\n\tIn summer everyone enjoys a colourful garden and the bigger the better. Wenvoe What’s On has in the past covered the joys of the National Garden Scheme which covers private gardens, fine as they are, which are open only a limited basis. This article is about three large gardens which are open to the public for much of the year. They are all within an hour’s drive of Wenvoe and each one has a café to revive weary visitors.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAberglasney was made famous by the BBC television series “A Garden Lost in Time”. Today it is quite simply one of Wales’ finest gardens. A renowned plantsman’s paradise with a unique Elizabethan cloister garden at its heart, Aberglasney offers the opportunity to explore more than 10 acres of magnificent gardens, along with the fully restored ground floor of Aberglasney’s grade II* listed mansion. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe house and gardens have had a chequered life. Uninhabited, neglected and vandalised over the years, Aberglasney was on the brink of collapse when it was rescued from oblivion in 1995. The house and gardens were bought by the Aberglasney Restoration Trust and thanks to the generosity of individual donors, trust funds, charitable donations and grant money from many statutory bodies a tremendous amount of work was done in a very short time.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAberglasney finally opened to the public on the 4th of July 1999. Aberglasney is located near Llangathen in Carmarthenshire’s beautiful Tywi Valley. You will find it just off the A40, 15 minutes from the county town of Carmarthen and 5 minutes from the market town of Llandeilo. Further information is at the website http:\/\/aberglasney.org\/.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe National Botanic Garden of Wales is set in the beautiful Carmarthenshire countryside, the Garden is a fascinating blend of the modern and historic. Here you’ll find an inspiring range of themed gardens, the magnificent glasshouse, play areas and a national nature reserve, all set in a Regency landscape which provides the stage for a packed programme of events and courses throughout the year.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThis very large garden offers a wide range of visitor amenities with a very good shop, café and restaurant. It has good disabled access and mobility scooters are available for hire. The huge glasshouse is the largest single-span great glasshouse in the world and houses the largest collection of Mediterranean plants in the Northern Hemisphere.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Garden is situated 10 minutes from the M4 and 2 minutes from the A48 in Carmarthenshire, mid-way between Cross Hands and Carmarthen. For Satnav users the postcode is SA32 8HN. It takes just under an hour to drive there from Wenvoe. More details are available at https:\/\/ botanicgarden.wales\/\n<\/p>\n
\n\tDewstow hidden gardens and grottoes are rather closer to Wenvoe and it takes only about half an hour to drive there. These wonderful gardens, and their unlikely grottoes, are one of the most exciting horticultural finds of recent years. In 1893 Henry Oakley bought the estate with house and gardens.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tHe was a rich bachelor and set about creating a glorious garden which, after his death, fell into decline. It has recently been restored and now offers visitors three main attractions. There is a very large rock garden with a wide variety of plants and shrubs, underneath that there is an extensive labyrinth of grottoes with ferns, flowers, waterfalls and fountains.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThen in front of the house there is an area of ponds and walkways and a further grotto. Dewstow has a splendid, if small, café which offers a good range of sweet and savoury foods. To find Dewstow gardens drive to Caerwent and then, from the middle of town, follow the signs to the garden. Further details can be found at the Dewstow website www.dewstowgardens.co.uk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In summer everyone enjoys a colourful garden and the bigger the better. Wenvoe What’s On has in the past covered the joys of the National Garden Scheme which covers private gardens, fine as they are, which are open only a limited basis. This article is about three large gardens which are open to the public for much of the year. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":524,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/aberglasney_gardens_mansion_original.jpg?fit=800%2C533","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-8r","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14236,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14236","url_meta":{"origin":523,"position":0},"title":"The NGS Open Garden Scheme Locally","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th May 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"THE NGS OPEN GARDEN SCHEME LOCALLY Once again, thank goodness, the weather is starting to dry up and let us out into the garden. For many of us, the bulbs we planted last autumn (or maybe years ago) are popping up and reminding us that they\u2019ve just been waiting for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6222,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6222","url_meta":{"origin":523,"position":1},"title":"Clutching our maps, proudly wearing\u2026","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th July 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Clutching our maps, proudly wearing our Wenvoe Open Garden stickers and not going very far in the lovely summer sunshine before stopping to say \u2018Hello\u2019 to friends and neighbours, we all enjoyed a wonderful afternoon. The sense of community had been evident since Brian and Sandra Jones suggested Open Gardens\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Picture9-LR-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3432,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3432","url_meta":{"origin":523,"position":2},"title":"Seasonal Advice","author":"Alan Williams","date":"3rd July 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 I hope all is well with your gardens, it's a busy time as always. Dead heading, regular feeding, weeding and watering are a must to prolong the flowering season. Cut back your herbaceous geraniums and you should get another show of flowers this summer. When watering the tomato\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14151,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=14151","url_meta":{"origin":523,"position":3},"title":"Welsh Traditions","author":"Alan Williams","date":"7th April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"WELSH TRADITIONS In this short series we\u2019ll take a step back in time to remind ourselves of some of the interesting traditions which took place in Wales in the past. We\u2019ll begin with a look at what in Welsh are called \u2018Merched y Gerddi\u2019 - literally translated, \u2018The Garden Girls\u2019.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8845,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8845","url_meta":{"origin":523,"position":4},"title":"Private Gardens In The UK","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th December 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Nature Notes Private Gardens In The UK Private gardens in the UK cover an area bigger than all the Nature Reserves combined, estimated at over 10 million acres. Just as our countryside and woodland is shrinking, so is the amount of garden space which wildlife can use as more gardens\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Smasll-garden-pondz-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3213,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3213","url_meta":{"origin":523,"position":5},"title":"RHS Flower Show","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st May 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Having been to the RHS flower show in Bute Park, it made me realise just how good some of these exhibiters are. To be honest, a few of the show gardens would not have come up to the standard of some of the gardens in and around Wenvoe. I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Village Gardener"","block_context":{"text":"The Village Gardener","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=77"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=523"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":525,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523\/revisions\/525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}