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Gardens in the Heart of Wales | Back to Garden Holidays

Gardens in the Heart of Wales
11-14 July 2011

Straddling the Cambrian Mountains, our choice of gardens takes us through varied countryside and picturesque villages, always returning to our heart of Wales base, Powis.

From the 3* Metropole Hotel, in the Victorian spa town of Llandrindod Wells, we journey south to the National Botanic Garden of Wales. Dedicated to plant conservation, the site is over 500 acres and includes many different areas, including the wonderful double walled garden and the Great Glasshouse, considered to house the best collection of Mediterranean plants in the world.

A short journey from here are the lovely Aberglasney Gardens. Abandoned for 50 years, the restoration of Aberglasney has been one of the country's most remarkable garden projects, including ancient formal gardens with pools, parapets and cloisters, and surrounding gardens which are a plantsman's paradise.

Our journey through the historic county of Monmouthshire, with the dramatic Black Mountains as a backdrop, takes us to Penpergwm Lodge, a tranquil 3 acre private garden with many features including a folly, summerhouse and central canal, along with fine mature trees. From here we travel on to High Glanau Manor, in its lofty site in the woods above the Wye Valley and is one of the best examples of an Arts & Crafts garden in Wales. With 100-foot Jekyllinspired double herbaceous borders; terraces overlooking the vale of Usk towards the Brecon Beacons; a lily pool; woodland garden, and an ongoing process of restoration, this is a very special place.

To complete our tour, Veddw House Garden is very different and exciting. It is all about patterns, shapes, drama, sculptural hedges and views. Emphasis here is on the use of plants in the design, rather than plant collections. This complex and highly individual garden will test your senses. En route we will spend time at Powis Castle & Garden, one of Wales' great gardens, admired for its hanging gardens - a series of 17th century terraces filled with extravagant planting and interspersed with huge clipped yew trees and hedges.

On our return home, we will first visit the Dingle Garden, a plantsman's private garden which surrounds a large tranquil lake, and then on to Glansevern Gardens which sit in a landscaped park with a vast rock garden, lakeside walk, walled garden and folly garden which runs down through woodland to the banks of the River Severn.

Cost per person: £405
Single room supplement: £39

Departure points: Saxilby, Lincoln, Newark, Leicester, Lutterworth.
We may pick-up from a limited number of other points if en route and easy for coach access.

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