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The gardens at Headfort were formally of international
renown, principally for their conifers and rhododendrons.
Their heyday was probably the late 30s but quite a lot still
survives, though the walkways are now overgrown.
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 The
American Garden, cleared and re-seeded
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The rhododendrons, on soil that is naturally
alkaline, are something of a showpiece. Large craters were
dug and filled with peat, which arrived by the cartload from
a nearby bog. Seed for the rhododendrons was collected by
Lord Headfort, in the manner of Kingdon Ward and others,
directly from the Himalayas. All types are well represented,
from dwarf to giant, and including some very old primitives
with huge leaves, indumenta and restrained flowering habits.
There are of course also some modern and more showy hybrids.
As part of our restoration, the American garden was recently
tidied up. Since David Wild departed (in the mid 70s) there
had not been the same keen interest in the gardens which he
showed. However with the help of various grants the area has
been cleared and reseeded. Much of the work was carried out
by Tim Whitley Landscaping(Tim is an old boy of ours) with
advice from Aubrey Fennell of the Irish Tree Society. Anne
McFarland kindly took on the onerous task of raising the
money for the work.
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