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15th October 2013 - Dawyk Botanic garden Graham Stewart
Biggar Probus Club held their second meeting of the season
on Tuesday 15th
October.
The speaker was Graham Stewart, Curator of Dawyck
Botanical Gardens near Stobo.
He started an interesting and informative talk by
outlining the garden’s history.
Over the past 300
plus years there have only been 3 families involved. First came the Veitch
family who in the 1650’s planted the first Horse Chestnut trees in the country.
Next were the Naesmiths who between 1691 and 1897,
introduced several varieties of trees including the Giant Redwood.
Lastly, the Balfours from 1897 to 1978, who were
responsible for the display of species Rhododendrons.
These were particular species, not the hybrid which
causes a lot of problems elsewhere.
The severe gales of 1968 caused huge damage to the
gardens and in 1978 the Balfours gifted them to the nation.
The extensive damage resulted in the gardens being
closed to the public until the mid 1980’s.
The gardens cover
65 acres and rise from 165m to 275m, with recent rainfalls averaging 1,100mm and
temperatures ranging from minus 20C to plus 28C.
Other issues to be managed are the short growing
season and shallow, acidic, stony soils which give it a unique topography.
The new visitor
centre opened in 2008 and visitor numbers are now 30,000 each year.
The most recent development is a hydro electric
scheme, and construction will start later this month.
This will make the gardens self sufficient in power
and enable it to sell electricity back to the grid which will generate a good
income for the gardens.
The level of
interest from members was evidenced by the number of questions at the end.
The vote of thanks was given by Ian Dewar.
The next meeting will be on
November 5th
when the speaker will be Mr Jim Percival talking about St Kilda. |