A plantsman's garden

A plantsman's garden

Tregoning Mill has been in existence since the 12th Century and was a working water mill from then until 1917.
It lies in the valley below St.Keverne parish church in the county of Cornwall.Since 1991 we have been developing it into a plantsman's garden containing a large range of plants. The initial reason for coming to Cornwall was to grow Magnolias. Whilst we had had some success in Hampshire we decided to move to an area of the country where we would have a chance of flowering the early ones without the flowers being frosted. However we are interested in all plants so there is a growing, in both senses of the word, collection of mainly shrubs and trees. There are in excess of 2000 different species with nearly 100 Magnolias, 300 Rhododendrons and 75 Camellias.

We purchased the garden in 1989 but due to other commitments were unable to actively commence work on the garden until 1991. Now comprising 8 acres the garden is developing nicely. The areas around the house are the most heavily planted although the other areas are all partially planted up. With the benefit of formal and informal windbreaks we are beginning to make the conditions suitable for some more tender plants such as Iochroma and Mangletia. Our biggest problem is still the wind especially that which comes up the valley from the East in Winter. We have used Eucalyptus (currently 30 species) and Acacia (14 species) to quickly give height to the garden but being shallow rooted it is an unusual year when we don't lose some from the wind.

This website....
gives a short history of Tregoning Mill. Shows where to find us and gives lists of some of the species that we are currently growing. In addition there are a number of photographs of various plants, mainly Magnolias, when in flower.