West Country Garden Tour: Trebah and Glendurgan

Trebah and Glendurgan are two of the most famous ravine gardens in Cornwall.
We got to visit both on our way from Mullion Cove to Mawnan Smith where we checked in to our next hotel, Burdock Vean, named after a medieval Christian missionary, Budock. Vean means little.

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Primula at Trebah Garden, Cornwall

The gardens were built in the 18th century by brothers Charles and Alfred Fox who entered into a friendly rivalry to see who could create the most exotic plant paradise.

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Trebah Garden, Cornwall

They were rich Quakers who made their fortunes from shipping goods. The captains of the ships were asked to bring home to England tropical plants and that is how both gardens ended up with fabulous Tasmanian tree ferns and other rare specimens.

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Connie Roche with Steve Whysall in gunnera jungle at Trebah

We walked Trebah from top to bottom, first walking the bank on the right side and then along the floor of the ravine through the forest of gunneras and past the dense lines of hydrangeas.

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Laurel maze at Glendurgan

In Glendurgan, we enjoyed trying to reach the tiki hut at the centre of a giant laurel maze and in both gardens we admired gigantic rhododendrons, fortress-like copper beech trees and all sorts of other fine specimens, such as a large pocket-handkerchief tree and Chilean fire bush and Chilean myrtle (Luma apiculata).

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Trunks of Chilean myrtle at Trebah

Trebah still has its wonderful creek bed of candelabra primulas but it now has an amphitheatre that is used for all sorts of performances.

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Steve Whysall with giant tulip tree at Glendurgan

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Tree fern dell at Trebah

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Field of wild onions at Trebah

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