Upton Castle Gardens

About the garden

Owned by

Prue and Steve Barlow

Upton Castle Gardens is a privately owned and listed historic garden and arboretum. The picturesque medieval castle remains a family home and provides a spectacular setting for terraces of herbaceous borders, a traditional rose garden, a Georgian walled garden and the more intimate chapel environs. The gardens extend into the less formal planting of the deeply wooded valley that sweeps down to the Cleddau estuary.

Woodland walks descend through the dappled light of ancient trees to atmospheric saltmarshes. The sheltered, warm maritime climate allows plants and trees to thrive, creating an oasis of calm and tranquillity, a place to escape and explore. The arboretum is renowned for magnolias, camellias and rhododendrons, and there are many champion trees, including Magnolia campbellii, Magnolia delavayi, Liriodendron tulipifera and Davidia involucrata plus, the millennial Yew, designated a heritage tree.

Spring arrives with the flowering of the mature rhododendrons and magnolias when the ground is carpeted with snowdrops and daffodils. Not far behind are the primulas and azaleas in the Dell and many of the flowering trees and shrubs, while woodland paths teem with a mass of bluebells and wild garlic. A little later, the herbaceous borders come into their own with a fragrant display of roses in the traditional rose garden from late spring and continuing throughout the summer. Different varieties of hydrangeas create a splash of colour in late summer and continue well into autumn when the trees begin to show signs of the colour to come.

The walled garden is intriguing throughout the seasons, planted with fruit and vegetables in a traditional kitchen garden style and includes a hedged herb garden and a new border dedicated to plants that attract bees and butterflies, which is so important for pollination of the vegetables and mature fruiting trees.

Please note: this is a partially accessible garden.