From secret city plots to castle grounds: Scotland’s most intriguing gardens open their gates for charity in 2026
Scotland’s Gardens Scheme (SGS) is set to tempt garden lovers with one of its most compelling seasons yet, as hundreds of rarely seen and much-loved gardens across Scotland open their gardens for charity.
The 2026 SGS programme features 457 garden openings, including 65 new gardens and 33 group and village openings, offering everything from tiny urban sanctuaries and community wellbeing gardens to romantic walled gardens, island landscapes and grand castle grounds. It is also launching its first ever hellebore festival, A Celebration of Hellebores, running from late February to mid-April.
This number is expected to increase further as garden owners choose to open on a popular ‘pop-up’ basis to exhibit seasonal highlights throughout the year.
In 2025, the charity celebrated a record year, raising over £425,000 for 254 charities and good causes chosen by garden owners. It also donated £20,000 to each of the SGS core charities - Maggie’s, the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland and Perennial, and £5,000 donated to guest charity, therapeutic gardening organisation, Trellis. A further £5,800 in bursaries was awarded to horticulturists living and working in Scotland through the Scotland’s Gardens Scheme Cattanach Fund.
Seasonal highlights in the garden for the year ahead include:
Special Events & Trails
SGS is delighted to present a series of new events and festivals. Following the usual early season Snowdrop Festival, the inaugural A Celebration of Hellebores launches in late February and runs until mid-April, including seven participating gardens to date. This new festival will exhibit one of the most captivating groups of winter-into-spring plants and will highlight the extraordinary diversity of hellebore hybrids.
Late May and early June welcomes a returning special event, the Fife Summer Trail, running over three Fridays in three areas of Fife on 22 May, 29 May and 5 June, a wonderful opportunity to enjoy rarely seen gardens in the area.
With an increase in gardens opening with SGS in Orkney, a special event on Saturday 4th July will have a trio of gardens on Orkney opening as part of the Rousay Summer Garden Day, demonstrating the best that its islands have to offer.
The Dalswinton Mill Mini Plant Fair returns to Dumfriesshire on Sunday 9 August, situated in a newly-created, plantsman’s garden set around an 18th-century watermill with the Pennyland Burn running through it. Following the success of last year’s inaugurual event, the day will include talks and demonstrations throughout the day led by garden owner and former Wisley Curator, Colin Crosbie.
In East Lothian, a family-friendly open day will invite visitors to enjoy freshly cut flowers, homemade produce, botanical castings and a mini beast trail at The Gardens at Archerfield Walled Garden. A perfect family day out this summer, on Sunday 9 August.
The popular Fife plant sale at St Andrews Botanic garden, returns later in the season on Sunday 27 September. A wonderful opportunity to buy a fabulous selection of locally-grown bare-root and potted plants at great prices to raise money for charity. The 2026 sale will also include stalls from local nurseries and a stall selling spring bulbs.
Groups & Villages
Community spirit is always evident in the popular group and village openings and the 2026 season provides the perfect opportunity to view neighbouring gardens of all shapes and sizes.
New for this year, Ninewells Community Garden & Maggie's Centre Garden, Dundee, are open to visit on Saturday 23 May. Two contrasting but both equally inspiring gardens in the grounds of Ninewells Hospital just three minutes apart, together these gardens celebrate the power of green spaces to nurture, heal and connect communities.
In the Scottish Borders, the beautiful views north to the Lammermuirs set off the variety of lovingly tended gardens of Whitsome Village, opening for the first time under ‘Whitsome Welcomes You’ on Sunday 5 July, while the tiny hamlet of Makerstoun will also open its garden gates for the first time this summer on Sunday 2 August.
Gardens for Community and Wellbeing
Many gardens also offer an educational benefit to their communities and provide safe spaces to improve wellbeing, to pause and reflect.
New in Argyll this year, Dunoon Goes POP Drinks Garden provides a unique opportunity to explore the plants, people and local heritage that inspire their community soft drinks enterprise. Packed with over 50 species of flavoursome plants, you can touch, smell and learn about the botanicals used to make drinks. Discover more on a tour and taste throughout each open day on Saturday 30 May, Saturday 27 June & Saturday 25 July.
New for 2026 and opening as part of the Rousay Summer Garden Day on Saturday 4 July, Rousay Community School Garden, is a project funded by the Climate Challenge Fund and is used by the school and local community. The garden covers an extensive area and includes a wildlife pond and a woodland planted by the students over 20 years ago.
The Potters community garden in Stranraer provides learning opportunities for people with additional support needs through the creation and maintenance of the garden. Open to visit by arrangement 1 June – 30 September.
City Sanctuaries and Family-Friendly Spaces
Urban gardens offer welcome havens from the bustle of city life, and those designed with families in mind show that even small spaces can combine horticultural interest with everyday practicality.
Ashludie Wildflower Garden is a small, urban garden predominantly dedicated to attracting wildlife and helping to replace our lost meadows. This garden opens with the neighbouring St Bedes, a beautifully-designed urban garden forming Monifieth Secret Gardens, welcoming visitors on Sunday 31 May, Saturday 27 June & Sunday 19 July.
Learmonth Place Garden in Edinburgh featured on Gardeners’ World and on the cover of Gardens Illustrated in 2025 – a tiny and absolutely perfect jewel of a garden which is open to visit on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 June, created by inspirational garden owner Libby Webb, stories of the garden can be seen @docleaves on Instagram.
A finalist in 2025 Gardener’s World Garden of the Year, Mercat Cottage, East Lothian, opens in April with a creative take on the tiny courtyard garden to provide a gardening and wildlife haven in a suburban setting. The garden is imaginatively and densely planted, with extensive use of pots and containers, and borrowed interest from neighbouring properties, to provide interest over a long season. A space from which to draw inspiration for what is possible in a small space.
A lovely, plant-filled garden, Transform_No10, Airdrie, shows that you can have a beautiful garden in the midst of family life. Find an abundance of colours from trees, shrubs, flowers, kitchen garden and a family area for kids to play, kick a ball about and entertain. The garden opens in August, following a successful ‘pop-up’ opening in 2025.
Open on Sunday 16 August in Glasgow, the small but mighty Grow Cook Inspire garden of writer and presenter Helen Cross, illustrates that you don't have to have acres of land to be able to grow a wide range of fruit, vegetables, cut flowers and also have space to entertain friends and family.
Castles, Walled Gardens & Stately Homes
SGS is delighted to welcome several new castle gardens for its 2026 season including:
Foulis Castle near Inverness opens for the first time for SGS on 7 June and 5 July, inviting visitors to explore for the first time its eight acres of grounds, arboretum, courtyard garden, ponds and old kitchen garden.
Wemyss Castle Gardens in Fife will open its lovely 15-acres Spring woodland garden and its restored walled garden with completely new planting and landscaping concentrating in particular on clematis, roses and ornamental trees.
In Angus, Airlie Castle Gardens, is open to visit in late August, where the 18th-century walled garden grows fruit, flowers and vegetables and is intersected by mature yew and box topiary. Enjoy a woodland walk which leads down from the castle and gardens to the River Isla.
Kinmount House in Dumfriesshire opens for the first time on 3 May, sharing its elegant Italian gardens, with stone terraces, ornamental fountains and manicured hedges.
SGS is delighted that many of the popular castle gardens will return for 2026, including Blair Castle & Estate, Ayrshire (open on Sunday 12 April) and Drummond Castle Gardens, Perth (open Sunday 2 August) and many more.
New Walled Gardens
This season, three new beautiful walled gardens across Scotland join SGS, showcasing the best that these unique spaces have to offer.
Glenburn’s Walled Garden, Berwickshire, opens for charity for the first time in 2026. Positioned close to a pretty Georgian house, this one-acre space is enclosed by red brick walls and is wildly romantic. Open to visit Wednesday 20 May, Sunday 19 July & Monday 31 August.
Marcus Walled Garden, Dundee, opens on Sunday 7 June for the first time. A charming walled garden surrounded by mature woodland near to River South Esk.
Poyntzfield Herb Nursery, Inverness, celebrates 50 years of growing herbs in 2026, with over 400 varieties of herbs boasting culinary, medicinal or aromatic qualities. The garden is open to visit regularly 1 March – 30 September (not Wednesday) and on Saturday 25 July. Visit Poyntzfield in early March to see the best of snowdrops.
“Every garden that opens with Scotland’s Gardens Scheme is an act of generosity. Their owners are sharing beauty, raising vital funds for charity and showing the powerful role gardens and green spaces can play in bringing people together.
‘We’re excited for the season ahead, with lots of new gardens joining us, inspiring events and initiatives to enjoy and the chance to connect our remarkable community of garden owners and volunteers with visitors, whether they’re discovering SGS for the first time or returning year after year.” says Liz Stewart, Chief Executive of Scotland’s Gardens Scheme.
For full details of gardens open for charity, explore the SGS website or buy the 2026 guidebook, available on the website at scotlandsgardens.org.
Garden and charity highlights can also be found on:
Instagram @ScotlandGardenScheme
Facebook @ScotlandsGardens
TikTok @scotlandsgardens
LinkedIn
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/ScotlandsGardensScheme
