Làrach Mòr is a garden in

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

, in the western

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

of Scotland. It lies east of

Arisaig Arisaig () is a village in Lochaber, Inverness-shire. It lies south of Mallaig on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, within the Rough Bounds. Arisaig is also the traditional name for part of the surrounding peninsula south of Loch Mor ...

, in the crook of a bend in the A830. It was developed during the 20th century as a collection of

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

s, and is included in the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

, the national listing of significant gardens.

History

Làrach Mòr is on the Arisaig Estate, traditionally the land of the Macdonalds of Clanranald. In the 19th century the site was an orchard and kitchen garden, part of the grounds of Glen House, located around to the south. Glen House was designed by

James Gillespie Graham James Gillespie Graham (11 June 1776 – 21 March 1855) was a Scottish architect, prominent in the early 19th century. Much of his work was Scottish baronial in style. A prominent example is Ayton Castle. He also worked in the Gothic Revival ...

for the Chief of Clanranald in 1819, but was demolished in 1864, leaving only an earlier laird's house. In 1927 a wealthy Glasgow businessman, John Augustus Holms (1866–1938), took a lease on of land on the estate. His purpose was to develop his collection of Rhododendrons, which he had built up at Formakin House in Renfrewshire from the early 1920s. A keen gardener, Holms was a founder member of the Rhododendron Society, and his collection began to outgrow the space available at Formakin. The woodland site at Làrach Mòr was ideal in its climate and setting for the cultivation of Rhododendrons. He began by transplanting specimens from Formakin, and adding new plants with the ultimate aim of assembling an example of every species then available in Britain. Holms kept a detailed catalogue of each plant and its provenance, with corresponding labels attached to the specimens. He created shelter through plantings of

Western Hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the northwest coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

and

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

, and established other flowering plants such as ''

Embothrium ''Embothrium'' is a genus of two to eight species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) in the plant family Proteaceae, native to southern South America, in Chile and adjacent western Argentina; the genus occurs as far south as Tierra del Fue ...

'', ''

Gevuina ''Gevuina avellana'', commonly known as the Chilean hazelnut ( in Spanish) or Gevuina hazelnut, is an evergreen tree growing up to 20 meters (65 feet) tall. It is the only species currently classified in the genus ''Gevuina''. It is native to s ...

'', ''

Weinmannia ''Weinmannia'' is a genus of trees and shrubs in the family Cunoniaceae. It contains 90 species, which range from Mexico through Central and South America including the Caribbean, and to the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius and Réunion) in the weste ...

'', ''

Lomatia ''Lomatia'' is a genus of 12 species of evergreen flowering plants in the protea family Proteaceae. Within the family, they have been placed, alone, in their own subtribe, Lomatiinae according to Johnson & Briggs 1975 classification of the fami ...

'', ''

Cunninghamia ''Cunninghamia'' is a genus of one or two living species of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae. They are native to China, northern Vietnam and Laos, and perhaps also Cambodia. They may reach in height. In vernacular us ...

'' and ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

''. Holms began work on redeveloping a cottage on the site, employing architect

Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, Order of the British Empire, KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scotland, Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles, f ...

who had designed Formakin House. On Holms' death in 1938, the house remained incomplete, but the Rhododendron collection included some 200 species. A sale of plants took place in 1939, leading to the partial dispersal of the collection. John Brennan, one of Holms' gardeners, continued to maintain the remaining plants, living in a

bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

on site until 1959. From the 1960s, management has been renewed. In 2003, the "outstanding horticultural interest" of the collection was recognised through inclusion in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes.

References

External links

Photos tagged with Larach Mor
Flickr * https://larachmhor.co.uk/ official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Larach Mor Gardens in Highland (council area) Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Lochaber