The garden at Torrdarach House, our luxury Pitlochry bed and breakfast

Big Tree Country in the garden at Torrdarach House, our Pitlochry B&B

To have a large mature woodland style garden, in such a tranquil spot so close to the Pitlochry town centre, is a really lovely feature of Torrdarach House.  

Highland Perthshire quite rightly advertises itself as ‘Big Tree Country’. The area is covered in conifer plantations thanks to the work of the ‘Planting’ Dukes of

Atholl through the late 18th century.  Amongst these forests are strategically planted groves of giant North American firs. These were introduced by Perthshire born David Douglas in the early 18th century. Most notable amongst his North American introductions were the Noble fir and Douglas-fir. These are huge tree species and we are lucky enough to have a few in the garden at Torrdarach House. 

The Douglas-firs and Noble firs in Scotland are all younger than 200 years old. So, despite being the tallest trees in Britain at over 60m, they are still relatively young and may only have reached half of their potential height. Other species in the garden include oak, birch, cherry, larch and beech. 

The garden also has a burn (small stream) running through it which, together with the mature planting, is a big attraction for wildlife. Visitors include an abundance of birds (including herons), roe deer, fallow deer and we have several resident red squirrels (see our red squirrel video on our blog). These can be seen in the garden throughout the year. A network of paths and strategically placed seating makes it easy for guests to enjoy the garden. Loads more images on our blog.