Garden centres · Dumfries and Galloway
Cally Gardens
A 1770s walled garden in Galloway woodland, kept as a wild, rare-plant treasury by plantsman Kevin Hughes — part nursery, part secret garden.
★★★★★Gem 8/10Dumfries and Galloway
About
The story
Behind eighteenth-century walls in the woods outside Gatehouse of Fleet lies one of Scotland's great horticultural secrets. Cally Gardens was made famous by the plant collector Michael Wickenden, who filled the old kitchen garden of Cally House with rarities from his expeditions; since 2018 it has been in the hands of acclaimed plantsman Kevin Hughes, who has layered in his own collections of magnolias, trilliums, snowdrops and peonies while letting the garden grow ever wilder for the birds and insects that share it. You wander borders unlike any garden centre on earth, then carry home plants you may never see for sale again.
Our word
Why Hunters selected it
A single-plantsman nursery inside a Georgian walled garden, trading in genuinely rare plants — as far from a chain garden centre as Britain gets.
Perfect for
- Garden Lovers
- Hidden Gem
- Peace & Quiet
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