Return to Scotsman's Garden: Where 'Beyond the Garden Gate' was Filmed

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the property where I filmed my award-winning nature film, Beyond the Garden Gate. It has been a decade since I left my little home in the cottage there. I noticed that the current owners were having a yard sale as I drove back from a nature trail in Brentsville. So I pulled over, introduced myself....and the memories instantly came flooding back.

Though the garden was a bit overgrown--it always was hard to maintain--the current owners love the place. They even introduced me to a nest of owls that have made their home there for several years. I was able to take both pictures and video of one of the adults in a tree right above my old cottage. Here he/she is!

In addition to the video I shot there back in 1998-1999, I still have thousands and thousands of still photos. I will share a few here:

There were many dogs on the property when I lived there. This is Clyde, a boisterous and attention-demanding Golden Retriever. There was also a black lab, Sadie, another black lab, Bonnie, a Doberman named Bobo (short for Beauregard Lexington), and a couple of Gordon Setters. Plus three cats, two macaws, turkeys, pheasants, peacocks, geese--and that doesn't even include all the natural wildlife! You can see a lot of the creatures in the video.

This is John, the man who laboriously built the garden and added on to the house. It was rare to see him resting. When he moved here back in the 70s, it was just the house, cottage, the large oak tree in the center of the property, and a field of cows nearby. That is now a new development. John is Scottish with a thick accent, and thus we referred to the garden as Scotsman's Garden. John currently lives in Bent Mountain, Virginia.

Here is one of many shots of the large oak tree in the center of the property. It really is quite gigantic, and thank god for the shade it provided. This was taken during a beautiful and colorful sunset. In the video you will see several shots of the tree as the camera maneuvers around the garden with a steadicam device.

The pathway leading from the house to one of the many sections of the garden. I filmed a ton of birds, frogs, you name it along this sidewalk. It was common to see several large pots of plants lining the perimeters of walkways. Elephant ears, day lilies, even carnivorous pitcher plants. Oh, and several hundred orchids hung outside during the summer months.

There's an entire song dedicated to the insects on the property in my film. I've only seen four walking stick bugs in my life, and one of them was crawling on the back door of my cottage one day. You can see it in the demo clip for Beyond the Garden Gate. At night, orb weaver spiders made giant webs between low tree branches. I hated walking to the back field to let the geese in after dark. I'd use my tennis racket to knock through the webs.

Here's me filming daffodils at the base of the oak tree, circa 1999. I'm glad I retired that shirt to Goodwill. I still have the Sony TRV900 camera, and it still shoots great video. I've upgraded to high definition video for my next video project, though. It will be a series of nature vignettes entitled "Natural Moments." And, the owners have asked me to return to film more of the owls. What a nice gesture, and how cool to have that be a part of my new work!

Before I left, I discovered this rock they were selling at the yard sale. It used to be in front of my cottage within a small garden of its own. The owners let me have it. Here it is way back then.

Lastly, enjoy this interactive map I created of the property back when I filmed Beyond the Garden Gate. Click on the red dots to see small pictures of each location. Enjoy!

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