Trebah celebrates the first anniversary of it’s new walled garden
On Sunday 12 May Trebah will enjoy the first anniversary of the Court Garden; our free, sensory and accessible walled garden situated on the approach to the award-winning Visitor Centre.
Since the initial planting by Trebah’s Garden Team, the area has now watched a year of seasons pass, with the warm stone walling providing shelter for the planting to evolve, whilst ensuring there’s something to enjoy all year round.
The Court Garden is planted more formally than the historic main sub-tropical valley garden for which Trebah is renowned, and is filled with locally-sourced plants, many of which have been grown on-site in Trebah’s nursery and are also available in their Plant Centre.
The initial planting for its first spring saw bananas, a collection of unusual succulents and vibrant displays in the borders. This made way for a colourful, pollinator-friendly scheme in summer designed to showcase hot colours for the south facing beds and then a cooler colour palette for the north facing beds. As autumn and then winter settled in, more pockets of colour and fragrance appeared thanks to winter-flowering violas, scented dwarf wallflowers, hyacinths, narcissus and pretty forget-me-nots. Now back in spring, the Court Garden is a riot of colour and fragrance once again.
The enhanced accessibility of the area has really come into its own, allowing visitors with additional access requirements to see more of Trebah, as well as providing a platform for events to be enjoyed, such as the Cornwall International Male Choral Festival - something Trebah is no stranger to, thanks to its mid-garden amphitheatre which opened in 2014.
Male voice choir performing in Trebah's Court Garden
To complete the space, Trebah was fortunate to secure funding for its bespoke steel gates thanks to the generosity of the Tanner Phoenix Fund, on behalf of Cornwall Community Foundation.
Shortly after the Court Garden opened, Managing Director Nigel Burnett retired after 18 years at the top and Jon Cummins stepped into the role as CEO of Trebah Garden Trust.
Speaking on overseeing the first year of the Court Garden, Jon Cummins says “Twelve months since it opened to visitors, the Court Garden – named as it was built on the site of the original Trebah Tennis Club court - has flourished and now blends into the landscape at Trebah in a way that you would struggle to tell that it’s not been here for decades. The quality of the design and planting is testament to a number of people – and at the heart of that are the Trebah team who now change the planting here in the Court Garden seasonally to maintain colour, interest year-round”.
“Soaking up the warmth of the sun within the shelter of the walls of the court garden is now a highlight of a day here at Trebah for our visitors, staff, volunteers and often the local pollinators too. It’s flat and easily accessible with a good quantity of seating, so ideal for all our visitors to enjoy in the years to come”
