St Andrews Botanic Garden

The gardens were founded by the University of St Andrews in 1889 on a different site within the grounds of St Mary's College. The principal founder was the botanist Dr John Hardie Wilson. The early site consisted of 78 similar beds laid out according to the Bentham and Hooker system of plant classification. The valuable town centre site grew in size from 0.1 to, and in the early 1960s the present site, which was then agricultural land, was bought to allow for future development. The new site was laid out to a design meant to mitigate the Scottish climate with a dense barrier of pine trees along the western edge, and many shrubs and understory trees around the site to give additional shelter.