Wellingtonias are well represented in Perthshire. There are two magnificent specimens, planted in the mid 19th century, at Cluny , the exciting woodland garden high above the north bank of the Tay. A little further south is the hundred feet tall Meikleour Beech Hedge . This runs for a quarter of a mile beside the main road from Perth to Braemar. It was planted in 1746 to give shelter to the big house with a wall to protect it, but the men involved were called away to fight at Culloden, and did not return.
Some rumours say that, as a result, the hedge grew towards the heavens.
In the 18th century local landowners, aware of severe deforestation, planted huge numbers of trees, both in their policies, and over the hillsides. The 19th century saw planting of some of the finest new introductions, with those from America's northwest coast thriving better in Perthshire than anywhere else in Britain.