The Gardens
Picton Castle Gardens has 50 acres of stunning gardens, made up of a mix of formal and informal gardens, lawns and woodlands. Recognised by the Royal Horticultural Society for its excellence, Picton is a RHS Partner Garden.
Boasting one of the best plant collections in Wales, we have rare trees and plant collections from around the world, including magnificent rhododendrons (spring flowering), an exotic Jungle Garden, Tree Ferns and the magnificent formal Walled Garden. It is a plant lovers paradise and the wildlife is abundant. There’s plenty of space to run or simply relax on one of our many garden seats to enjoy the tranquillity and take in the views. With an ever changing pattern of colours and scents throughout the seasons, our Gardens never fail to enchant the visitor.
We visit many gardens and this would be among our favourites (wished we lived nearer to visit in different seasons). the board walk was more than we expected, it was an unique adventure as we wove amongst the plants. the jungle area was great, so many different gingers. the walled garden was lovely with lots of flowers for september and the area with plants that have medicinal elements was very informative. lot of restoration work being undertaken to make an amazing garden even more amazing. The Myrtle walk was fascinating. we spent a long time here as so much to see. well worth a visit.
Trip Advisor November 2019
The Walled Garden
The Walled Garden is an enchanting riot of colour in the summer months with its elegant fountain, roses and secret ‘garden rooms’. A place of romance and tranquillity, the scent of flowers lingers and plants and colour jostle for position.
While on a long weekend break to celebrate our wedding anniversary we came across Picton Castle. Castle’s are a favorite of mine & this is now in my top 5. Brilliantly hosted by volunteers what a delightful place. The castle tour is a must do, with witty and engaging guides full of interesting facts for all. The gardens and walks are relaxing or energetic with many secret activities for kids. The walled garden is an achievement by the gardening staff that must be explored. The restaurant and outside terrace are a nice touch, only bettered by the Mediterranean and Spanish themed dishes on offer, a tribute to the hard working talents of Maria. This is a throughly enjoyable experience and an enchanting place with more features than I can mention here.
Trip Advisor July 2019
Wildlife in the Gardens
Native wildlife has a haven at Picton. From year round favourites such as robins to seasonal visitors such as swifts and swallows, the bird song is breadth taking. We are blessed with rare bats, slow worms, rare orchids in the wildflower meadow and lichens in the woodlands. We have a huge variety of bumble-bees and a great variety of moths. Squirrels, hedgehogs, frogs, toads and dragonflies all live here and we take our custodianship of this very seriously. A new wildlife garden helps visitors learn about what they can do in their gardens to help support wildlife and we host family activities each year with our staff to share this specialist knowledge.
The Lumsden Collection of Antique and Vintage Lawnmowers
A world-class treasury of vintage and antique lawnmowers has a permanent home here at Picton Castle Gardens.
Dating from the early part of the 19th Century through to more recent times, the 85 exhibits, were originally collected and preserved by enthusiast, David Lumsden. Each would be painstakingly restored and preserved for future generations and the ‘Lumsden Collection’ is now considered to be one of the finest in the world.
Including models manufactured by long-established names such as Ransomes, Sims, Jefferies, Greens, Atcos, and Shanks, there are also fine examples of larger models designed to be pulled by small ponies or donkeys and still complete with their original livery. The ‘piece de resistance’ of the collection is a mighty 42 inch 1923 Greens with a four cylinder Dorman engine weighing in at approximately two tons! It is the only working model of an early playing fields petrol mower in existence today.
The history of the lawns goes back to 17th century England, when close-cropped grass was seen as a status symbol for wealthy landowners who would employ a fleet of servants to scythe their grass. In 1830, engineer Edwin Budding invented the rotary blade, that revolutionised 19th Century gardening and the first lawnmower was manufactured just two years later.
This loyal and unassuming piece of machinery has come a long way since 1830 so next time you drag your ‘old faithful’ from the shed – step back for a moment and consider the history of the humble lawn mower.