Welsh autumn wonders; Gliffaes Country House Hotel
The Gliffaes garden and arboretum has many rare and beautiful shrubs and trees. Looked after by the same family for four generations, it extends to 33 acres, some of it parkland, with an ornamental pond and roughly 7 acres of lawns. A long tradition of tree planting was started in 1820 and thanks to these early plantings there are some magnificent specimen trees including Giant Sequoias (below), huge Cedars and a spectacular Acer Palmatum, which is over 100 hundred years old. Autumn is naturally one of the best times of year to see many of these trees in their splendour.
In 1948, C H Taudevin, a Cheshire landscape gardener and nurseryman of note, and the owner, Susie’s, great grandfather, was invaluable in converting a labour intensive Victorian formal garden to a more peaceful area using flowering shrubs and trees and creating less intensive maintenance. Sam Brabner, the owner’s grandfather, learned much from him and became a very knowledgeable gardener himself, as did Nick Brabner, Susie’s father, carried on the tradition and planted 2000 trees to mark the Millennium, amongst which there were over 40 different specimens. In recent years the trees have been catalogued and the planting plan and tree-labelling project is underway. James Suter, Susie’s husband, also guides Gliffaes Tree walks at various times during the year. There is a Tree Walk map available for a self-guided walk around our magnificent trees and a path through the woods too.
For more about the garden and it’s next opening click here
