Visit the gardens at Dyffryn

Summer highlights

In the summer Dyffryn Gardens is full of fragrance and colour. Everywhere you look you will see plants in full bloom. The bedding displays are at their height in July, especially the South Front and Paved Court and the Herbaceous Border gives long lasting colour and interest throughout the summer.

In May we reopened two more restored sections of the Arboretum which were overtaken by weeds and bamboo during lockdown. There is now a peaceful glade with interesting trees where you can find shade from the summer sun, then follow our newly opened path through the Arboretum's meadow, designed as a wandering route amongst the wild orchids.

The gardens act as a summer sanctuary for many bird species including swifts, swallows and house martins. Greenfinches have also been nesting here for the last couple of years so keep an ear out for their song. Dyffryn is also a summer haven for pollinators and our gardens support more than 50 species of bees which you can find foraging in beds and borders all around the garden.

This is the fourth year of growing our two ‘mini meadows’ on the Great Lawn, either side of the central canal. After last year’s spirals, the design this year was inspired by the swirl patterns on the facade of the house, uncovered and restored last winter. We grow the meadows to increase the diversity of pollinators and insects as well as limit compaction on the South Lawn so that waxcaps can thrive in the autumn. The increase in pollinators and insects then encourages predators like dragonflies. The dragonflies mingle with the damselflies over the water features, home to water lilies and other aquatic plants and their flitting displays are truly spectacular. We also have several other areas of meadow which were established in 2019 - we now have bee orchids (which are a beautiful species of wild orchid) flowering in May and June flourishing in our meadow spaces.

Bookmark this page and come back later in the summer to find out more about our signature Dahlia and late summer ginger lily displays, as well as what will be blossoming in the Kitchen Gardens and Exotics Garden later in the season.

Summer Stroll

Pick-up your Summer Stroll leaflet from the Welcome Centre when you arrive - it has a full-site map of the gardens and some of the most stunning and interesting sections of the garden during the summer are highlighted so you can easily find them.

You'll find a moment of calm in the quiet sanctuary of the Fernery before exploring the features of the Garden Rooms, including the Herbaceous Border and Paved Court, which are filled with colourful seasonal plants.

Find out more about how we garden for nature and our biodiversity studies, learning what calls Dyffryn home and how we can help nature thrive here.

Head Gardener tour

Join Dyffryn’s Head Gardener for a tour around the gardens, taking in the seasonal highlights and sharing what the garden team are up to at this time of year.

This is a specialist 90-minute tour with our Head Gardener, Chris Flynn, focusing on horticultural expertise in the gardens, how we’re gardening for nature, and the ongoing conservation and restoration work of the Grade I listed gardens.

Chris will show you the seasonal highlights of the gardens and share the story of how Dyffryn was created and what that means for us as we work to restore it. There will be a chance to ask questions, hear Chris’ top tips, and take some inspiration for your own gardens and green spaces. All proceeds from the tour go back into looking after and restoring the gardens.

Book your place on our events section of the website.

A garden for all seasons

The gardens at Dyffryn were commissioned by Reginald Cory and designed by the famed Edwardian garden designer, Thomas Mawson in 1906.

As a keen plantsman himself, Cory worked collaboratively with Mawson to create this garden oasis. The majority of the gardens you see today are true to the original design. There was also a strong theme of experimentation and fluidity to the planting as Reginald was passionate about propagating and breeding many exotic and foreign species that he and others brought back from plant hunting forays all over the world.

The Pompeiian Garden

The Pompeiian Garden, inspired by Cory's trips to Italy, was built in 1909. Like its Italian namesake, it was designed with an impressive colonnade, a loggia and a central fountain in a lawn square.