In July 2022 I visited the National Botanic Garden of Wales (Gardd Fotaneg Genedlaethol Cymru) which is situated about 10 miles due east of Carmarthen. The garden was opened in 2000 and I had previously visited it in 2009 – I was interested to see how it had matured.
I started off in the Japanese Garden and the productive area called ‘Growing the Future Garden’. The Japanese garden, called ‘Sui ou tei’ which refers to the national flowers of Japan and Wales (cherry blossom and the daffodil), started life as a Show Garden at the 2001 RHS Chelsea Flower Show winning a gold model and Best in Show. It combines three different traditional Japanese garden styles – the pond and hill garden, the dry garden and the tea garden. The ‘Growing the Future Garden’ displays different styles of growing such as potager, raised beds, traditional, shade-loving and wildlife-friendly.
The double walled garden displays the story of the evolution of flowering plants and is divided into four quadrants. Three quadrants tell the story of the evolution of flowering plants, monocots (plants with one seed leaf, flowering parts in threes and sixes and spear-shaped leaved with parallel lines) are showcased in quadrant 1, with eudicots (plants with two seed leaves and flowering parts in twos, fours and fives) in quadrants 2 and 3.
Quadrant 4 is a modern kitchen garden which reflects this area’s original use. When it was built 200 years ago, the double walled garden, at over three acres, could provide enough fresh fruit and vegetables for a household of 30 people and employed 12 full-time gardeners. The two walls, one brick and one stone, provided shelter from animals and the harsher elements and created important microclimates where tender plants could grow.
The glasshouse, the largest single-span glasshouse in the world houses plants from geographical regions that enjoy a Mediterranean climate – hot dry summers, cool moist winters, dazzling sunlight, strong breezes and the occasional ground-clearing fire which creates perfect conditions for may plants to thrive on the scrubby, rock-strewn landscapes. The six areas are from California, Australia, the Canary Islands, Chile, South African and the Mediterranean Basin. Although these regions cover less than 2% of the Earth’s surface, they contain more than 20% of all known flowering plant species and their richness and plant diversity are considered second only in importance to tropical rainforests. The plants share many qualities such as small leathery evergreen leaves and dense shrubby forms, having adapted in similar ways to the similar environmental pressures they face.
Next to the glasshouse is the boulder garden, an aromatic terraced area with Mediterranean plants among boulders and scree the complement the theme inside the glasshouse. The stony soil of this garden helps water to pass through quickly, reducing the chance of winter damage. Next to the boulder garden is the Wallace Garden which aims to raise understand and interest in plant breeding and genetics and is named in honour of a naturalist whose own work on the theory of evolution by means of natural selection prompted Charles Darwin to publish is own theory.
I then followed the Broadwalk down to the entrance, passing by the Rock of Ages, a display of Welsh geology.