The rock garden is sited on part of a former nine-hole golf course which was laid out after the Dundee to Aberdeen railway was built more than a century ago. Map

The garden was started in 1955 by clearing an area of volcanic rock which had at one time been the old shore line. Over the years it was extended eastwards over areas which had been sand dunes,and rock from Carmyllie Quarry was used to form a large part of the garden.