The Douglas Fir at Scone Palace

The Douglas fir is named after a gardener born in this village, and Scone Palace says this tree was raised from the first seed he sent home from North America. David Douglas was born in Scone in 1799 and worked as an under-gardener in the palace grounds before moving on to Glasgow Botanic Gardens and then the Royal Horticultural Society. The palace dates that seed to 1826. Wikipedia and other references put his introduction of the species to Britain in 1827. Either way, the palace says the tree was raised from that seed, which tells you where it came from rather than the year it went into the ground. Its age is somewhere under two centuries, not a known number. The palace prizes it for its size. What we have not found is a published girth or height from a source we could read. If you know one, tell us. It was photographed in May 2025 and posted as the Famous Scone Palace Douglas Fir, so the tree stands and the reputation holds. It is not the only conifer of its kind here. The 4th Earl of Mansfield gathered a Pinetum of rare conifers in the same grounds in the 19th century, and Douglas firs grow there too, so ask at the palace if you are unsure which tree is the one. The gardens and grounds of Scone Palace, just outside Perth, charge for entry, and the palace's own website gives the opening times and prices.