Wales

Bodnant Garden » A terrace and woodland garden set in the hills of Snowdonia. Edward Milner helped with the design, establishing a link with Joseph Paxton and JC Loudon. Tree planting began in the 'picturesque' 1790s. The first Lord Aberconway's father-in-law bought the estate in 1875, started the Dell garden and planted the laburnum tunnel - a famous sight in June. His grandson took charge of the estate in 1901, designed the terraced garden and became a keen plantsman. Clearly, he was inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. The second Lord Aberconway also started the collection of rhododendrons and magnolias, suscribed to plant-collecting expeditions, grew the seed and passed the enthusiasm to his son, the..... Read more on Bodnant Garden »

Portmeirion Gardens » An estate of buildings and gardens, modelled on Italian coastal villages. The land was acquired by Clough Williams-Ellis in 1925 and developed by him until 1970. It has landscape, architecture and gardens, held together by the asthetic of making places 'like a picture'. The designer was highly inventive in his use of materials, decoration and fragments of old buildings. Sir Clough was an architect and a Vice President of the Institute of Landscape Architects. There is a hotel in the village and some of the small houses are available for rent. Read more on Portmeirion Gardens »

Powis Castle Garden » A medieval castle on a rock, with a seventeenth century garden. It has a great late-renaissance terrace garden which steps down the hill. It is the nearest thing to a Tuscan renaissance garden in the British Isles. The terraces were built in the seventeenth century (c1680) and are shown in an engraving of 1742. The valley floor has been, successively, a water garden, a landscape park by William Emes, a kitchen garden and, now, a flower garden. The terraces at Powis Castle have sculpture, fantastically mounded yew trees, and National Trust planting. Read more on Powis Castle Garden »

Erddig Garden » An early eighteenth century house (1720-40) with formal canals, avenues, walled garden and a late-eighteenth century park by William Emes. Emes made a 'Cup and Saucer' with Black Brook flowing round a curcular platform. The National Trust has restored Erddig garden using a bird's eye view of 1739 and illustrations of the nineteenth and twentieth century additions, including a parterre and a Victorian garden Read more on Erddig Garden »