Walled Garden

The high stone walls surrounding this Aberdeenshire garden aren't just decorative - they're doing serious work, sheltering tender plants from the Scottish Highland winds that would otherwise shred them to ribbons. Step through the entrance and you're suddenly in a different microclimate altogether, warm and protected in a way the open countryside simply isn't.

What you get inside is proper old-school gardening: herbaceous borders that actually look like someone tends them, fruit trees trained against the walls in that Victorian style, and vegetables growing in neat rows. It's the kind of place where you can see exactly what a walled garden was meant to do - maximise the growing season and create somewhere to potter about without getting battered by the wind.

This works best for anyone with a genuine interest in horticulture or garden history. Kids under ten will manage twenty minutes before restlessness kicks in, but teenagers with plant interests or families who actually enjoy reading plant labels will find it absorbing. Walkers based at Turriff Caravan Park, just a couple of miles away, can easily combine this with a broader exploration of the area's gardens and countryside.

Allow an hour if you're taking notes, forty minutes if you're just having a look round. Spring through early autumn is obviously the best time - winter here is fairly grim for gardens. It's quiet and unhurried, which is either exactly what you want or not what you want at all, depending on your tolerance for peace and quiet in the middle of Aberdeenshire.