Gelli Uchaf – a garden for all seasons

Nestled in the Carmarthenshire countryside Gelli Uchaf is a garden for all seasons. Open only By Arrangement, this 1½ acre garden – part of a larger small holding around a restored C17 Longhouse – has been created over the last 28 years by owners Julian and Fiona Wormald.

The centre of a working smallholding 800 feet above sea level with wonderful views, the garden has several distinct areas around the stone and slate buildings, each with its own character and planting theme. It has been created to complement its setting, be productive, and act as a haven for wildlife.

“We have several small plant collections and we particularly like intermingled plantings and the incorporation of native plants into these schemes,” says Fiona. “Following a mainly organic approach, we plant for year round flower interest, from hundreds of thousands of snowdrops (over 200 cultivars and unique Welsh Snowdrop Collection), crocus, cyclamen, daffodils and many other bulbs in spring, woodland shrubs, clematis, rambling roses, hydrangeas and autumn flowering perennials. There is something new to see each year. We now have more woodland plantings and a unique Shepherds Hut to enjoy the extensive views.”

Having become fascinated by the diversity of garden insects in addition to the butterflies, bumble and honey bees (they now have on-site hives) that visit the garden, it has become a fabulous space for wildlife. There are also increasingly wild flower and fungi rich meadows through which visitors can walk.

 

Arrange your visit:

With a few plants for sale too, this is a garden brimming with natural colour and beauty.
Gelli Uchaf opens By Arrangement only between February and July for groups of between 1 and 20. You can find more information here

Watch the garden come alive:

See the garden awake from winter with this gorgeous virtual visit. Filmed over five days in early February 2023, with light winds and full sun, the garden came alive with flowers and bees. Unusual for the garden so early in the season, since clear days and nights often mean severe frosts and mists. And although perhaps 70% of the snowdrops were still to emerge, the vanguard of early forms, together with Cyclamen coum, Crocus sieberi ‘Firefly’, C. tommasinianus and thickets of Daphne bholua all combine to create wonderful vistas and scents for the few garden visitors who gamely make the trip out to share the garden so early in the year.