The Treasures of Tregrehan

The woodland garden at Tregrehan is one the gardens we regularly visit in Cornwall. We love it so much that we've visited four times in the last couple of years, and if people ask us which of the Cornish gardens we've visited is our favourite we always says it's a tie between this garden and another one. 

I remember when we first went to Cornwall and visited some of the exotic plant nurseries there, a nurseryman noted my penchance for southern hemisphere plants, woodland perennials, and high altitude new Asian introductions. He recommended that we visit the garden of Tregrehan and that we'd 'love it' for its atmosphere and the sort of planting that they have. It took us awhile to follow his recommendation but when we eventually did, we never looked back.

The Walled Garden with a row of glasshouses to one side

The gate between the Walled Garden and the Woodland Glade, a promise of more things to see...

Tregrehan is a 20 acre woodland garden rich in exotic plants from temperate regions. The estate has been the home of the Carlyon family since 1565, a family with a heritage of horticultural interests. The garden contains various exotic plants introduced by members of the Carlyon family through the years, as well as other plant hunters since the early 19th century. Today it is the home of Tom Hudson and his family, the latest descendant of the Carlyon family to take over the estate, and himself a well respected plant hunter continuing the long botanical heritage of both the family and the garden.

Tregrehan is open to the public a few days a week for most of the year, and only once a week during the summer months. It is listed too in the Gardens of Cornwall guide and participates in the Gardener's World Magazine's 2 for 1 offer. Despite this, it is still a relatively obscure garden and is rarely mentioned amongst the top garden attractions of Cornwall. But that is how they want it, keeping their publicity muted and relying on word of mouth and recommendations to attract a steady stream of visitors. In a way it's also a means to maintaining the serene atmosphere of the garden which could be disrupted if it attracted droves of visitors in any one point (like some of the more popular Cornish gardens).

Afterall,it is still in essence a private garden, albeit on a colossal scale.

The staffing of the garden is kept to a minimum, with most of the maintenance done by Tom Hudson himself, as well as his head gardener, a few volunteers, and immediate members of his family. Despite the minimum manpower, the garden is immaculate for its type, which is also a hint of the balance that the garden has already achieved through hundreds of years of care.

The Yew Walk

Rows of self sown Dicksonia antarcticas near the hidden seating area...

We were fortunate enough to have met him and he has graciously shown us some of his private collection of plants, most of which, if not all were collected from his own plant hunting expeditions; as well as a behind the scenes tour of his glasshouses. So many treasures, so many beautiful plants collected by him from temperate regions of Asia and the southern hemisphere.

Tetrastigma rumicispermum

But those were just the tip of the iceberg and plant treasures are plenty abound, planted out in the garden and ready to be enjoyed by anyone who visits the place.

The garden contains a fantastic collection of mature trees, many of which are hundreds of years old and original plantings of previous generations, towering over other plants creating that ethereal woodland atmosphere of the garden. The trees provide the canopy that smaller, shade loving plants need to thrive as well as providing shelter from the elements. There are also rows of trees strategically planted in certain areas to serve as shelter belts. The location of the garden is already mild by its own accord but the shelter belt provides that extra protection to help relatively new plantings to thrive and flourish in the garden. And most of these new plantings were introduced there by Tom Hudson himself ever since he took charge of the place, collected from his numerous plant hunting expeditions abroad through the more recent years.

The photo above is a testament to the history and maturity of the garden. A tree has fallen down many years ago and rather than being cleared away, the trunk was left in situ for other plants to grow on to. A couple of saplings managed to thrive on the minimal nutrients from the debris accumulating on the trunk as well as the decaying matter of the trunk itself, with roots slowly descending on to the ground. And once the roots reached the soil the growth rates will have sped up to become huge trees themselves. Eventually all of the dead trunk will rot away and what will be left are just hollows at the base of these trees. A great illustration of the cycle of life in this woodland garden!

The garden contains an amazing collection of towering Scheffleras as well as other araliads,  most of which the original material he collected himself from previous expeditions whilst others were from other plant collectors, including Edward Needham who was his company on a few of these plant hunting trips

Schefflera species

Schefflera rhododendrifolia growing against a house wall

Schefflera taiwaniana

Schefflera taiwaniana with Gaz for scale

Schefflera species

Schefflera species

Possibly the tallest Schefflera in the UK? If not then it certainly is the tallest I've ever seen growing in the UK! The photo below still betrays the true scale of this specimen. It is very tall, easily reaching a height of 40 to 50 feet and we found it difficult to look for a place to be able to photograph this plant in it's entirety. So we took it in three sections and pieced together later on. So given their ideal conditions, some Scheffleras can attain majestic heights too in Northern Europe.

Schefflera species

And the garden has loads of Fatsia poycarpas too

Fatsia polycarpa leaf

Apart from the Scheffleras and various other araliads the garden is full of other wonderful and unique plants of exotic origins, most of which are rare and not easily found anywhere else in the UK. The following plants especially caught our eye:

Rhododendron protistum

Acer wardii

Dracophyllum traversii

Puya chilensis, one of the very few xerophytes thriving in the woodland

Magnolia macrophylla leaf

Cornus omeiense - I love the habit and grace of this plant and definitely on our wishlist. It has the look the of a Ficus benjamina which is a common houseplant and too tender to be grown outside in the UK. But for gardeners like us looking for hardier substitutes for that exotic look then this is perfect.

Aesculus wilsonii

Alangium platanifolium

Quercus skinneri - a gorgeous oak with unusual leaves and attractive colours to the new leaves. Another plant I would like to to have soon

No doubt we will be back again soon, to enjoy the wonderful plant treasures of Tregrehan, and enjoy the serene and ethereal atmosphere of this great garden.

Mark
Tregrehan Garden

Posted in: Cornwall , Garden visit , Schefflera