The East Neuk has many fine gardens and Wolmerstoune near Crail is no exception. Owners James and Gemma McCallum took over Wolmerstoune House and the associated garden about ten years ago. Originally established in the 16th Century, James and Gemma were keen to recreate how the garden might have looked then, combining it with some more modern influences.

James says: “What we have tried to do is recreate as closely as possible a realistic representation of a garden featuring aspects that would have been found in different centuries. We have used, for example, information gained from research at the gardens at Falkland and Culross. It is very much a year-round garden and the intention is for people to enjoy it. We don’t want it to be seen as a private paradise that is locked away.”

Part of the Scotland’s Gardens Scheme, the garden is open one day during the year, usually during the second weekend in July when the herbaceous border is at its best. The garden is open by appointment at other times. A renovation project is also underway in an old stable block to create a luxury residence to accommodate paying guests, which again will provide visitors with a chance to enjoy the garden.

The garden and house are steeped in history, with one of the oldest surviving parts being a late 15th Century doocot, the lower part doubling up as a prison cell, which it is believed was used in the infamous East Neuk witch trials.

Now looked after by head gardener Mike Wills, the garden flows seamlessly together. The original walled garden, which dates back several centuries, is split into five distinct sections comprising a parterre, the white/scented garden, the orchard, the kitchen garden and the wild garden. The first striking feature on entering the part nearest the house is the thistle parterre, a mini-hedge intricately shaped into elements of the McCallum of Wolmerstoune family crest. Crushed seashells, a feature of many of the garden paths here, provides contrast with the green of the hedge.

An enclosed rose garden borders one side of the parterre, and on the other side Grizalia trees grow, the largest in Scotland. It is said that these trees are on the site of a graveyard for chickens, which could help explain their healthy and vigorous growth.

A narrow gateway leads through to a long summer-flowering herbaceous border featuring plants such as Crocosmia, Delphinium, Echinops, Nepeta, Phlox and Sidalcea. Other notable blooms are Eryngium, Bridal Wreath, Shasta Daisy and Lysimachia punctata.

Adjoining here is the kitchen garden, which is a close recreation of how such a garden might have looked in the 16th Century. Raised borders enclosed by wooden boards were very much a feature then, helping to provide order and neatness. As well as a source of vegetables, the garden would have supplied herbs for culinary and medicinal purposes, along with cut flowers for the house. Vegetables grown here include asparagus, beetroot, pumpkins, gourds and courgettes, many of which have been laid out ornamentally, with yellow-stemmed chards helping to provide additional colour and interest.

The adjacent wild garden incorporates an orchard and wildflower meadow. Here there are apple, plum, pear and damson trees with cornflowers, trilliums, fritillaries and orchids providing a blaze of colour below. Running along the east side of the wall in this part of the garden is an autumn border with a range that includes Chocolate cosmos, Echinacea, Verbena, Lobelia, Dahlia, Achillea and black elder.

According to Mike Wills, the sheltered aspect of the garden makes it ideal for many types of plant. “We get plenty of sunshine in this part of Fife and the soil here is good. However, it can get quite hot in the walled garden at times.”

Further on there is a bridal border where whites and pinks are the predominant colour, featuring shrubs and flowers such as Philadelphus virginal, Agapanthos, Irises and the Lupin noble maiden. Many of these plants were gifted to James and Gemma when they got married. There is also a Saltire bed with blues, silver and whites, encompassing plants such as Eryngium alpinum, Meconopsis, Scotch Thistle and Nepeta.

At the front of the house there is a courtyard, and just to the other side is recently constructed Celtic Cross; a wedding gift from Gemma to James, it is a mosaic of individually laid coloured pebbles sourced from different parts of Scotland.

Nearby runs a small stream which feeds into a large pond that is shaded by tall trees on one side and including typical marginal plants such as Gunnera. Dragonflies and damselflies provide additional colour in summer, and last year a rare comma butterfly was sighted – the first record for Fife in 180 years. Interestingly, on the day I visited, another rarity was feeding by the pond’s edge - a green sandpiper, which is a scarce migrant to Scotland.

Wolmerstoune is a garden that brings the past and the present together, and under the fine stewardship of James and Gemma McCallum it will continue to flourish and evolve and develop for many years to come.