英国 达维克植物园 Dawyck Botanic Garden – 英国皇家爱丁堡植物园旗下五星树木园

“英国达维克植物园” DAWYCK BOTANIC GARDEN 是一家五星级花园，以季节性展示雪花莲、风铃草、杜鹃花、蓝色罂粟和秋色而闻名。占地 65 英亩的达维克位于苏格兰边界的丘陵地带，属于上特威德河谷 Upper Tweed Valley 国家风景区，呈现出近乎大陆性的气候——夏季温暖干燥，冬季寒冷多雪。来自欧洲、中国、尼泊尔、日本和北美山区的植物在这里繁盛，许多都是最早被引入苏格兰的样本。

达维克是英国皇家爱丁堡植物园 Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh（RBGE）旗下四座花园之一，与本园和 Benmore、Logan 一起被列为区域花园（Regional Garden）。整片园林被列入苏格兰历史环境局 Historic Environment Scotland 维护的“苏格兰花园与设计景观登记册 Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland”，登记号 GDL00134，1987 年 7 月 1 日登录，最近一次修订为 2011 年 6 月 30 日。达维克也是英国首家获得 VisitScotland 五星评级的花园（2008 年 9 月），并是英国首家碳中和植物园。

历史沿革

达维克的成园史可追溯到 13 至 17 世纪的 Veitch 家族。1650 年他们在庄园内种下苏格兰最早的几株欧洲七叶树 Aesculus hippocastanum（其中两株存活至 1932 年），1680 年又种下园中最古老的一株银冷杉 Abies alba，至今仍立于 Heron Wood 边缘。1691 年 Veitch 家族因债务将庄园售予律师 Sir James Naesmyth，Naesmyth 家族在此经营了 200 余年。Sir John Murray Naesmyth 资助了包括大卫·道格拉斯 David Douglas（1799–1834）在内的多位植物猎人的考察——园内现存的最高 Douglas fir 即被认为来自道格拉斯 1835 年前后带回的种子。1725 年 Naesmyth 家族种下欧洲落叶松 Larix decidua（三株仍存活），1860 年庄园内首次发现一株塔形欧洲山毛榉，后以“达维克山毛榉 Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck’”的名字传遍世界。

1897 年 Alexander Balfour 遗孀购入达维克。其子 F.R.S. Balfour（卒于 1945 年）是著名的林学家、苗圃主和收藏家，曾订阅 Ernest Wilson 在中国西部和远东的考察，把大量杜鹃花、花楸 Sorbus、栒子 Cotoneaster、槭属 Acer 和桦木 Betula 引入园中。1968 年 1 月的一场飓风横扫苏格兰南部，重创庄园林地，1973 年又遭风暴和严寒，修复费用高昂。1978 年（另记 1979 年）F.R.S. Balfour 之子 Lt Col Alastair Balfour 将树木园捐赠国家，移交爱丁堡皇家植物园管理。达维克教堂（1837 年建）和小教堂所在的小片土地保留为私人使用，对外开放的是树木园本体。1984 年正式对公众开放，2008 年新访客中心落成——同年获得 VisitScotland 五星评级。1993 年建立的 Heron Wood 保护区是世界上第一个保护苔藓、地衣、真菌和藻类的“真菌植物”保护区 cryptogamic sanctuary。

花园特色与季节

达维克面积约 25 公顷（62 英亩），由 Scrape Burn 一条天然小溪纵贯，从南向北穿过山谷汇入特威德河，沿途形成多样的小气候。两条主题步道串起主要景点：

• 遗产树木：园内最古老的一株是 1680 年种下的银冷杉 Abies alba，高约 35 米；1725 年的欧洲落叶松、1835 年前后由道格拉斯引入的花旗松 Pseudotsuga menziesii、1908 年起 Balfour 家族从美国 Siskiyou 山脉移栽的布鲁尔氏云杉 Picea breweriana、1860 年首次发现的塔形达维克山毛榉 Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck’ 共同组成了“苏格兰遗产树”中最具历史感的一组。
• 杜鹃花露台 Azalea Terrace：五月至六月盛放的杜鹃花与落叶杜鹃，让这条历史性露台成为色彩最浓烈的季节地标。
• 蓝色罂粟：Meconopsis 喜马拉雅蓝罂粟和由本地一株自然杂交种培育出的 ‘Slieve Donard’ 沿 Scrape Burn 形成壮观的蓝色地毯，6 月初树冠下尤为突出。
• Heron Wood 真菌植物保护区：1993 年设立的 3.5 公顷（7.5 英亩）保护区，园方与 RBGE 真菌研究团队在此长期记录苔藓、地衣和真菌——RBGE 是全球这一领域的研究重镇。
• 雪花莲 Galanthus：每年 2 月覆盖 Scrape Burn 河岸。
• 风铃草和秋色：春季蓝铃花 Bluebell 漫山，秋季各种花楸、桦木、落叶松把山谷染成深红与金色。

园中超过 80 种杜鹃花，下层是蕨类、报春和低矮的多年生植物。新种区域按植物地理学分为欧洲、中国、日本、喜马拉雅四个区，与 RBGE 历次海外考察（1989 年尼泊尔干城章嘉、1990 年云南、1991 年马卡鲁、2001 年尼泊尔中部、2003 年日本北部、2004 年尼泊尔昆布等）的引种记录一一对应。RBGE 自 1991 年起运行的“国际针叶树保护计划 International Conifer Conservation Programme (ICCP)”在达维克建有水杉 Metasequoia 和西西里冷杉 Abies nebrodensis 等濒危物种的繁育区。

访客与开放

达维克位于苏格兰边界 Peebles 西南 8 英里处的 Stobo 村，从爱丁堡出发沿 B712 公路南行约 28 英里可到。每年 2 月 1 日至 11 月 30 日对公众开放，2023 年接待 40,000 余名访客，是 1978 年移交国家以来最繁忙的一季。园内提供主题步道（含“道格拉斯植物猎人小径”）、咖啡厅、纪念品店和无障碍设施。访客中心为 2008 年新建，2008 年同时为达维克赢得 VisitScotland 五星评级奠定基础；2014 年 5 月园方沿 Scrape Burn 投运 11 千瓦小型水力发电站，多余电力并入国家电网，达维克成为英国首家碳中和植物园。访客可加入 RBGE 会员计划以支持四座花园的保育和科研工作。

Dawyck Botanic Garden is a five-star arboretum in the Upper Tweed Valley, Scottish Borders, renowned for its seasonal displays of snowdrops, bluebells, rhododendrons, blue poppies and autumn colour. Covering 65 acres within a National Scenic Area, the garden enjoys an almost continental climate—warm, dry summers and cold, snowy winters—which suits plants from the mountains of Europe, China, Nepal, Japan and western North America. Many of Dawyck’s specimens were among the first of their kind to be introduced to Scotland.

Dawyck is one of four gardens operated by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), alongside the Edinburgh garden, Benmore and Logan. The wider designed landscape is included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland maintained by Historic Environment Scotland (designation GDL00134, designated 1 July 1987, last amended 30 June 2011). Dawyck was the first garden visitor attraction in Scotland to be awarded five stars by VisitScotland (September 2008) and is the first carbon-neutral botanic garden in the UK.

History

The Veitch family held the Dawyck estate from the 13th to the late 17th century. In 1650 they planted Scotland’s first horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum), two of which survived until 1932, and in 1680 they established the European silver fir (Abies alba) that still stands on the edge of Heron Wood and remains the garden’s oldest tree. In 1691 John Veitch sold the estate to Sir James Naesmyth; the Naesmyths continued Dawyck’s tradition of being among the first to introduce new species, including European larch (Larix decidua) in 1725, Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) in 1742, black poplar (Populus nigra var. italica) in 1765, sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in 1754 and white spruce (Picea glauca) in 1759. The family also subscribed to David Douglas and Thomas Lobb, and at least two of the surviving Douglas firs are thought to date from Douglas introductions around 1835. The fastigiate Dawyck beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck’) was first noticed on the estate in 1860 and is the source of every clonal specimen now grown worldwide under that name.

Mrs Alexander Balfour acquired Dawyck in 1897. Her son F.R.S. Balfour (d. 1945), forester, nurseryman and plant collector, subscribed to Ernest Wilson’s expeditions to China and brought in rhododendrons, rowans, cotoneasters, maples and birches that still shape today’s garden. A hurricane-force gale in January 1968 and a further storm with severe frost in 1973 devastated the plantations. In 1978 (with some sources citing 1979) Lt Col Alastair Balfour, son of F.R.S. Balfour, gifted the arboretum to the nation; the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh took on management and Dawyck opened to the public for the first time in 1984. A new visitor centre opened in 2008, the same year Dawyck received its VisitScotland five-star rating. The Heron Wood Reserve was established in 1993 as the world’s first cryptogamic sanctuary, dedicated to mosses, liverworts, lichens, fungi and algae.

Garden features and seasonal highlights

About 25 hectares (62 acres) of designed landscape are open to the public, with the natural watercourse of the Scrape Burn running through the glen. Themed walks link the principal collections:

• Heritage trees: the 1680 silver fir (Abies alba), the 1725 European larch (Larix decidua), towering Douglas firs, Brewer’s weeping spruce (Picea breweriana) introduced by F.R.S. Balfour from the Siskiyou Mountains in 1908, and the Dawyck beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Dawyck’)—together forming one of the most historically continuous tree collections in Scotland.
• Azalea Terrace: a blaze of colour in May and June when the azaleas and deciduous rhododendrons flower.
• Meconopsis: Himalayan blue poppies, including the locally selected Meconopsis ‘Slieve Donard’, create blue carpets along the streamside from late spring.
• Heron Wood cryptogamic sanctuary: 3.5 hectares (7.5 acres) of unkept woodland dedicated to mosses, liverworts, lichens, fungi and algae, one of the best-documented sites in Britain.
• Snowdrops (Galanthus): cover the banks of the Scrape Burn in February.
• Bluebells and autumn colour: drifts of bluebells in spring; rowans, birches and larches turn deep red and gold in autumn.

The collection today includes more than 80 species of rhododendron, plantings organised by geographic origin (Europe, China, Japan, the Himalayas), and conservation stands developed under RBGE’s International Conifer Conservation Programme (ICCP, established 1991), including dawn redwood (Metasequoia) and Sicilian fir (Abies nebrodensis). Dawyck has contributed to RBGE-led expeditions to the Kanchenjunga region of eastern Nepal (1989), Yunnan (1990, 1995, 1996 onwards), Makalu (1991), Sichuan (1991), central Nepal (2001), northern Japan (2003) and the Khumbu region of Nepal (2004).

Visitor information

Dawyck lies eight miles south-west of Peebles in the parish of Stobo, Scottish Borders, 28 miles south of Edinburgh on the B712. The garden is open daily from 1 February to 30 November. The 2008 visitor centre underpins the VisitScotland five-star experience. An 11 kW hydro-electric scheme on the Scrape Burn, commissioned in May 2014, makes Dawyck the first carbon-neutral botanic garden in the UK, and the Garden now holds a Gold Award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme. The Garden offers themed tree trails, the David Douglas plant-hunter walk, a café, a shop and accessibility services. Visitors can support all four RBGE gardens through the RBGE membership scheme.

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