Top ten Cornish gardens
Plants are democratic. One of the amazing things about Cornish flora is that, say, a roundabout, roadside verge, car park, side of a train track, overgrown field, abandoned lot, front garden of a council estate in Redruth or Camborne often looks as exotic as the grandest National Trust garden, in that you will come across palm trees, giant gunnera, monkey puzzle trees and echiums, to name just a few, in many an incongruous location in the county.
But spending a few hours in a Great Cornish Garden (a group of 12 of the best) is a nicer experience than any roadside verge, of course. The gardens all have cafes and shops too. In fact, they have many elements in common. The gardens are mostly sub-tropical, purpose-built plantations on estates in sheltered valleys. Spring – which begins in England when magnolias flower in Cornwall – is the best time to see them, with amazing explosions of colours, smells, textures and shapes. I love the lush, sub-tropical, Jurassic-era feel to them, with many species originating from Australia and New Zealand and flourishing in Cornwall. Rhododendrons, camellias, magnolias, bluebells, giant fern trees unfolding overhead, palm trees, giant gunnera, grasses and leaves like in a Henri Rousseau painting.
It is ironic that at least some of these gardens were created with the profits amassed from Cornish mining. So, basically, the Cornish landscape was decimated so some toffs could have nice gardens. Many of the garden names are prefaced with Tre, which I thought would mean Tree, but it’s actually an old Celtic word, also still used in Wales, meaning homestead or estate. Hence all the big estates.
1. Trebah Garden
I get quite excited about the weird landscapes in Cornwall, from the China clay trails to the Wheal Maid Tailings lagoon but for me walking through the gunnera passage at Trebar is the most surreal, immersive experience in the county. It feels like walking on an alien planet, or, as I overheard one woman say, “Now I know what it feels like to be an insect.” Gunnera is an architectural, giant rubarb-type plant, with large leathery leaves and thick spiky stalks, originating from Brazil. In spring and summer it reaches its full size and visitors are dwarfed by the plants in the 25-metre jungle pathway through them.
Above: The gunnera passage
On the Trebah website the garden is called a sub-tropical paradise and it’s hard to disagree. Aside from the gunnera there’s over four miles of footpaths to explore a water garden and koi pool, a Monet-style bridge and a private beach at the end which looks out onto the Helford river. The beach was famously used during WWII as a D-Day embarkation point.
2. Tresco Abbey Gardens
Situated on Tresco on the Isles of Scilly, the stunning Abbey Gardens were built in the 19th century amongst the ruins of a Benedictine Abbey. They contain over 20,000 plants and you may spot red squirrels and golden pheasants running around. Also contains Valhalla museum, which has a fine collection of shipwrecked figureheads.
3. Trelissick Garden
I’m not the biggest fan of National Trust properties but I have a weakness for secondhand bookshops, art galleries and cafes, and Trelissick has all three, as well as a pretty good garden and house.
4. Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens
Stunningly-situated gardens near Penzance with views of St. Michael’s Mount. The extraordinary sculptural forms of the palm trees and succulents eclipse any human-made creations, though the ever-evolving sculptures have included interesting works by Richard Long, James Turrell and David Nash. Pools and a stream runs through a small wood in the garden, which features a wonderful slate garden originally created for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2015.
Most people don’t seem to venture past the cafe (there’s also a shop and art gallery), leaving the gardens pleasingly empty most of the time.
5. The Lost Gardens of Heligan
It’s quite something to lose a 200-acre garden but there you go; it was found in 1992 and restored to its former glory.
6. Bonethon Estate Gardens
Situated on the Lizard Peninsula, Bonethon has an almost intoxicating array of plants and flowers. Smaller and less busy than some of the other gardens, it’s a place to walk slowly through and savour. A lake and stream form the basis of the garden where gunnera and palm trees, surrounded by various flowers including camassias and iris, proliferate. There is also a yew chapel, created with trees and hedges, a quarry and a walled garden.
Unusually for a Cornish garden, the South African owners say the garden is at its best in late summer, rather than spring, due to the planting of flowers from South Africa.
7. Pencarrow House
We’ve yet to go into the house but we’ve strolled in the gardens twice, once on each of our birthdays – in spring and winter. In winter it was a beautifully stunning day with long shadows, mushrooms, half a dozen peachicks (baby peacocks) and generally a magical atmosphere – the garden was also free, and this was just before lockdown, and empty. In spring it was pouring with rain but looked like a different garden altogether with various flowers, ferns and gunnera all exploding out of the ground. The monkey puzzle tree actually got its name in Pencarrow House when a guest exclaimed to the host, “That tre would puzzle a monkey!”
8. Trewidden Gardens
A mixture of plantations, woods and gardens containing giant magnolia trees, bluebells, a pit of giant fern trees which are the largest and finest in the northern hemisphere, an unusual jelly palm tree and a red phone box are just some of the attractions at Trewidden.
9. Glendurgen Garden
Handily situated next door to Trebar (even more handily when, er, we used to be able to just walk between the two from the beach at the bottom…), Glendurgen is a National Trust property with a combination of native and exotic plant species. And a great maze (currently closed).
10. Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the size and grandeur of the big gardens and forget the smaller ones. When it’s empty, the Barbara Hepworth sculpture garden is a serene little haven in bustling St. Ives.
There are many other wonderful gardens in Cornwall – some more on the official Great Gardens of Cornwall list (my partner loves Trewithin, and there’s Tregothnan, Caerhays, Lamorran and of course the Eden Project), others are National Trust (Lanhydrock) and not forgetting the National Gardens Scheme. Also, of course, the best is free in Cornwall – the countryside, clifftop walks, beaches and woods where, most likely, you’ll stumble across many exotic plants and flowers.
Previously on Barnflakes
A Cornish hideout
Unspoilt for choice
Bee boles at Heligan
Helen at Lanhydrock
Tunnel of Green
Success and failures of the Eden Project
Tesco on Tresco
