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Please use the following format and info on your own site to link to your page in Gardens-Guide.com: at Gardens-Guide.com http://www.gardens-guide.com The premiere directory of open gardens in the UK and Ireland today Ask your friends and suppliers as well to link to your page in Gardens-Guide as well. Every link we get into your page helps rankings for both of us in search engines. **************************************************************** **************************************************************** **************************************************************** Garden Name: Crarae Garden Last Modified: 20-01-2011 Garden ID: 0207 pic: 0207_crarae.jpg NOTE: If this says "missing", then please send us a picture for your page which is at least 1000 x 1000 pixels in size. Thanks! Owner: Crarae Gardens Charitable Trust Address: Minard Inveraray Argyll & Bute Postcode: PA32 8YA County: Scotland tel: 01546 886614 fax: website: www.nts.org.uk/Property/19 email: nprice //at// nts.org.uk English Heritage Grade: Opening Times: NOTE for 2012: Please check with garden owners or their website to confirm current dates open http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/19 All year; 7 days a week; 9.30am - sunset. Winter, open dawn to dusk Visitor Centre: 1st Apr - 31st Oct; Thurs - Mon; 10am - 5pm. Best Times of Year to Visit: Spring Autumn To see: Rhododendrons Autumn colour National Collection: Part of Nothofagus National Garden Scheme days: No Comments: Parties / Coaches: Yes Comments: Coach park 50m from visitor centre Viewing by Appointment: Yes Comments: House Open for Viewing: no Comments: Admission Prices: Adult £5.50; 1 parent + up to 4 children £10; Over 60s £4.50; Family £15; Groups £4.50 Free to members: www.nts.org.uk/Join Parking: Yes Lavatories: Yes Disabled Access: Yes Shop: Yes Plants for Sale: No Lunches: Yes Teas: Yes Refreshments: Yes Picnics: Yes Dogs allowed: Yes Only on Lead: Yes Events: Yes Other Facilities: Features: A unique 100-acre Himalayan woodland garden planted around the steep-sided Crarae burn Dramatic waterfalls Champion trees Neolithic chambered burial cairn Designer: Description of Garden: Crarae Gardens are situated on the north side of Loch Fyne some ten miles south-west of Inveraray, Argyll. The property in total extends to around 50 hectares and is divided into Crarae Gardens (25 hectares approximately) and the Forest Garden, Waterfall and the 'hill' ground of Barr Mor and Droversland. The main garden at Crarae is unique, with a strong 'sense of place'. Set on a hillside down which tumbles the Crarae Burn, the scene is reminiscent of a Himalayan gorge. The surrounding tree and shrub collections are rich and diverse, planted for artistic and naturalistic effect. The garden contains one of the best collections of the genus Rhododendron in Scotland, unusually rich in cultivars, as well as part of the National Collection of Nothofagus and particularly good representations of Acer, Eucalyptus, Eucryphia and Sorbus. An extensive path network takes visitors to all corners of the garden, criss-crossing the burn via a series of bridges. The garden is renowned for its spring and autumn colour. History: Lady Campbell, aunt of Reginald Farrer, began the development of Crarae Gardens from woodland in 1912, although the land had been owned by the Campbell family since 1825. Her son Sir George was given the estate in 1925 and he lived there until 1967, greatly extending the plant collection. His son, Sir Ilay Campbell, inherited, then generously gave the gardens to the Crarae Gardens Charitable Trust in 1978, becoming a Trustee himself. Following financial difficulties experienced by the Crarae Gardens Charitable Trust and closure of the Gardens in 2001, The National Trust for Scotland conducted a successful £1.5 million fund-raising appeal to save Crarae by taking it into Trust ownership under which the gardens re-opened in 2002. Local Inns: Village shop & Post Office - 1 mile Creggans Inn, Clachan Strachur Accomodation: George Hotel, Inveraray Argyll Arms, Fernpoint Restaurants: Quarry Point Tearoom Loch Fyne Oyster Bar Village/Town/Sightseeing: Auchindrain Museum Inveraray Castle Kilmartin House Argyll Wildlife Park