Powis Castle & Garden

About the garden

Owned by

National Trust

Considered one of the finest surviving examples of its kind, Powis Castle’s Garden retains many of its historic styles, including 17th-century Italianate terraces, an Edwardian Formal Garden, and a wooded landscape garden on the Wilderness ridge. Redesigned and embellished over more than 400 years, the garden you see today reflects the changing ambitions and visions of the Herbert family, who occupied the property from the 1570s.

Tumbling down from the castle are theatrical terraces blasted out of rock, with the original aviary and orangery, lead statues of dancing shepherds and shepherdesses. Thoughtfully designed herbaceous borders line the terraces, brimming with vivid colour all summer. Cloud-like yew trees at 30ft high, spill over the terraces and are a real showstopper. Surviving changes in style, design, and fashion over hundreds of years, today these unique and character-filled topiary hedges are carefully trimmed by a team of dedicated gardeners every autumn.

The Edwardian Formal Garden is Lady Violet’s creation, wife of George Herbert, fourth Earl Powis. She set out to create one of the most beautiful gardens in Britain, adding lines of rose beds, rows of century-old apple trees, and flat open lawns, she did just that. From the Formal Garden, experience some of the best views of the 13th-century castle standing proudly above the terraces.

The garden delights visitors all year round. See blossom, wisteria, and daffodils in full bloom in spring, and witness the garden at its finest in summer with a riot of colour on every corner. Visit in autumn and see the firework-like display of acers adjacent to the Great Lawn and in winter, see frost-sparkling statues and the architectural design of the garden laid out beneath the castle. Nowhere else will you experience such a dramatic mix of terraces, flower borders, topiary and views.

Assistance dogs only all year round, dogs are welcome in the garden from 4 Sep–28 Feb.

Please note: this is a partially accessible garden.