Explore the gardens at Dyffryn
Enjoy a walk around the gardens at Dyffryn this winter. We’ve got an easy walk with plenty of rest stops and an all-important opportunity for recharging your batteries with something delicious at the end. Wrap up warm with a good pair of shoes and enjoy seeing the house, kitchen garden, glasshouses lawns and more.
Map
Start:
Dyffryn Gardens visitor centre
1
Start at the visitor centre and walk towards the house. On your left you will see the Rockery, take the path between the trees to the top. This affords a great aerial view over the whole estate.
The rockery
The rockery is filled with alpine plants from the mountainous regions across the world. It’s a natural limestone outcrop that extends all the way through to Wenvoe.
2
Follow the path back down and around to the south front of the house, stop here to admire the seasonal bedding, this changes twice every year and is a particular area of experimentation for our gardeners.
The Great Lawn
Take in the magnificent view from the terrace down to the Great Lawn, this area was created to convey a sense of scale for the estate.
3
Continue past the Chinese Philosopher and into the first of two walled gardens. The first you will come to contains soft fruits, apples, pears and peaches. The larger of the kitchen gardens is used for growing salad, root vegetables and cut flowers.
The Glass House
Not to be missed is our enormous Glass House, split into five sections it houses a large cacti collection, and orchid and tropical plant collection and 4 grape vines.
4
Follow the path down through the physic garden and cloisters to the paved court.
The Gardens
This garden was renovated in 2015, it restored a lack lustre garden to one of colour and vibrancy. This garden has 2 planting schemes every year with planting designs chosen for their height and riotous colour in the summer.
5
Walk straight on through the rose garden, the hedges have been stumped back in recent years to allow for better light to flow and to restore the original design of the hedges. Following the path you come to the lavender court, a hot spot for our rare great crested newts and see a sea of purple in the spring.
6
Follow the path along the vine walk, the route back to the visitor centre takes you along the east side of the great lawn and on through the arboretum, accidentally created from the original plant nursery it has grown into an expansive collection of thousands of woody specimens, champion and veteran trees.
The Arboretum
The arboretum is currently going through a 5 year project to protect our important trees and provide an opportunity to plant new and exciting woody plants in the future. It is also home to lots of wildlife including sparrow hawks, hedgehogs and bats.
7
After your walk reward yourself with something delicious from our café. You can enjoy tasting the produce from the kitchen garden in our home made dishes. Every penny spent at Dyffryn stays here to help with vital conservation work, thank you for supporting us.
End:
Dyffryn Gardens visitor centre
