Gardens: Dundee University Botanic Garden's floral diversity

The first thing you notice about the University of Dundee Botanic Garden is the friendly atmosphere. At 10am on a cold morning there is a real buzz in the coffee shop, suggesting strong community support, while the entrance desk is manned by a knowledgeable volunteer who offers suggestions and ideas for a tour.

Founded in 1971, the nine-and-a-half hectare garden stretches in a narrow rectangle along the side of the hill above the airport overlooking the River Tay.

The brainchild of first curator Eddie Kemp, it is laid out on a geographical basis with plants grouped according to their native regions – there are Mediterranean, Asian, American and Australasian collections, with an area devoted to native British plants. Curator Alistair Hood, backed by a committed staff, now runs the garden. According to horticulturalist Clare Reaney, the sense of community so evident here is borne out by statistics.

"The garden is well used by school groups, members of the community and volunteers from all walks of life," she says. "We are supported by 1000 Friends."

The glasshouses stand to the left as you enter the garden, and are divided into two climatic regions. You come across the tropical house first, a blast of bright colour pressing against its window. This turns out to be the Bolivian native Calliandra haematocephala.

The bright red blooms make a welcome sight but a visit inside is perhaps best left until the end of the tour when the glasshouses make the perfect place to warm up.

A right turn leads past tiny Loch Machar, backed with Prunus serrula and enlivened in late winter with arching branches of white rubus and red cornus stems.

Directly ahead is the entrance to the new Evolutionary Garden, a recently built contemporary hard landscape feature that is widely considered the garden's most outstanding feature. Nestled within a framework of established Sequoiadendron giganticum and designed by Ian White Associates from an original plan by Alistair Hood, the garden was built to illustrate land plant evolution, from green algae to flowering plants.

The curved walls swirl around deep planting beds, drawing you in to the central area where you can see the latest group to appear, the flowering plants – the most diverse group in the plant kingdom. Here you will find families such as magnolias, roses and daisies represented.

Reaney explains: "The building of the walls was an amazing story of collaboration between an assortment of staff, volunteers and skilled workers and took nearly three years to complete. It was a steep learning curve for us. When it was cold there would be just two people working on it but when it was sunny there would be more of us."

Emboldened by their newly acquired skills and using stone from a quarry near Dundee, the team rapidly learnt to create the patterns and shapes that give this garden its unique dimension. Traditional horizontal stone patterns were broken up with herringbone designs and swirls, juxtaposed with larger standing stones.

Stone pyramids punctuate the curved walls set with stone seats, triangular windows and framed rectangular apertures. Every effort was made to link the stonework and the planting, which ranges from primitive mosses and algae to ferns and into conifers and from there to flowering plants. Clare explains: "A flower pattern in the stonework was incorporated just behind the flowering plants and the effect has been very popular with the public.

"It boasts hidden qualities that appeal to children – it feels like a secret area, and from an education point of view it is essential. It is unique in Scotland as an educational tool and as an example of dry stone walls."

Beyond, a network of wide, grass paths leads the full length of the garden. Lawns linked by narrow paths enclose beds, allowing visitors to examine plants at close quarters. Here, waiting to be discovered, is an early-flowering red rhododendron and several white-barked Betula jackmontii. A mature Acer griseum, its trunk heavy with lush peelings of brown bark, marks a corner.

The penultimate section of the garden, which features Australasian plants, is the latest project in this dynamic yet accessible garden.

"The area is being replanted with a new collection of plants from Australia and New Zealand and will give a flavour of what is available," Reaney says. Due to open formally at the end of the summer, the garden will contain "pretty much everything from Down Under except wallabies".

Although the threat of closure due to lack of funds was recently lifted, the staff believe there is no room for complacency in these uncertain economic times. Volunteers are welcome in the garden. "We have a main member of staff who trains volunteers who come with a mix of skills and approaches.

We have a varied group of volunteers and we try to match their skills with our needs." Over the years such volunteers have proved an invaluable part of the workforce, adding their hard graft to the flourishing community spirit. "It works well and it is great fun," says Reaney.

University of Dundee Botanic Garden, Riverside Drive, DD2 1OH, is open daily from 10am to 4:30pm.

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This article was first published in the Scotsman Magazine on Saturday, 6 March, 2010