View gallery

• “
• “
• “
• “
• “
• “
• “
• “
• “
• “

View gallery

 

They may not be as widely known about as our stunning National Botanic Garden of Wales, but across the nation there are dozens of incredible gardens to visit, lovingly nurtured by gardeners who want to inspire others. Rachael Misstear looks at 10 wonderful Welsh gardens that deserve a visit this year

1. Dyffryn Fernant, Pembrokeshire

Dyffryn Fernant garden is a wonderful surprise. Six acres of garden tucked into a valley in the lee of the Preseli uplands just before they plunge into the sea at Dinas Island in North Pembrokeshire.

A modern garden, made since 1996, it ranges from richly planted high colour and exotic planting in formal areas, journeys through a bog garden to wild marsh, pond and stream. Then it meanders through large blocks of ornamental grasses making sound and movement in the wind.

The wide variety of environments and the abundance of seating invite you to take your time and to investigate this place from different angles and perspectives, to bring your own beliefs, thoughts and feelings to your experience of the garden.

2. Erddig, a National Trust property on the outskirts of Wrexham

Shrouded in brambles and nettles when the National Trust first took over in 1973, the skeleton of the early 18th-century walled garden at Erddig could just be seen. In one of the largest garden restorations of its time – a total of four years – the garden has been restored to its original 18th-century design, with some later Victorian additions.

So what is it that makes the 13.5-acre walled kitchen garden so special? Maybe it’s the extensive statement lawns sprawling in front of the spectacular Victorian parterre, the trained fruit trees (there’s 148 different apple varieties grown at Erddig) reaching around one of the longest herbaceous borders in Wales, says the garden’s Lorraine Elliot. Or perhaps it’s the tranquil canal and pond water features inviting you to sit a while or the double avenues of pleached limes, Tilia, where ladies once walked in the shade. 

3. The Veddw, Monmouthshire

The garden is set in the wonderful countryside of the Welsh border above Tintern. There are two acres of ornamental garden and two acres of woodland.

Good things about Veddw? “The amazing view over the hedges when you arrive; the dark black reflecting pool which either makes people very sombre or very giggly; the grasses parterre, where ornamental grasses in box hedges echo the surrounding countryside, or the reminders in the garden of the previous inhabitants in their turf and mud huts,” says the owner Anne Wareham.

“The garden is part living sculpture and part a celebration of the colours and forms of plants. Old unploughed grassland is now conserved as meadow and the garden features robust plants, happy mostly to look after themselves, living together in mild disorder but made effective by their containment in the strong lines of hedges and paths. It’s a country garden, comfortable in its setting.”

4. Clyne Gardens, Swansea

Since William Graham Vivian, the son of a wealthy industrialist, bought the Clyne Castle estate in 1860, some of the historic figures to have visited include Neville Chamberlain, Stanley Baldwin and King Edward VIII.

But it was William’s nephew, Algermon, the estate’s owner from 1921 to 1952, who had the greatest influence on the gardens as we see them today. This is because he sponsored collecting expeditions overseas, including many of the internationally-famous rhododendrons that still bear their original collector’s numbers. His influence can also be seen in the landscaping, which features a Japanese Bridge, the Admiral’s Tower and the Gazebo that once gave a spectacular view of incoming ships to Swansea Bay.

At this time of year, the heather beds come into their own by providing bright early spring colour. Near the beds is a large lime tree planted by Princess Mary of Teck to commemorate her visit to Clyne Castle in the latter part of the 19th century.

5. Norwood gardens, Llanllwni, Carmarthenshire

Norwood Gardens extends to nearly three acres and consists of nine linked themed gardens. There is plenty to interest the keen gardener or the casual visitor throughout the season. The Bamboo Garden is home to a wide variety of architectural plants whilst the Mediterranean Garden evokes the hot gardens of Southern France (although weather to match is not guaranteed!).

Owner Michael Oliver said:“The Quiet Garden is cut off from the rest by a high privet hedge. Here the visitor can sit and enjoy relative seclusion.”

6. Plas Yn Rhiw, Pwllheli, Gwynedd

A woodland garden, a stone’s throw from the sea, protected by the formidable slopes of Mynydd Rhiw, The National Trust’s Plas yn Rhiw garden boasts a vast array of flowering trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. Borders are framed with established box hedges, gravel and grass paths meander their way past exotic and unusual species that thrive in this unique microclimate.

Gardener Llifon Jones said: “There is something for all seasons, with the snowdrop woodland being a well-known local favourite in winter; magnolias, camellias and rhododendron dominating spring; hydrangeas, fuchsias and herbaceous perennials creating a sea of cool summer tones is followed by nature’s own fireworks display of autumnal reds, orange and yellows.

“Woodland walks, passing through a wildflower meadow leads to the recently planted native fruit orchard containing more than 30 different varieties of Welsh throats. The view over Cardigan Bay from the orchard is breathtaking.”

7. Gelli Uchaf, Rhydcymerau, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire

Visitors to this garden under the National Gardens Scheme (private gardens open for charity) often describe it as magical and inspiring, which is how the owners feel about this special place in upland Carmarthenshire. Centred around an old longhouse with spectacular views, the sloping site has allowed several different garden areas to be created. Masses of insect friendly flowers are used to create a garden alive with colour, interest and biodiversity throughout the seasons. There’s even an exhibition of butterfly and moth pictures and some of Julian and Fiona’s artwork inspired by the garden for visitors to explore. If you can’t visit in person, then share the experiences, innovative ideas and views with Julian and Fiona through their fascinating garden blog and website: https://thegardenimpressionists.wordpress.com

8. Glansevern Hall Garden

Over 25 acres of glorious gardens surrounding a Greek revival house on the banks of the River Severn, the gardens are a mixture of formal planting, lawns, a huge lake, as well as many unusual and ancient specimen trees, not to mention spectacular views over the surrounding countryside.

There is little record of the original layout, except that the Walled Garden is known to have been planned to its present dimensions in 1805. Its interior was entirely remodelled in 2001 to offer nine separate “rooms” including “The Roses” and “Fairytale”.

The impressive Rock Garden and Grotto is said to date from around 1840, and there is a garden plan of 1880 signed by Edward Milner, father of Henry Ernest Milner who wrote ‘The Art and Practise of Landscape Gardening’ in 1890.

9. The Dingle Garden, Welshpool

The Dingle Garden is a secret gem hidden in the beautiful mid-Wales countryside just a few miles west of Welshpool.

A stunning four-acre garden, making imaginative use of the dramatic deep valley and connecting small lakes. A network of paths meander down through an informal mix of shrubs and trees with thoughtful underplanting offering unexpected and stunning views of the main lake and the hills beyond.

A garden for all seasons with colour co-ordinated beds offering the visitor realistic and achievable ideas for their own gardens. Many of the plants grown here are available for sale in the large nursery alongside.

“Autumn is probably the most stunning time but any season will give you a chance to relax in this peaceful place,” said Jill Rock at the garden’s nursery.

10. Colby Woodland Garden, Amroth, Pembrokeshire

Steve Whitehead, head gardener at the National Trust garden, said: “One of the joys of working in a garden all year round, is the chance to watch the seasonal cycles of nature at close quarters. It’s a source of constant amazement, how the same view slowly takes on a different mood with the growth of one plant, the flowering of another, the seed heads of a grass opening, or the slow turning of leaf colour. There’s a whole valley full of colour and constant change at Colby, but the walled garden is the part of Colby most

of us see most often, and it gives us a concentrated, constantly renewing microcosm of the changes happening outside in the wider landscape.

“Perhaps that’s why gardens appeal to us. They root us firmly in natural cycles that deep down we know we are still tied to.”

When it comes to attractive plants on lawns and in flower gardens, beauty doesn’t have to be imported from elsewhere. Native varieties work well, too.

Many of the grasses and flowers that adorn our yards are exotic species — plants that were brought here from other parts of the world. Maintaining the beauty of these plants is often a high-maintenance job. Many exotic species require high amounts of water, fertilizer, pesticides or some other type of labor-intensive chore that takes more of your time — and money — than you had originally intended.

An increasing number of people are realizing that native plants — the trees, flowers, and grasses that were here to begin with — can be just as beautiful to look at and a lot less trouble to grow.

Native plants are a good choice for landscaping, whether you have a small plot in the city or large acreage in the country. Increasing environmental awareness, a desire to connect with nature on a personal level and limited time to devote to home landscape and land management projects are reasons to turn to natural landscaping alternatives. The plants and patterns that occur naturally in our prairies, forests, savannas, wetlands and glades can give us good landscaping ideas about what we can do around our homes.

There are many benefits associated with a well-planned, diverse native landscape. One of these is wildlife attraction. The songbirds, butterflies, small reptiles and mammals that you go to parks and other publicly owned facilities to see can often be enticed to your backyard with the proper plantings. These plants provide food, nesting and other habitat essentials required by these animals. Those instinctual needs will draw a variety of wildlife to specific plants, whether they’re growing at a nature center or in your backyard.

As mentioned above, native plants usually require much less care than exotics. The reason for this is simple: Millions of years of evolution have adapted these plants to the conditions found here. That means they’ve grown accustomed to the soil, weather, insect pests and many of the other factors that affect plant growth in the Ozarks. Exotic plants have few of these inherent adaptations and, as a result, can often only be sustained through extensive “life-support” procedures such as heavy watering, fertilization or pest-control applications.

Native plants come in many shapes, colors and forms. Those interested in growing indigenous plants have a wide variety of flowers, shrubs, grasses, small trees and large trees from which to choose. The best natural landscaping plan is one that involves a mixture of plant types, but space can be a limiting factor and, if it is — that’s still all right. Native plants can work for you whether you have 10 acres on the edge of town or a single flowerbed alongside your driveway.

Some people shy away from native landscaping techniques because they think a native-plant landscape will have a rougher, “woollier” appearance than the well-manicured flower beds to which they’re accustomed. That’s not necessarily a fair criticism, because you still control the neatness of your plantings. Just because you have native plants doesn’t mean that you can’t mow, weed-eat, edge and do all the other aesthetic maintenance procedures that are done with exotic plantings.

People can learn more about native plants and their landscaping benefits on April 5 at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Naturescaping Symposium and native plant sale at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center. No registration is required for this event, which is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Grow Native program, which is supported by the Missouri Department of Conservation and public and private organizations, also contains excellent information about how native plants can fit into your backyard design schemes. More information about the program can be found at your nearest Department of Conservation office or on the Grow Native website, www.grownative.org.

It’s the day that changed a family’s life forever. On April 8, 2009, eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford disappeared while walking home from school in Woodstock. The abduction garnered national media coverage, led to the largest search in the OPP’s history and sparked an Internet frenzy focused as much on the girl’s family and life, as her disappearance. The hopes of thousands were crushed with the arrest in May of two people for the girl’s murder. Tori’s body was found in a remote woods near Mount Forest, Ont., in July.

As the fifth anniversary of Tori’s death nears, Free Press reporter Randy Richmond talked to family members about their lives, hopes and memories.

TIMELINE

April 8, 2009:

Morning: Victoria (Tori) Stafford is taken to school by grandmother Linda Winters. Tori borrows a pair of butterfly earrings from her mother. In the lineup for the bell at the end of the day, Tori asks if she can go back in the classroom to get the earrings. She returns after the bell rings and the other children have left.

3:32 p.m.

Tori is seen on a nearby high school surveillance camera walking up Fyfe Ave. with a woman later identified as Terri-Lynne McClintic. With the promise of seeing a puppy, McClintic leads Tori to a Honda Civic parked in nearby nursing home. She pushes Tori into the back seat and gets in. Michael Rafferty drives the car to Hwy. 401 and toward Guelph. Tori cowers on the floor for most of the drive, covered in Rafferty’s jacket.

3:55 p.m.

A friend calls Tori at home and leaves a voicemail about a plan to watch a movie at Tori’s house together. When Tori’s brother Daryn gets home from school, his mother tells him Tori hasn’t come home.

5 p.m. (approx)

Rafferty drives to a Home Depot in Guelph, where McClintic buys a claw hammer and garbage bags.

5:20 p.m. to 6:04 p.m.:

Family members begin looking for Tori.

6:04 p.m.

Winters reports to police Tori is missing. Police begin searching the school and neighbourhood.

Before dusk:

Tori is sexually assaulted and killed in a farmer’s field near Mount Forest. Her body is put into two garbage bags and hidden under a pile of rocks.

8 p.m.

McClintic and Rafferty drive to Cambridge where they wash his car, throw out old clothing and the hammer, and change into new clothes. They’re back in Woodstock by midnight.

THE KILLERS

Terri-Lynne McClintic: Pleaded guilty April 30, 2010, to first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Michael Rafferty: Found guilty May 11, 2012, of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault causing bodily harm. Appealing conviction.

A FEW MEMORIES

Tara McDonald, mother:

The day Tori was born, the moment my family was complete. It was the most important moment of my life. Watching the bond between them from Day 1 was just so beautiful to watch!”

Rodney Stafford, father:

The love she showed for her brother. Every time I would pick the kids up, Victoria would scream ‘Daddy’ and coming running for hugs. The last weekend (before the kidnapping) I watched as she skipped a rock at Pittock Lake with Daryn and my father.”

Doreen Graichen, grandmother:

I took the girls (her granddaughters) to the ballet for Christmas to see The Nutcracker. I think Tori must have been about five at the time. I will never forget the magic of that night and how the girls sat silent and eyes frozen watching every move on the stage. Somewhere through the ballet, Tori slipped off her seat and began kneeling on the carpet in front of her with her little arms wrapped around the railing, never taking her eyes off the stage. That evening was priceless to me.”

James Goris, stepfather:

The day Tori got her new dress I bought for her stuck in the spokes of her bicycle. She shouted for help but insisted I rescue the dress, too. She didn’t care about her scraped knee, the dress was more important.”

A MOTHER’S STORY

How many times a day do you check the time?

Every time Tara McDonald does that on April 8, she will think of what was happening at that exact time five years ago.

Her eight-year-old daughter Tori walking out of school, meeting a woman on the street, being pushed into a car and driven out of town. McDonald starting to wonder why her daughter isn’t home yet, calling the houses of friends, driving around the neighbourhood.

Each April 8 is the same.

“You’ll just look at the clock to see what time it is and you will think, ‘Oh, this is what time this was happening,’ ” McDonald says.

“And when the day passes, you’re like, ‘Whew, I made it past one more year. I survived one more year.’ ”

As the fifth anniversary of the day her daughter was kidnapped comes closer, McDonald calls what she’s doing as more survival than living.

“I miss her more than I think about what happened to her. That’s the only way to survive it. Otherwise you’re going to lose your marbles.”

She acknowledges, though, she’s getting slowly better. For the first three April 8ths, she spent the day in bed. She’s given up drugs, no longer lives in the fishbowl of Woodstock and remains in a steady relationship with boyfriend James Goris.

McDonald also has a couple of projects on the go, including one that might surprise a few people: regaining certification as a doula — an assistant to pregnant women.

Watching the births of children after losing your own might sound like punishment. McDonald disagrees.

“Birth is amazing. It’s incredible and I think it will help a lot. Being there and seeing new life coming into the world will give me purpose.”

McDonald also is writing a book about her daughter’s short life and ending, the police investigation and trials through the eyes of a mother who at one time was a suspect in Tori’s disappearance.

She wants people to really know her daughter, and what was lost. She wants parents to know how the horror can happen to anyone.

In a sad irony, her book will replace the journal she began writing for Tori many years ago, one of those pretty notebooks that provide ideas and blank spaces for moms to fill in for their daughter’s wedding day.

“I was so proud when I bought it. I thought, ‘This is so beautiful.’ ”

McDonald gets angry looking at the journal now, flipping through the final pages that are waiting for messages about her daughter’s first dates, proms and boyfriends.

“Look at how it tapers off to nothing.”

For a time the most famous, or infamous, mother in Canada, McDonald has always responded to challenges with a mixture of humour and toughness.

“Everybody tells me how strong I am. I don’t see myself like that at all. If people knew what I was like behind closed doors, strong is the last word they would use.”

Her son Daryn is living with family in Woodstock, an arrangement made a couple of years ago, but the pair remain close.

“I try not to put this on Daryn . . . but he’s a huge reason I’m still alive,” McDonald says.

With Michael Rafferty appealing his conviction for murdering Tori, McDonald knows she has a struggle ahead.

She says, however, that when the court proceedings are done, she will take Rafferty up on his surprising courtroom request the pair have a private conversation some day.

“He had some reason he called me out in the courtroom that day and I need to know what it is. Who knows.”

But if Rafferty or co-killer Terri-Lynne McClintic are expecting forgiveness, they’ve got the wrong person.

“People keep asking us if we’re ever going to be able to forgive them because we’re not going to move on until they’re forgiven. I just can’t see it happening. Ever. How do you forgive two people who destroyed your life on a whim?”

A FATHER’S STORY

On a break at one job site last year, Rodney Stafford stared at the ground where a tattered garbage bag rustled. Behind him, a crew smashed landscaping rocks with hammers.

“It sent me into a frenzy.”

Yet he has one word when he’s asked what he’ll be doing on the fifth anniversary of his daughter’s kidnapping, brutal death by hammer and disposal of her body in a garbage bag.

“Work.”

Stafford was already struggling when his daughter Tori was kidnapped April 8, 2009. He was trying to get his high school education and re-establish consistent relations with his two young children.

Five years later, a full-time job and a more stable family life with a new son and established partner are signs of recovery.

Justice is another matter.

“Since (Michael) Rafferty’s trial, every time he comes back to court I get more and more enraged. We are all forced to relive the horrific events from that day,” he says.

“Now that I’m working 40 hours a week, paying into the system, I’m finding it a little bit harder to do so knowing that I’m keeping this idiot alive and helping him get through his schooling and whatever.”

The man he’s referring to is, of course, Michael Rafferty, the man convicted of killing his daughter Tori and in the midst of appealing his conviction.

The pain never goes away. A song on the radio can trigger despair and a call to his counsellor.

“Walking down the street seeing any Honda Civic just turns my stomach,” Stafford says. That’s the model of car Rafferty drove to kidnap Tori.

“Then you see the guys with the hammers breaking rocks. Seeing normal people with hammers shouldn’t affect you.”

As April 8 approaches, Stafford admits to a tumble of mixed emotions. What happens if Rafferty gets a new trial?​

“I think it should happen again because what the sick bastard is really about Canadians need to know. There are still people naive about this kind of situation, that it will never happen to them.”

Like other family members, Stafford struggles as well with how much of his daughter he wants to share with strangers.

The disappearance, search, arrests and trials made national headlines and twice Stafford rode through Canada raising money for ChildFind.

“I want her name to travel as long as I’m alive. As long as I’m alive I’m going to put it out there. She should never be forgotten. She should never be tucked away,” Stafford says.

At the same time, however, he’s dreading being asked about his daughter at work April 8.

Every good memory of Tori can raise a bad memory.

Stafford is proud and honoured the Grade 8 pupils at Oliver Stephens elementary school want to honour Tori — who would have graduated with them — at their ceremony this spring.

“They want to send her through with the graduating class. I want to be there,” he says, hesitating for a moment. “But she’s not going to be there.”

A GRANDMOTHER’S STORY

Not too long ago, Doreen Graichen went through her home and took down most of the purple ribbons and mementoes of her granddaughter that people had given her.

Some of the dozens of mementoes she had to throw away; others are tucked away in boxes.

She calls it a “cleansing.”

“God bless the people who have been there supporting us the whole time, years worth of time,” she says

“I think it’s just time that we let her rest. It doesn’t mean that we will ever forget her. But when I think of Tori, I want to think of the good times.”

Despite her best efforts, Graichen knows that won’t be possible Tuesday, the fifth anniversary of Tori’s death.

“I know that I will relive every moment of that afternoon. I’ll never forget any of it . . . the horrors of that day.”

She and Rodney and his son Daryn drove through Woodstock for hours that night, looking at parks and bikepaths where Tori might be playing.

Her voice still breaks when she recalls Daryn saying late that night nobody had better be doing anything bad to Tori or abusing her.

She provided the only answer she could. Let’s not think that.

“The next week was just zombie land. We didn’t know what to do, what to think, nothing. The whole thing was just horrible.”

The week turned into months that turned into years that have damaged her family, with some members estranged from others, she says.

“It has changed everyone I know that was close to Tori,” Graichen says.

“I’ve gone from anger and hatred to grieving and acceptance. The only thing I worry about, and it’s premature I know, is the appeal. If by some freak of nature, he’s granted another trial, I hope it takes many many years and I hope I’m not around anymore because I can’t live you through that.”

In the meantime, she will work to keep her home and her mind clean with only the good memories of Tori.

“Happy memories are a safe place for her to exist.”