Meet Dougal Philip and Lesley Watson from New Hopetoun Gardens
April 4th 2016DSG Garden Expert Profile for New Hopetoun Gardens
Husband and wife team, Dougal Philip and Lesley Watson, own and run New Hopetoun Gardens and plants are their passion! The garden centre has 20 small themed demonstration gardens designed by Lesley and Dougal to inspire, entertain and help their customers to choose the best plants for their gardens first time and every time. Their team at New Hopetoun Gardens include several other plant and gardening experts as well so there is always someone on duty to advise visitors.
Dougal and Lesley are both senior RHS judges of Show Gardens as well as garden designers themselves. Lesley was a Beechgrove Garden presenter for 16 years and Dougal was a Council Member of the Royal Horticultural Society for 10 years. Their own private garden is a laboratory for their ideas and new plants and one of their priorities for their garden and for those that they design is that the views of the garden from the house are very important. This is especially important when the weather doesn’t encourage you outside, or during the long winter nights when exterior lighting can ‘bring’ the garden inside.
The plants that they offer for sale have got to be ‘garden worthy’. This means they must earn their place in your garden and also be tough enough to grow well in Eastern Scotland. This year they are promoting dwarf plants to be used in Miniature and Fairy Gardens to satisfy the growing enthusiasm for Miniature Gardening in the UK. They are also promoting House Plants for Health and Style in your home. There is resurgence in using houseplants to add style and bring life to our homes and also an awareness of the health benefits of living with houseplants. Many will remove contaminants from the air we breathe as well as having a calming and possibly a spiritual uplift to our wellbeing!
