Private Gardens of Cornwall

Today, following breakfast, we will visit Trelissick, a modern garden which was created within shelter belts planted 200 years ago. The garden is constantly evolving, with new planting and fresh ideas. Trelissick has seen trees grow to maturity, the tide ebbing and flowing, but has become a dynamic, forward-looking estate. The iconic Water Tower was built for irrigation and fire-control; now the lavatories are flushed with rainwater stored underground in modern reservoirs. Heat is extracted from kitchen appliances and the sun to provide hot water and heating. Lunch (not included) is available here.

In the afternoon we move on to the privately-owned 4½-acre garden of Lamorran House, overlooking Falmouth Bay, which has been designed by the owner in an Italianate style, although there are also Japanese influences here. The intention was to create an intimate garden very much in the mould of Mediterranean gardens but with water ever-present, both as a backdrop to the garden and with running water featured in the many pools and streams. Many features are included to divide the garden into intimate compartments which the visitor can explore. Hence there are areas of woodland, a water garden in Japanese style as well as temples and archways in the steeper parts of the garden and a small bridge on which to lean to look out over the bay exhibiting a distinctively Venetian influence.

Following our full English breakfast we will travel to Caerhays Castle, which is surrounded by an informal woodland garden created by JC Williams, who sponsored plant-hunting expeditions to China at the beginning of the 19^th century. Consequently, this has become a special place for lovers of the three great groups of ornamental Asiatic shrubs: camellias, magnolias and rhododendrons. In addition, there are many other plants to be discovered, hidden amongst the ‘jungle’, many of them exceptionally rare. The lavish feast of spring blossom, in this wildly romantic place, is a marvellous sight.

After an opportunity for lunch (not included) in the cathedral city of Truro, in the afternoon we visit Trewithen, a garden whose reputation amongst connoisseurs of gardens has always been of the highest, though it is only recently that its great beauty and horticultural importance has become known to a wider public. Despite the loss of many mature trees in the great storm of 1979, it remains very much a woodland garden designed on a grand scale, with evidence of the great age of plant collecting to be found everywhere. Many of the flowering trees and shrubs were grown from seed sent from China, Burma and Assam and are now bigger than their parent plants, having flourished in the mild damp Cornish climate. From the South Lawn, smooth gently curving paths lead into numerous bays and glades, full of spectacular blooms and constantly offering new vistas and glimpses to tempt you on. In spring there is dramatic colour in the huge magnolias and the vast array of camellias.

Following breakfast we check out of the hotel and depart for Cotehele, a Tudor house with many stories and legends, festooned with tapestries and adorned with textiles, arms and armour, pewter, brass and old oak furniture; a magical experience awaits you where little has changed over the years. Outside, explore the formally planted terraces, or lose yourself in the Valley Garden, which includes a medieval stewpond and dovecote. Seek tranquillity in the Upper Garden or visit the two orchards planted with local apples and cherries.

We continue to The Garden House, near the village of Buckland Monachorum.  Here, around some romantically decaying 16^th Century ruins, Lionel Fortescue created a suitably romantic garden, built on precipitous terraces from which there are lovely views of the garden and surrounding countryside.  Clematis and roses scale the old walls that surround the garden and there is a wonderful richness of plants.  There is also, of course, another very good nursery selling marvellous plants, an opportunity to stock up on some new additions to your own garden

Following this, our final visit, we return to our original departure point where arrival is expected in the evening.