Traquair grounds and woodlands

A Designed Landscape

The natural beauty of Traquair’s grounds are a perfect complement to the intimate nature of the house. There are no formal gardens here but a designed landscape of over 100 acres including woodlands, grounds and a large hedged maze planted in 1981.

Woodlands

Traquair was originally built in part of the Ettrick Forest and today it continues to be surrounded by ancient woodlands and more recent plantings. Some of the oldest yew trees in Scotland can be found on a woodland walk as well as striking examples of Scots Pine, Douglas Fir, Horse Chestnut, Limes, Ash and Beech.

There are woodland trails around the house including Lady Louisa’s walk which takes you past the Quair water and on to the River Tweed.

The new Forest Garden is situated near the Walled Garden, currently in development to become a multi-use space designed to host workshops, produce edible and non-edible materials, enhance biodiversity, and to be beautiful space people can rest and enjoy.

Featured in 'The Secret Life of Trees'

Narrated by Michael Palin, this fascinating series follows the incredible lives of trees – from their beginning as tiny seeds through to magnificent giants and into old age, revealing the secrets of how they communicate, how they drink and even how some of the three trillion trees on our planet are as old as the pyramids.

Traquair’s ancient yew trees were featured in episode 3, aired 7th August 2025 9pm. Watch | Stream on 5

The Old Walled Garden & Cupid's Garden

The old walled garden is now mainly grassed over but with some surviving apple trees and a herbaceous border which has been developed here. It is situated next to the Café where you can eat outside in the summer. There is also a small pond and fountain and is popular venue for weddings and events.

At the south-east side of the house you will find Cupid’s Garden tucked away and where the planting theme is whites and greys. Near Cupid’s Garden there is the Croquet Lawn where a Heather Hut still stands, built in 1834. Croquet sets can be provided on request.

The Maze

The Maze is situated at the rear of the house where originally a par terre garden was laid out in the eighteenth century. The terrace walls provide an excellent vantage point for parents to try and direct their children out of the maze.

Designed by a Traquair craft worker, John Schofield, the maze has an intriguing layout with no dead ends and the visitor must reach four sub centres before coming to the centre.

The Hedge

Planted originally with 1500 Leylandi Cyprus trees the maze suffered from an extraordinarily harsh winter in 1983 when over two thirds of the trees died. It was decided to replant with the hardier beech trees which has added colour and interest to the maze.

The annual Easter Egg hunt on Easter Sunday is a magnet for children far and wide when over 6,000 mini eggs are planted in the maze for the under 10’s.

25th Anniversary

In 2006 the Maze celebrated its 25th anniversary. The first trees were planted by all the children at the Traquair Primary School and all were invited back to see how the maze had grown.

Through the years the maze has been a popular location used by film, TV and for advertising campaigns including a Bollywood production. Other unusual uses for the Maze have been as a romantic location for weddings and one enterprising gentleman popped the question to his girlfriend in the centre of the Maze and fireworks were programmed to go off and champagne delivered on a silver tray when she said yes – luckily all went to plan!

Wildlife & Other Animals

The woodlands are rich in birdlife as well as other wildlife including otters, deer and other small mammals. Red Squirrels have been sighted in 2013 and we hope they will continue to live here.

This year we are creating a year-round visual diary of the wildlife at Traquair. Read more about our Wildlife Wednesday and how you can get involved HERE

Other more domestic wildlife include Peacocks, ducks, rare breed poultry, kune kune pigs, pygmy goats and not forgetting the King Charles Spaniels, Delores and her daughter Delphi (born 2020).

Dogs are welcome in the grounds as long as they are on leads at all times. Please clean up after your dog.

Sauna and Foraging events

We are lucky to host Cedar Hus mobile sauna on occasion in the grounds of Traquair; a luxurious Nordic sauna available for private sessions.

Tweed Valley Wilding hosts foraging in the grounds, and wild swimming in the River Tweed. Featured on BBC’s ‘Jules and Greg’s Wild Swim’

Enjoy events with both sauna and wild swim! Take a look at the links below.

Evening Events Morning Retreats Forage in Nature Forage and Swim (no sauna)

Traquair Bioblitz

Each year, Traquair is hosting a weekend of surveying and recording as many species as possible within a 2km radius of Traquair. This will give us a snapshot of the biodiversity in the area that we can repeat annually to help us promote and protect our living natural environment.

We are joined by experts and enthusiasts from around 15 different organisations who will be recording everything from fungi to butterflies, moths, badgers, birds, insects and plants.

Read 2021’s findings HERE