Want The Traitors’ Castle Look In Your Garden? 7 Ways To Create A Dramatic Stately Home Aesthetic At Home

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Amateur Gardening has published seven ideas for recreating a dramatic stately-home aesthetic in a home garden after The Traitors returned to television. Its suggestions include trained climbers, repeated planting, tidy hedges, water features and a firepit; the look depends on upkeep as well as design.

Amateur Gardening has published seven ideas for giving a home garden a dramatic stately-home look inspired by The Traitors, whose filming estate, Ardross Castle, is in the Scottish Highlands. The suggestions range from planting climbers and repeating flower varieties to maintaining crisp hedges, adding a pond or water feature, and creating a firepit gathering area.

The advice centres on shaping the garden into distinct, carefully maintained areas rather than relying on a single statement plant. Pim Dickson, a senior horticulturist at Fothergill’s, told Amateur Gardening that climbers trained over fences, walls, arches or trellis can create boundaries while adding height and softening hard surfaces with flowers and foliage. The report names sweet peas, including High Scent and Tall Mixed, as options that can grow to about 180 centimetres on supports.

For a more formal layout, Dickson recommends planting lavender in repeated blocks or alongside a path, then placing taller flowers toward the back of borders. Delphiniums can add height through grouped flower spikes, while hollyhocks can reach about 240 centimetres and provide a natural screen. The report also suggests foxgloves for partially shaded or woodland-style areas and near ponds.

Repetition and pruning are presented as key to the look: use a limited selection of plants in groups, favour deep purples, rich pinks, whites and green foliage, and keep paths and borders defined. The remaining ideas are to maintain clear-looking pond water, consider weathered reclaimed materials for water features, and set an oversized firepit within stone or brick paving with seating around it.

Design Ideas That Depend on Upkeep

The report translates a television setting into practical choices for domestic gardens, including smaller spaces. Repeated planting, vertical climbers and clearly defined borders can create structure without requiring an estate-sized plot, while a pond or firepit offers a more substantial focal point. The suggestions are design guidance, not a promise that a particular plant or feature will reproduce Ardross Castle’s appearance.

The article also stresses that the effect depends on regular maintenance. Dickson advises pruning little and often so hedges and shrubs do not become overgrown; clean-looking water and defined edges contribute to the polished finish. That means the ideas involve ongoing work and, for larger features such as ponds or firepits, decisions about space, installation and safe use.

Ardross Castle Behind the Screen

The source identifies Ardross Castle as the filming location for The Traitors. It describes the property as a 19th-century estate in the Scottish Highlands, beside the River Alness and about 30 miles north of Inverness. The programme’s return to television prompted renewed interest in its imposing setting and gardens, according to Amateur Gardening.

The article’s seven approaches are gardening suggestions rather than details about the castle’s planting plan. It does not establish that the plants or features it recommends are used at Ardross Castle; they are offered as ways for readers to pursue a similar formal, dramatic style at home.

““Flowering climbers are useful for this as they can introduce height and soften hard boundaries with foliage and flowers.””

— Pim Dickson, senior horticulturist at Fothergill’s, quoted by Amateur Gardening

What the Garden Guide Does Not Specify

The source presents general design recommendations, not a complete planting or construction plan. It does not give budgets, installation costs, exact dimensions for ponds or firepits, or a maintenance schedule for each plant. Its plant-height figures are approximate, and results will depend on growing conditions and care.

The article also does not provide detailed guidance on firepit safety, pond installation, or whether particular plants are suitable for every household. Readers would need to check growing requirements and follow relevant product instructions and local safety guidance before adding features.

Putting the Seven Ideas to Work

Amateur Gardening’s report offers suggestions rather than announcing a product, project or follow-up event. Readers can adapt the ideas to their space, beginning with boundaries and repeated planting before considering larger additions such as a pond or firepit. The source recommends checking suitable plants and supports with a garden retailer or horticultural adviser, and maintaining hedges, shrubs and water features over time.

No further development is specified in the source. Any new guidance, costs or practical safety details would need to come from additional reporting or from the relevant suppliers and local authorities.

Key Questions

What are the seven garden ideas inspired by The Traitors?

The report recommends creating boundaries with climbers, adding tall flowers, making formal borders, repeating a limited range of plants, pruning regularly, adding a pond or water feature, and creating a firepit gathering area.

Which flowers does the article suggest?

It names sweet peas, lavender, delphiniums, hollyhocks and foxgloves. Sweet peas can be trained on supports, lavender can be planted in repeated blocks, and taller varieties can add height toward the back of borders.

Does the report say these plants grow at Ardross Castle?

No. It identifies Ardross Castle as The Traitors’ filming location but presents the plants as suggestions for readers seeking a similar style. It does not say they are planted at the castle.

What is the main maintenance advice?

Horticulturist Pim Dickson advises pruning hedges and shrubs regularly, rather than waiting until they are overgrown. The report also says that keeping pond water clear helps a water feature reflect its surroundings.

Source: rss