Trials Area

We developed this area to have a space in the garden that was just for looking at different plants and how to grow them. The trials area you see today was mostly built in 2002 with the generous help from the folks at WoodBlocX. The wooden blocks created beds in which we could grow our plants and enabled us to lay gravel paths round the beds. Today we have two raised beds that we use for longer term observations and five beds that we change on an annual basis.

Most of the plants in these observations are grown from seed available to the general public and are plants that are widely used. We start them off in one of our glasshouses, harden them off and plant them out when they can cope with the weather conditions. Hopefully these trials give our viewers and ourselves a guide to what we can grow and how well they do in Scottish conditions.

To test perennial plants, we either grow them from seed or buy them in as young plants. They are planted in the two long term trial beds and grown for two or three years to assess their performance. It can often take a couple of years for a perennial to achieve its flowering size and give a good impression of a mature plant. We then transplant the perennials to other parts of the garden before preparing the beds for a new selection of plants.

Materials supplied by:

WoodBlocX
Freephone (UK only) 0800 389 1420
Web: www.woodblocx.co.uk