Take a tour of this traditional Scottish garden filled with sculpture

published 4 August 2015

Bughtrig, near Coldstream, is a traditional hedged Scottish family garden that dates from the 1780s. It features an interesting combination of herbaceous plants, shrubs, annuals and fruit. It is surrounded by fine specimen trees that provide remarkable shelter. The Ramsay family have owned the estate since 1938. The current owner is an art lover and there are various sculptures throughout the garden. Shown here is the Memorial Garden with a life-size bronze statue of the owner's grandfather, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, mastermind of the Dunkirk evacuation and naval commander-in-chief of the D-Day landings.

1/7 Memorial Garden with bronze statue

Traditional sculptural garden with bronze statue

2/7 Mirrored artwork

garden area with mirrored artwork and trees

Known as Rosemary, this mirrored artwork reflects the leaves of the surrounding shrubs. There are more playful pieces like this in the garden, including the Hoola Hoop Tree by French artist Marie Denis. Others are more unsettling. Clarice was inspired by the film The Silence of the Lambs and takes the form of a woman and lamb sitting in the old boiler room of the greenhouse.

3/7 Grass Walk

garden area with woodland and grass walk

The two-acre, south-west facing country garden is in the Berwickshire hills, surrounded by a shelterbelt of mature trees. The 246-foot long Grass Walk features dense borders full of lupins, Inula, campanula and meadowsweet.

4/7 Restored greenhouses

green houses with flower plants and trees

The impressive spires of Delphinium 'Pacific Giant' and a profusion of old-fashioned moss roses are an attractive foil to the restored greenhouses. The latter are reminder that, as well as being a beautiful setting for inspiring scultpure and art, Bughtrig is very much a working garden, immaculately tended by its head gardener.

5/7 Lincoln Memorial-inspired statue

garden area with trees and lincoln memorial inspired statue

Godwin is a recently commissioned statue by Araba Ocran. Knowing where to place an artwork within an outdoor setting can be tricky. Too small a sculpture and it might be overlooked, too large and it can dominate. 'Godwin is one of our recent works,' says the owner. 'It was inspired by the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC so it needs lots of room. However, other pieces are much more personal and draw the viewer in. They need less space.'

6/7 Picnic Garden

garden area with old stone bothy and flower plants

An old stone bothy adds character to the Picnic Garden, with Kniphofias (red-hot pokers) in the border contributing a splash of colour to the scene. This walled space is a lovely spot in which to stop and take in the surroundings.

7/7 Main house with copper beech

garden area with flower plants and trees

A glimpse of Bughtrig across the herbaceous borders, which are backed by striking copper beech hedges. The garden itself has been designed to cope with the rigours of the natural world. A dense shelterbelt of mature Wellingtonias and other specimen trees added in the late 19th century means that there are plants here that would normally turn up their toes so far north.