Mount Usher, County Wicklow

The croquet lawn close to the river boasts some especially memorable trees: two rare and striking Chinese firs (Cunninghamia lanceolata), a tall and very lovely specimen of Cupressus cashmeriana with drooping branches planted in 1875 and a magnificent fifteen-foot-high American Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis 'Pendula'). From here visitors taking the Azalea Walk will notice an imposing fifty-foot-high Pinus montezumae from Mexico planted in 1906 by Lord Powerscourt, perhaps the most august tree at Mount Usher. The Azalea Walk, a long grassy ride through the garden, is lined with rhododendrons, a variety of fine davidias and azaras, the fragrant white flowering Magnolia salicifolia and a quantity of Eucryphia glutinosa whose large white, golden centred flowers are a splendid sight in the fading months of summer.

At the far end of the Azalea Walk a grove of spectacular eucalyptus trees includes E. viminalis, E. stuartiana, E. delegatensis and E. urnigera, some over 130-feet tall. Over seventy varieties of eucalyptus have been planted in the garden since 1905 when seed was first imported from Australia, and today Mount Usher can claim the finest collection in Ireland.

Crossing the southernmost bridge, built in 1924, the visitor next arrives at the imposing Palm Walk - a broad grassy vista that extends outwards from the house and lined with Chusan palms (Trachycarpus fortunei). In the area to the south stretches the main eucryphia collection which features clumps of the special hybrids E. x nymansensis 'Mount Usher', the result of a cross made in 1916 between E. glutinosa and E. cordifolia. The Lime Walk to the north has an excellent collection of ornamental southern beeches seeded in 1928. Among the eight species represented are Nothofagus solandri and N. menziesii from New Zealand, both over fifty-feet high. Certain to astonish is a fragrant silver wattle from Australia (Acacia deal bata) that was planted in 1950 and now stands an amazing sixty feet in height.

Running beyond the house, a tributary path leads past one of the original plantings at Mount Usher - a redwood Sequoia sempervirens planted around 1870. From here the visitor enters the area known as the Island which is crossed by a maze of little meandering paths. Plants to note include an Acer laevigatum reticulatum with net-veined leaves, the evergreen Chinese spindle tree (Euonymus wilsonii) and a large Magnolia x veitchii that is a glorious sight in spring with thousands of purple-pink flowers blooming on naked stems. A lily pond on the edge of the area is surrounded by ornamental rushes - such as the reed mace Typha augustifolia - and with water irises.

The Riviera is the most recently planted area of the garden - a long narrow strip bordering the river. This section can be quite noisy, particularly during market time on Mondays, but a walk along here is nevertheless rewarding. Tree enthusiasts will be pleased by a fine grouping near Penelope's bridge: a massive spreading eucalyptus, a lovely golden-yellow Thuja plicata 'Semperaurescens', a number of slender taxodiums, a fine erect Lawson cypress 'Silver Queen' and a splendid Pinus montezumae tree whose branches trail the river's edge. Before leaving the garden, visitors should walk along the Kitchen Garden wall where a fine specimen of the Japanese banana tree (Musa basjoo) graces the scene - always a popular plant at Mount Usher and a suitable climax to a journey around this verdant Wicklow paradise.

Located in Ashford on the main Dublin to Wexford Road. NGR: T 258977. Tea room. Gift shops. Toilet facilities. Partly suitable for wheelchairs. No picnics. No dogs. Admission charge. Tel: (0404) 40116.

From the Appletree Press title: Irish Gardens.