Nature and nature friendly gardening with kindly gardener.

We are undergoing quite a transformation in the Ardross Guest House Gardens. This part of the 'project' will take at least another couple of years, so gardeners when you visit we would be pleased to hear any ideas you have.

Our large hillside space has stunning views of Loch Ard and Ben Lomond and we are currently developing a variety of spaces for leisure and relaxation.

We work with Nature here and our main priority is to eradicate the Invasive Non-native species (Rhododendron Ponticum and Acaena novae-zelandiae) which have swamped the garden over time.

It's our priority to fill Ardross Cottage Garden with life - by planting a wide variety of species that provide nectar for our precious pollinators. 

Alongside restoring the space for beneficial species, we are mindful of our impact and choose not to use any peat-based composts in our growing. Producing our own compost is a priority and all materials that can be, will be processed on site. 

We feed the birds as they are excellent allies to help control damaging pests in the garden 

We have already reestablished our fruit area with blackcurrant, gooseberry and redcurrant bushes and look forward to including our own produce wherever possible.

And then there are regular visitors (and sightings) of wild life some of which are welcome and some less so.

Deer (less so they eat the flowers)

Red Squirrels (very welcome)

Pine Martins (occasional)

Wild Goats (not welcome and more recently moved away)

Badgers (Not seen but their scats have been)

Moles (0nly in the 'less' clay subsoil area)

Birds (many varieties notably there is a local colony of wrens)

Bats ( well worth a stroll at dusk mostly Pipistrelles )

Whilst we are not designated a dark area sky watching on a clear night is great; the cottage faces south and behind the cottage is a range of hills so the full sky watch is not possible. More recently there has been regular views of the aurora borealis but this has mainly been seen from Kinlochard Village (one mile walk) and from the south of the loch (further) when you can look north over the range of hills.