Established in 1670, on an area the size of a tennis court, the Garden consists now of over 70 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. The amazing Glasshouse Experience comprises ten glasshouses, all with their own fascination. The garden features Britain's tallest palm house, the elegant Temperate Palm House, and its neighbour, the Tropical Palm House. There is an Alpine House and an astonishingly long Herbaceous Border of 165 metres which contrasts with the Winter Garden displaying plants that are at their best at the opposite end of the year.

The magnificent Woodland Gardens and arboretum hold nearly 2,000 specimens generally grouped into major genera and including groves of oak, limes, maples and rowans as well as a conifer collection and major groupings of rhododendrons, magnolias and eucryphias. There is also a Demonstration Garden, a Heath Garden, a Peat Garden, Azalea and Pond lawns, the Pringle Chinese collection and not least the Rock Garden, often considered to be the best in the world, whose diverse habitats and clever cultivation supports more than 5,000 high mountain, arctic and mediterranean species. From its top, magnificent views of Edinburgh can be enjoyed.