Trebah Garden — Attraction in Mawnan

This is a truly spectacular and sensational Sub-tropical garden in Cornwall and certainly rivals The Lost Gardens of Heligan as being the best sub-tropical garden in the South West of England. This garden is nestled away beautifully at the mouth of the Helford River and is complete with its very own private beach and is also a sub-tropical paradise and masterpiece. In the Visitor Centre there is a brief informative of the history of the gardens and the various people who lived and owned the Trebah over the years and there is some interesting points about the how the gardens were made into the sub-tropical paradise it is today by the Fox family during the victorian times with the various sub-tropical plants they introduced into the garden. The exhibition also covers how the garden became a tourist attraction and also how they became a charitable trust. The exhibition is a really good introduction to the gardens and also gives you an idea of the brilliance you're about to see in the gardens. The size of the gardens is of a fairly decent size and also an awesome, exquisite and amazing sub-tropical sight and is like an oasis when you first see as it blows your mind massively in a good way. The garden have a number of dazzling and truly awesome and breathtaking features and these include Water Garden, Top Trees, Hydrangea Valley, Rhododendron Valley, Gunners Passage, Stumpery & Cascade, Mallard Pond, Chilean Coomb, Alice's Seat, Koi Pool and Bamboozle and all of them have awesome and spectacular arrays of colour from the plants on show but also they blend in wonderfully and beautifully together to great a truly awesome sub-tropical paradise and spectacle. During the early Spring Months the Rhododendrons make for an absolute spectacular display in the garden and during the Summer months it is the Hydrangeas and Gunnera that dominate in a splendid manner. The pick of the plants has to be the ferns and the Palm Trees as they bring out the sub-tropical feel in a truly majestic and magnificent and the Rhododendrons make it even better and blend in well together with the other plants. The walks around the gardens are fairly easy going and you can enjoy truly spectacular and breathtaking views from the top of the valley towards the beach and the mouth of the Helford River and the views are some of the most breathtaking and iconic around from any garden in Cornwall. There are some outstanding views to enjoy from the Mallard Pond back towards the House at the top of the valley, which are absolutely stunning. You can wander down to the private beach, which is a magnificently unique part of this place and you can enjoys views of the mouth of the Helford River close up and also relax and enjoy the environment, which is a truly immersive and excellent experience. You can also see some Koi Carp in the Koi Pond and is another wonderful aspect of this place. There is the court garden that can be visited just prior to going into the Visitor Centre with some of the finest blend of different colours from the flower borders that you will see of any garden you will see anywhere. There is a cafe on site selling a lovely variety of food and drink at reasonable prices and there is a gift shop with a nice array of souvenirs at wonderfully reasonable prices. Overall this is a truly spectacular and wonderfully enjoyable place to visit, which makes for a wonderfully memorable day out. Well worth a visit whilst in the Truro & Falmouth areas...

Trebah Garden has to be one of the most beautiful and expansive gardens I think I’ve ever visited. The interesting history of how this garden came to fruition was quite astonishing to learn, as it was great to be in and experience the sheer size and scope of the trees and plants surrounding us. Like walking through a subtropical paradise, I wouldn’t have imagined a place like this situated in Cornwall. It’s honestly breathtaking.

May is Rhododendron and Camellia season so these plants were in full colourful bloom when we visited, showcasing a blanket of spectacular pinks and reds. The circle route was fantastic to follow (spent about 2 hours casually strolling) as you get to walk through little hidden spaces like the koi pond, the middle bridge overlooking the beach area and our favourite place which was in the massive Gunnera maze which made me feel like I was in the film Honey I Shrunk The Kids.

At the bottom of the route, halfway around is where you’ll come across a quaint stone beach which had a coffee and snacks area which was fantastic to sit and relax overlooking the waters. The history connected to this beach was really interesting to learn, when in 1944 US troops embarked from Trebah for the Normandy Landings in France.

Up the second half of the route and back to where we started, there’s a lovely cafe and food area where we had the most delicious coronation chicken jacket potato I think I’ve ever had. Definitely worth the wait after the lovely walk around.

You definitely don’t want to miss experiencing Trebah Garden. It was something I’ve never seen before to this scope and size, and the beach at the bottom just topped it off....

What a beautiful garden with lovely scenery, champion trees and pretty views. Free parking with plenty of spaces. Just remember if you need the toilet, they are only located in the Visitor Centre where you enter. We saw that most people visiting just went straight down to the beach, so this made for a peaceful walk through the entire garden without huge crowds or crying noisy children. There are such stunning views from ‘The Eirey’ overlooking the Helford River with yachts sailing in the shining turquoise blue water. We stopped for a well-deserved ice cream on the beach before making our way back uphill through the garden. Hydrangea Valley was very colourful especially with the reflection in the pond. Although Hydrangeas are not one of my favourite flowers, seeing them in such a huge quantity looked fabulous. The Gunnera Passage was a delight to walk under, seeing its large leaves over our heads. After our visit, we decided to walk to Glendurgan Garden (instead of paying £3 to park there) on the path through the gates that follows the road. Which was very lucky due to when arriving, their car park was full! (Just a tip if you want to visit both gardens in the same day). But we definitely preferred Trebah Garden, with much more for us to...