Discover more at Bodnant Garden
Find out when Bodnant Garden is open, how to get here, the things to see and do and more.
Things to see at Bodnant Garden
A great garden offers something to enjoy during every season and Grade I listed Bodnant has 80 acres of formal gardens, woodland and panoramic mountain views to stir your senses. Find a walk that's suitable for you, and admire the beauty of the colourful planting schemes.
International Garden Photographer of the Year Exhibition
19 September - 11 November
This autumn, experience the wonder of nature and photography as Bodnant Garden hosts the prestigious International Garden Photographer of the Year exhibition.
This exciting outdoor exhibition is internationally recognised as one of the most respected photography competitions of its genre, drawing entries from both professional and amateur photographers.
Stroll amongst the stunning collection of large-format, award-winning images and soak up the beauty of gardens, plants, and wildlife, from across the globe.
Life at Bodnant
As a special highlight, the exhibition also includes a selection of higher-placed awarded photographs from the ‘Life at Bodnant Garden' Special Award, offering a unique glimpse into the charm and character of this much-loved garden through the eyes of talented photographers.
Free to enjoy with your garden visit, this exhibition is a perfect blend of art, nature, and inspiration this autumn.
Autumn highlights at Bodnant Garden
The garden is a firework display of crimson, amber and gold during the autumn, as the glowing leaves of trees and shrubs, ripening berries and late flowering plants put on a show to rival the brightest colours of summer.
The tree collection in autumn
Exotic trees turn to dazzling colours lighting up Bodnant’s 80 acres at this time of year. The collection spans several centuries, from stately chestnut, beech and oak in the Georgian Old Park, to towering American conifers in the Victorian pinetum.
There are beautiful ornamental cherries, acers and other Asian species in the Acer Glade. As you wander, look out for the blue labels to spot Champion Trees. Many of these are the biggest or rarest examples of their kind in the UK. You’ll also find many other unusual and notable trees throughout the garden. Be sure to keep an eye out for them as you enjoy your autumn visit.
Flowers to look out for in autumn
Roses are still in bloom on The Terraces and herbaceous beds are bursting with late flowering asters, sedums and dahlias in all colours of the rainbow. In The Dell there are swathes of azure hydrangeas and plants are laden with fruit and berries throughout the shrub borders.
Strange fruit and scents
Keep eyes peeled for the weirdest fruit of the garden – the blue seed pods of Decaisnea fargesii (Dead Man’s Fingers).
There are also the giant 'raspberries' of Cornus kousa and the pink and orange hooded berries of Euonymus europaeus to spot. But don’t be tempted to pick them – they're only edible for the birds.
If you catch a candyfloss scent in the air, you're close to one of the Katsura Trees (Cercidiphyllum japonicum). These give off a delicious smell of burnt sugar as the leaves turn.
Autumn highlights
What to look out for this autumn at Bodnant Garden
Euonymus europaeus (Spindle tree)
Spot the pink and orange hooded berries of Euonymus europaeus. But don’t be tempted to pick them – they're only edible for the birds.
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Bodnant Garden - 150 years
During autumn 2024, Bodnant Garden celebrated 150 years since it was bought at auction by Victorian industrialist Henry Davis Pochin and his wife, Agnes. At the time, Bodnod as it was then known, was an estate with a walled garden, woods and plantations. It was Pochin's grand vision which shaped and led to the Grade 1 listed garden that we see today.
2024 also marked 75 years since Bodnant Garden was gifted to the National Trust by Henry McLaren, Lord Aberconway. In 1948 he persuaded the National Trust to accept gardens on their own merit into the fold of the charity, Bodnant being only the second admitted in 1949, after Hidcote.
A garden of firsts and National Collections
Cared for by the National Trust since 1949, Bodnant is a garden of firsts. Home to the earliest and grandest laburnum arch completed in around 1880, and to some of Britain’s earliest magnolias introduced from China in the late 1800s. It’s said there's a rhododendron in bloom every month of the year here, but they reach a peak in April and May.
The garden is especially famous for its Asian rhododendrons, including unique hybrids bred at the garden from the 1920s. Many of these unique varieties can still be seen in the garden today. Bodnant Garden is also home to five National Collections – Rhododendron forrestii, magnolias, embothriums (Chilean fire bush), eucryphias and Bodnant Hybrid rhododendrons.
Italinate Terraced Garden
Bodnant Garden is famed as the finest rose garden in Wales with its five formal Italianate terraces, designed and built in the new Arts and Crafts style between 1904 and 1914. Home to many established varieties of roses, including many of the David Austin varieties, it comes alive with colour and perfume from June until late September.
Picturesque ponds
Two of the terraces are recognised for their picturesque ponds, which are home to water lilies and a variety of wildlife. The borders on each of the terraces are planted with careful consideration of the surrounding environment and are in keeping with the year of their creation. Each of the five terraces was intended to be a revelation as you descend to the next.
The East Garden
The Laburnum Arch
The golden blooms of the Laburnum Arch attract thousands of visitors to the garden in late May and early June each year. The arch flowers for between 10 to 14 days each year. The arch is the only one of its kind in the country which is curved, following the wall which runs alongside.
The Winter and Round Gardens
The Round Garden, with its 18th century water fountain, provides interest through the spring and summer with its four quadrants and new planting scheme. Structural forms and seed heads offer interest through the autumn and winter months.
The Winter Garden, located just before the top gate to the Old Park Meadow, is a maze of pathways that take you through a variety of cornus, skimmia, cyclamen, iris and daphne. Coming alive in the winter months as its name suggests, it provides interest and a tranquil spot to sit.
The Shrub Borders
Providing the first hints of the surprises that await down in The Dell, the Shrub Borders are home to camellias and tree magnolias and some of the famous blood-red Bodnant hybrid rhododendrons. Behind the Pin Mill, a path leads down, past banks of camellias and rhododendrons to a stream-fed rockery that comes alive with giant Himalayan lilies, ferns and hostas in late spring and early summer.
The Glades
Separating the Shrub Borders and the Dell, the Glades are a good area for daffodils in the spring, and the bluebells that follow hot on their heels. Fiery shades of red and amber burst through during the autumn months. Trees from all over the world, including cornus, prunus, liquidambar and paulownia provide year-long interest with the acers lighting up the arboretum from September to November.
Walks and wildflowers
Down to the Dell
The rich soil and moist atmosphere of the Dell suit the larger-leaved rhododendrons. Discover the Waterfall Bridge, with its vertical torrent of water on one side, and the calm, reflective pool on the other. Home to wildlife including kingfishers, dippers, heron and ducks. Further upstream you’ll find the Skating Pond and Boathouse, with weeping willows, swamp cypress and azaleas that signal the start of spring with vibrant colours.
Furnace Hill
This area of the garden offers fine views back towards the house and terraces as well as across to the Conwy River. Penjerrick Walk, along the top of Furnace Hill, comes alive in spring with a variety of rhododendron which include amongst others Augustinii, Penjerrick and ‘Reve d’amour’. Discover Lady Anglesey’s Seat and sit for a while to enjoy the view across to the house and terraces.
Wildflower meadows
Bodnant Garden has two wildflower meadows. The Old Park Meadow dates to the Georgian era and is now home to daffodils in early spring with wildflowers as far as the eye can see appearing throughout May and June. During winter, sheep graze in the Old Park up to Christmas. Furnace Meadow lies on the southern hillside, overlooking the riverside garden and is a peaceful spot to take a moment to enjoy nature, no matter the season.
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Eating at Bodnant Garden
Enjoy delicious refreshments at Bodnant Garden’s tea-rooms all year round or from the riverside kiosk down in The Dell.
Visiting Bodnant Garden with your dog
With 80 acres to explore, there’s a walk to suit everyone. From 1 April to the end of September, dogs are welcome on short leads (not extendable) every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Find out more about bringing your dog to Bodnant Garden here.
Bodnant Garden's botanical collections
Explore the many exotic and rare plants and trees at Bodnant Garden, including five National Collections, as well as Wales’s largest collection of UK Champion Trees.
History of Bodnant Garden
Discover how a 'dwelling by a stream' in Snowdonia's foothills grew into a global horticultural haven thanks to generations of the McLaren family and Puddle head gardeners.
The people of Bodnant Garden
The garden at Bodnant is the work of generations, starting with the Pochin family and their move from Manchester. Learn about the people who made Bodnant into what we see today.
