Castlewellan National Arboretum, County Down

Many fine trees grace the area around the heron fountain where the planting becomes even more profuse - here, for example, a large specimen of Picea smithiana, planted in 1868 and now seventy-five-feet tall, makes its home. There are forty-two members of this genus in the arboretum. Close by stands a lovely Myrtus apiculata and, also from Chile, a remarkable Pilgerodendron uviferum. Throughout the arboretum there are generally some thirty species, varieties and cultivars of the Juniper genus, including a Juniperus recurva that is fifty-feet tall.

The silver fir is also well represented with forty-five members, the oldest an Algerian fir, Abies numidica, planted in 1886. Among the most dignified plants from the southern hemisphere is a fine Tasmanian waratah, Telopea truncata, while along the north-east wall leading up to the greenhouses stretches a magnificent avenue of late summer flowering eucryphia.

The Edwardian greenhouses in the corner of the Lower Garden contain quite a variety of fuchsia, passiflora and tibouchina, as well as specimens of Lapageria rosea and Wattakaka sinensis. Like jewels in a box, one greenhouse encases a small collection of free-flying tropical birds; in the two adjacent end houses lush collections of ferns and phormiums grow.

Immediately north of the Annesley Garden lies an extensive collection of spring-flowering trees, mainly prunus and malus planted between 1972 and 1974. A prodiguous grouping of dwarf conifers also thrives, sown in 1976, the trees occupy four long, curved beds. In the shade of the beech trees to the north is a five-acre rhododendron garden which also includes camellias and large numbers of deciduous azaleas. Two duck ponds on the fringe of this area display many outstanding trees within their vicinity, including a very tall red silver fir (Abies amabilis).

Aside from the main arboretum, Castlewellan offers much more to the intrepid visitor. Bring sturdy boots for long walks around the lough, through the woods and up the mountain ridge. Wonderful.

Located in Castlewellan, 4 miles north west of Newcastle.
NGR: J 335371. Open daily from dawn to dusk. Refreshments available during summer months.
Toilet facilities. Partly suitable for wheelchairs.
Dogs on lead.
Admission charged.

From the Appletree Press title: Irish Gardens.