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Iwan and Manuela Wirth with two dogs in the woods Exterior of the Fife Arms hotel looking down on to the Clunie Water The entrance to the garden from the Fife Arms hotel A river winds through a rocky shoreline surrounded by dense green trees, with mountains rising in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
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A corner of a bed with a bedside table, lamp and red furnishings
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The entrance and chalkboard menu at Gordon's Tea Room Elsa's Cocktail Bar during the day, a large window in the centre, pink bar stools on the right next to the cocktail bar. A waitress shaking up a cocktail in Elsa's Cocktail Bar A Sunday roast on a table at The Clunie Dining Room A dram of whisky in Bertie's Whisky Bar
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A painting by Lucien Freud hung on an orange wall in the hotel reception The Richard Jackson 'Red Deer Chandelier' on view in the hotel reception A landscape drawing by James Prosek who was one of our first artists in residence Circle Of Pieter Brueghel The Younger (1564 – 1636) in painted room with tables and chairs
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A wild swimmer in the river Dee A Birdseye view of the river dee in Braemar, Aberdeenshire
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Drone shot of the exterior of the fife arms hotel, with mountains in the background
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The entrance to the garden from the Fife Arms hotel

The Garden

The Fife Arms garden was designed by Jinny Blom, a Chelsea Flower Show medallist who has also created gardens for HM King Charles III and Laurent Perrier. Her graceful design is an extension of the landscape seen beyond the hotel, including native trees and plants such as birch, rowan, azaleas and rhododendrons. A colourful wild flower meadow sits at the bottom of the garden, where guests can sit and enjoy the mountain views and sounds of the River Clunie.

Jenny Blom leading a tour of the Fife Arms garden
The steps down from the hotel into the garden
A path leading through the garden
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Designing the Garden

First ideas for the garden began with the view out towards the hills from the broad bay window of the Fife’s dining room. Here, one looks out to the rear garden and the River Clunie, but also to the long view of the Cairngorms. Accentuating this view, while connecting the garden to the Highland landscape, became Blom’s key priority for the design.

Referencing the ‘banks and braes’ of Royal Deeside, as well as the Victorian passion for rock gardens, Blom created pathways winding through a collection of drumlins that echo the shape of the hills beyond. The rugged but inviting informality of the design speaks of both the Highlands and the Victorian love of Alpine-inspired escapes, while protecting the open vista that carries the eye up to the hills and forests.

Wildflowers in the Fife Arms garden
The garden in autumn
The side of the hotel viewed through the garden
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Planting the Garden

The choice of every plant in the Fife Arms garden has meaning, with Blom curating a mixture of native Scottish classics and some exotic favourites that were introduced by the high Victorian plant hunters.

There is a single Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) complemented by downy birch (Betula pubescens) and rowan (Sorbus aucuparia). Bog myrtle, scented rhododendron, Himalayan cowslip and evergreen ferns create a collection of textures that carry throughout the year, but come alive with colour in the autumn, one of the greatest seasons in the Highlands.

The Heart of the Highlands

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The Fife Arms sauna located on the ground floor of the Albamhor Treatment Rooms

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