Objective expertise for exceptional landscapes.

Think of a horticultural consultant as a structural surveyor, but for your living landscape. We don't bring the mowers or plant the borders. Instead, we provide independent, high level expertise needed to manage a complex estate effectively. Our job is to step back and look at the bigger picture, diagnosing plant health issues, assessing plant risks, and creating long term strategies for historic restoration. And because we don't sell plants, machinery, or maintenance contracts, our advice is entirely objective. We simply give you the clear, scientific facts and the practical guidance needed to protect your landscape and budget

MacDonald Horticultural Consultancy works with historic estates, country houses, significant rural properties and commercial land assets managed by agents such as Savills or Bell Ingram. My services are designed for complex landscapes that require objective, specialist input, whether that's plant health assessment, heritage restoration planning or operational oversight.

I'm based in the Scottish Highlands and work primarily across northern and central Scotland. For specialist projects biosecurity, landscape assessments or estate operational reviews, I'm available to work with properties across Scotland and beyond.

Plant health diagnostics is the systematic assessment of a landscape's biological condition. Many serious threats, fungal pathogens, pest pressure, structural decline aren't visible until significant damage has already occurred. Early diagnosis protects your landscape and avoids the considerable costs associated with statutory plant health notices or emergency clearance work. Prevention is almost always less expensive than cure.

My fees are strictly for independent expertise, I don't sell plants, materials or machinery, which means my advice is always objective. Depending on the project I work on either a day rate for site visits and diagnostics, or a fixed project fee for comprehensive assessments and longer term planning. All costs are discussed and agreed transparently before any work begins.

All client information, site assessments and project details are treated with complete discretion. I do not discuss, share or reference client work without explicit permission. Reports and correspondence remain strictly confidential. Where requested, I'm happy to sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to any site visit or consultation.