Mount Stewart
The grass is worn and drainage is poor
The unique gardens at Mount Stewart are at risk. We urgently need your help to save them.
The gardens at Mount Stewart in Northern Ireland are famed around the world for their grandeur and the bold planting schemes of many rare and tender plants. The gardens' colourful botanical treasures capture the imagination and excite the senses. They are a living, breathing masterpiece and utterly unique.
But, unless urgent action is taken, these world-renowned gardens will die. Please make a donation today to help save this national treasure.
The gardens' uniqueness is the legacy of their creator, Edith, Lady Londonderry. Moving to Mount Stewart permanently with her husband Viscount Castlereagh, the 7th Marquess of Londonderry, after the First World War, Lady Londonderry set about transforming the gardens.
When work began in the 1920s, Lady Londonderry, to her surprise, discovered the nearby Sea Plantation did more than protect the estate from the wind. It created a micro-climate, allowing plants which could not otherwise have survived so far north to flourish. She proceeded to introduce a stunning array of original plants, creating a comprehensive collection of North American, Asiatic and southern hemisphere plants, many of them rarely seen growing outdoors in the British Isles.
Please donate today and help save the gardens at Mount Stewart.
Under threat
But the future of this incomparable garden treasure hangs in the balance. The Sea Plantation, consisting of an embankment and rows of sturdy shrubs and trees on the shores of Strangford Lough, has protected Mount Stewart's house and gardens for over a century and a half. However, in the 1970s, Dutch Elm disease decimated the tree cover, while more recent storms, inundation of salt water and problems with drainage have exacerbated the problem.
In addition, major restoration, extensive drainage and replanting work needs completing across the gardens' 98 acres if Edith, Lady Londonderry’s extraordinary vision is to be saved.
However, we must start work straight away.
Please will you help to restore Mount Stewart's gardens? By making a donation today, you will help ensure that current and future generations can experience this spectacular place and we can regain the paradise that Edith, Lady Londonderry envisioned.