.

In this partially walled space, where box-edged beds hint at the original layout, parallel beds packed with herbaceous plants are enclosed in a key-hole hedge of purple Prunus Cerasifera. Laid out by Billy Carruthers of Binny Plants for late summer/autumn interest with yellow, red and orange drifts of knifophia, helenium, inula, crocosmia, sedum and purple asters these beds in spring are just a promise of things to come.

The attention to detail and the capacity to surprise at Inchmarlo extends to an Oriental Garden lower down the hill. Designed in 1978 by Peter Roger this Kare Sansui, or dry slate stream, is softened with a range of sorbus, viburnum, acers, birch and, brightened for autumn with a ribbon of Japanese anemones.

Walking back to the house through the lower woods where carpets of snowdrops stretch back below the mature trees in late winter, Jim says: “What makes this garden so good is the interest Mr Skene takes in it. He lets you get on with things, but he visits regularly and discusses ideas.” The result is a varied garden alive at all times of the year and a delight for residents and visitors alike.

• Inchmarlo House Garden, Inchmarlo, Banchory is open under Scotland’s Gardens on Sunday 20 May, 1:30pm-4:30pm, www.gardensofscotland.org; www.inchmarlo-retirement.co.uk