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Walled Garden
There have been productive and ornamental gardens at Culzean since the middle of the 17th century. The original Walled Garden was situated in front of the old castle and is now the Fountain Court garden. Fan trained peaches, apricots and nectarines along with apples and pears adorned the terrace walls. When the Castle was re-designed in the late 18th century a walled garden was built in its present day situation. There have been several changes to the layout of the garden over the years but the shape and area have not changed in the last 150 years.
The terraces in front of the castle are favourable south facing walls with a wide range of climbers and some tender shrubs growing. The Clematis montana plants smother the lower wall and merge in with the colourful herbaceous border at the foot of the wall. On the middle terrace the mixed border is full of interesting plants for all seasons. At the end of the border stands the imposing stone and glass orangery which contains a range of citrus trees in the winter and mixed conservatory plants in the summer.
The Walled Gardens are situated one kilometer from the castle hidden behind a bank of trees that also act as a wind break from the salt laden sea breezes. The garden covers an area of 2.5 hectares and is divided into two separate parts by a central wall. On the south side of this wall are the ranges of fruit houses containing vines and peaches. These houses look out over the ornamental south garden containing several interesting features including a stone grotto dating from the early 20th century, a roundel with a pleached hornbeam hedge, a jungle area with large leafed plants, a Peaonia border, Hosta and palm beds all set off by a Cedar of Lebanon that could easily be as old as the garden itself.
The north park of the garden was the productive heart of the estate, producing all the fruit and vegetables for the castle. Although not now in full production, fruit and vegetables are still grown in this part of the garden and are offered for sale in season along with plants propagated in the garden. The side borders still provide a blaze of colour where the plants grown provide the floral decorations in the castle. The most spectacular borders in this part of the garden are the double herbaceous borders that run the whole length of the garden and are at their best in July and August.
The historic designed landscape forms the basis of the present day Country Park that extends to almost 600 acres. The forsight of the Kennedy family planting more than 5,000,000 trees has left a legacy of mature woodland that provides a wide range of habitats for the wild flora and fauna which are abundant in the Country Park today.
Happy Valley is a good example of an area of woodland that has been transformed over the years from one of the original entrance roads to an ornamental woodland garden with a range of plants introduced over the last 150 years Rhododendrons, Drymis and Dicksonias thrive in the sheltered environment under the tall Pines, Beech and the wide variety of conifers mainly from North America. This area is at its best in the early part of the year.
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