Garden experts help billionaire realise vision for castle home

SCOTLAND'S richest man is celebrating the completion of his showpiece and most exclusive garden a project seven years in the making and costing £1 million.

- By Mike Merritt

Billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen does not do things by halves.

When he celebrated his 50th birthday at the castle he flew in music legend Lionel Richie.

The green oasis he has created at Aldourie Castle on the banks of Loch Ness will sadly be seen by the public only on one day each year as part of Scotland’s Garden Scheme.

Povlsen chose the doyen of landscape designers, Tom Stuart-Smith, a ten-times Chelsea gold award winner who has also spread his magic at Windsor Castle and Chatsworth House.

Stuart-Smith in turn chose an unassuming Scot to become the head gardener.

Lured

Elliott Forsyth was once a weapons technician at RAF Leuchars in Fife.

But seeking a major change in direction he became a student of horticulture and had a spell at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. Before being lured to Aldourie he was head gardener at the Cambo estate in Fife for 18 years and lead horticulturist at the Kernel Urban Farm at the St Andrews Botanical Garden.

Forsyth has overseen the realisation of Stuart-Smith’s designs for the 500 acres.

The results are stunning over 40 Beech topiary standing like sentinels.