Garden Studios

Like many other gardens in west Scotland it has a dramatic setting, with mountains within the distance and fabulous views over Loch Fyne, but its claim to fame is an historic selection of champion trees.

These include Britain’s tallest tree, a Grand Fir (Abies grandis) it is greater than 210ft high (64metres) and Europe’s mightiest conifer, a eu Silver Fir tree (Abies alba) with a girth of greater than 32ft (10metres).

These were planted in around 1875, when Alexander Bell was demonstrating his new invention – the phone – to Queen Victoria and are among several trees brought back from overseas by plant hunters for the Callander family within the 19th century.

Other champions at Ardkinglas are a Patagonian Cypress (Fitzroya cupressoides), Hinoki Cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa), Western Red Cedar (Thuya plicata) and Jeffrey’s Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana var. jeffreyi).

Winter is an effective time to review trees, whether or not they are evergreen giants or native deciduous trees stripped in their leaves so that you can see their structure clearly.

At Ardkinglas there are various woodland paths to explore and red squirrels to identify inside the tree tops.

In January a set of yankee witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) perfumes the air and in February the primary of the Rhododendrons flowers could be seen, with other Rhododendron species blooming each month until June.

February also sees primroses emerge some of the undergrowth and there are acres of bluebells in June.

Ardkinglas is open daily all year round from dawn until dusk and makes an annual donation to the charity Scotland’s Gardens. Entrance is £4.50, or £3.50 for pensioners. Children under 16 can visit at no cost, and season tickets come in.

For information on how to define the gardens visit www.ardkinglas.com

And for more info at the work of Scotland’s Gardens, which raises money for medical and horticultural charities, visit www.scotlandsgardens.org