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The East Parterre
The East Parterre was part of the great works carried out by the 2nd Duke of Queensberry in the late 17th to early 18th Century. By 1740 the garden was grassed over and it remained this way until the early 1800s when the formal beds of the Regency 'American Garden' were laid out.
The above term generally describes an area in which acid loving plants from many parts of the world were grown. By 1902 the 'American garden' had been replaced by flower beds of Autumn planting but during the Second World War it was grassed over once more.
The present garden was restored in 1978 by the Duchess of Buccleuch. The layout is based on the 1738 plan to be found in the Castle archive room, though simplified in detail, and the formality of design is characteristic of the period when the Castle was built. The planting of box, yew, cypress and juniper in an elaborate scroll pattern is in the style of the 18th Century design. Large vases on stone pedestals provide a further 18th Century flavour.
The Rose Garden or West Parterre
At the end of the 17th Century a garden was recorded at the West Parterre, originally laid out with gravel walks and flower beds with a fountain basin in the centre.
The layout has changed several times throughout its history: in the 1840s a chain-border was planted forming a brilliant outer edge to the design and floral bedding became the fashion; by 1873, the garden was laid out as a herbaceous garden, and during the Second World War, the West Parterre was grassed over.
The present layout, however, follows a 19th Century fashion. It was re-dug in 1990 and is now primarily a rose garden, successfully reusing the original Victorian beds with four topiary yews, one in each corner. Cultivating roses has not been easy, but with perseverance the following rose varieties have been established - Buff Beauty (round the central urn), Felicia, Penelope, William Lobb, Duchesse de Buccleuch. The garden lies in something of a frost hollow, hence the replacement of the tender Santolina with the more robust Nepeta.