Outdoors: House of Dun and Montrose Basin Nature Reserve, Montrose

A glance at the list of informal, child-oriented and community-based events at Dun, including snowdrop teas and a Mother's Day lunch with free entry to the house for all mums, reinforces the point.

Sited in a designed landscape with uninterrupted views of the Basin of Montrose, where 40 per cent of the land surrounding the basin is still under the ownership of Dun, the house and garden are testimony to centuries of ownership by the Erskine family.

Bought by Sir Robert Erskine in 1375, the property remained in the family's possession for 600 years until it was gifted to the Trust by the last laird of Dun, Mrs Millicent Lovett, nee Erskine, in 1980.

By the time the Trust took over, the garden had evolved into an elegant layout of terraces complemented by a sheltered walled garden and an informal woodland garden, host to drifts of snowdrops.

Approached along a drive that runs between fields, the house is anchored to the immediate landscape by an impressive avenue of 14 Wellingtonia, reputed to have been among the first to be grown from seed imported to Scotland in the mid-19th century.

The garden is entered through the old courtyard, where an elevated game larder is enclosed by weeping ash and pleached limes. This scheme, McKenna explains, is "a clever example of our forefathers working with nature.

Weeping ash was grafted to standard ash to form a covering over the game larder, thus cooling the contents. The pleached limes surrounding the larder are insect repellent, once again protecting the game larder."

At the heart of the garden is the iconic symmetrical stone staircase, flanked by a wrought iron balustrade, which sweeps down from the grand saloon in a generous curve towards a rich, semi-circular box-hedged parterre below.

A central gravel path draws your eye forward, along the flights of stone steps that link the terraces towards the sundial, over the ha-ha and on towards the basin where thousands of pink-footed geese spend the winter.

Although exact details of the garden's development are lost, the pleasingly symmetrical walks edged with stone balustrades and the terraces are reputed to have been laid out around 1830 by Lady Augusta FitzClarence, the daughter of the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV, and his longterm mistress, the actress Mrs Jordan.

"This year there are plans to introduce a formal croquet lawn," McKenna says. "We believe this will be the first time croquet has been played on this lawn for over 100 years - the game was once an integral part of the family's enjoyment of the gardens."

Lady Augusta is also recognised as having contributed to the walled garden, which has seen many changes of use. Used to exercise horses and rear pheasants until the NTS took possession and based their restoration on a Victorian photograph, the layout consists of a series of rounded and teardrop beds framed by a wide perimeter border.

Designed to peak in summer, plants include peonies and roses as well as Achillea and penstemon. The display starts cautiously in late winter with bulbs including a striking display of dark blue Iris reticulata, Tete a Tete daffodils and an impressive Garrya eliptica covering the entrance wall.

These are followed by a selection of violas, wallflowers and plenty of bulbs including tulips, fritillaria and white Star of Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum. The south-facing wall is host to tender varieties including pineapple broom, Cytisus battandieri and plenty of wisteria and honeysuckle while, on the outside of the same wall, varieties of Scottish apple trees have been espaliered.

Framed by steep, snowdrop-covered banks, the woodland garden to the east of the house presents a striking contrast to the formal garden. Here, planting of now-mature beech and oak is reputed to have started in the early 18th century, under the influence of the 11th and 12th lairds.

"Sadly, Dutch elm disease resulted in the loss of more than 400 elms," says McKenna. "The National Trust for Scotland used this as an opportunity to restock the hardwoods within the den with a staggering 5,000 saplings."

Lady Augusta's Walk leads first through her rockery assembled from plants she gathered by the wayside, and then on down to the Mill Bridge over the dramatic, cascading burn.

The network of paths is framed by endless snowdrops, which have been quietly spreading under the trees and shrubs for more than four centuries - time enough for them to establish themselves and develop into the glorious picture they present today when combined with informal shrubs, plantings of mahonia, rhododendrons, holly, banks of ferns and carpets of pulmonaria.

Winter aconites spread out under the trees and later there will be plenty of purple crocus.

When you consider that only two full-time gardeners manage more than 300 acres of policies, the results are truly remarkable. Both McKenna and Shanks stress that this would be impossible without the help of the NTS's volunteer programme.

Last year Kathi Strzeletz, an undergraduate from Germany, reinterpreted the pathway network in the woodland garden. While joining her at work on the paths, Dutch volunteer Wessel Hartman also helped restore the original rockery, which is now open to the public. "We have been really successful in attracting volunteers from all over Europe," says McKenna. "Some come to expand their skills in an estate garden, while for others their time spent here forms part of their degree and work placement."

House of Dun and Montrose Basin Nature Reserve, Montrose, www.nts.org.uk/Property/32/ Gardens and woodland walks are open daily from dawn to dusk and the House of Dun reopens from 1 April.

This year's Snowdrop Festival will run from 1 February-15 March.

The Angus fundraising group for The National Trust for Scotland will hold an afternoon tea on 6 March from 2pm-4pm. Tel: 0844 493214 for more information.

This article was first published in The Scotsman, 05 February, 2011