The Rock Garden to the The Kitchen Garden 

In 1895 the 3rd Marquess commissioned world renowned garden landscaper Thomas Mawson to design a new garden to the west of his newly built home.

Mawson’s stunning design consisted of a series of cascades and calming pools. The Rock Garden’s current plantings are tribute to Jennifer, wife of the 6th Marquess, a keen plant collector, and are mainly of Asiatic origin.

Must sees during the year are the spring and summer displays of Rhododendrons and Magnolias. In autumn the impressive colour ranges of Acers (maples), Enkianthus, Betulas (birches) and Stewartias are eye-catching.

An added bonus is the delicious scent of burnt sugar (candyfloss) which comes from the Cerceridiphyllum japonicum pendulum (weeping Katsura tree).

Leave the Rock Garden and pass The Column - a large stone pillar made from Totternhoe stone, a hard chalk, the monument is topped with a figurine of a lady looking out across the Firth of Clyde to views of Largs and Skelmorlie.

Originally erected at Luton Hoo in Bedfordshire (the home of the 3rd Earl of Bute) the statue is said to have been dedicated to Augusta, Princess Dowager of Wales, to whom the 3rd Earl was devoted. It was erected in its present location by the 3rd Marquess in 1873.

Walk along the sweeping Lime Tree Avenue, originally planted in 1734 and possibly replanted in 1812. At over 540 metres long it contains more than 160 trees. Originally named Harbour Avenue it was the access road to a small fishing village previously sited at the bottom of the avenue, from where a ferry ran to the Isle of Cumbrae and the town of Largs.

The best times to view Lime Tree Avenue are June and July when the trees are in full bloom, the sweetly scented flowers come alive and the avenue sings with the sound of the pollinating bees.

In the autumn sunlight the Lime trees’ leaves turn a warm gold and as they fall, light up the floor of the avenue.

Walk through the towering trees of the Pinetum. 

The 3rd Marquess’s Pinetum dates back to 1864 and predominantly consists of North American species. This area contains three champion trees, two of which Pinus nigra subsp laricio (Corsican Pine) and Xanthocyparis nootkatensis (Nootka Cypress) are the tallest of their kind in the UK.

Walk through the wooden gate, past the apple orchard on the left and into the Kitchen Garden!

Five acres in size the Kitchen Garden was laid out in 1820.

In the 1990’s it was redeveloped by noted garden designer Rosemary Verey, OBE VHM, who worked with the then Head Gardener Paul Martin to create a decorative and productive potager or kailyaird – a uniquely Scots term.

Must sees in the Kitchen Garden during the year are the colourful displays in the herb beds and borders and it's worth checking the vegetable beds - you may see colourful pumpkins as planted by our young gardeners at Bute's nursery school.

Glass Pavilion

The Barrett’s octagonal glass pavilion – a leading feature of the 1988 Glasgow Garden festival – was purchased as the garden’s centrepiece and erected on site in 1989. It was intended to house a collection of tender Vireya Rhododendrons from Indonesia and northern Australia but at the time these proved too difficult to source. The internal landscaping was designed and implemented by Mount Stuart’s head gardener and his team. The rocks came from the beach below Mount Stuart House and, with some help from a digger and a 3 tonne forklift, the rockwork, paths and pond were all laid out. It The Pavilion now houses a collection of tender plants from around the world, including Musa (banana), Hedychium (ginger) and Strelitzia (bird of paradise) plants. It is not currently open to the public but can be admired from the outside.

Distance from the House to the Kitchen Garden is 1050m and takes 20 minutes directly or longer for those who wish to explore...