Linn Botanic Gardens

📌 Cove, Argyll & Bute
★★

Fans of perfectly tended, formal gardens look away now… Linn Botanic Gardens on the peaceful Rosneath Peninsula may have been immaculate once upon a time, but more recently nature seems to have had the upper hand. But there’s still beauty in these bushes if you’re patient enough to overlook overgrown paths and untidy borders. On our 2018 visit, a map leaflet and 50 numbered waymarkers guided us around the varied landscape, taking in a glen and waterfall, bamboo garden, ponds, Alpine lawn and rhododendron plantings surrounding a dilapidated old villa – though following the correct route wasn’t always straightforward. Since 2021, new owners have been renovating the villa and garden, and we’re hopeful that these new sets of green fingers might transform the place.