My Favourite Place: The Gwyllt, Portmeirion
Portmeirion is my favourite place, anywhere, and I’ve been going there for more years than
I can say. It was designed by Clough Williams-Ellis as a village that would complement the landscape.
The Gwyllt is a 70-acre piece of land that wraps around Portmeirion. Previously, it had been owned by a plant hunter so there are some amazing specimen trees, including magnolias and a Californian redwood. It feels quite wild with lots of different pathways; I'm still finding new paths I haven’t been along before!
It’s a bit like parkland, but it’s heavily wooded. You walk between the trees and then glades open up in front of you and there are small ponds and lakes. Not many people go there so you’re often on your own. At certain points you get a view across the estuary, across to Harlech and back towards Porthmadog. It’s fantastic.
The previous owners loved dogs and there’s a dog cemetery in a peaceful glade, where they buried their pets. People leave flowers on the graves. Another area is known as the ghost garden and it’s full of Australasian-type plants with very grey leaves. It took me about six attempts over several years to find it; sometimes I think the paths move!
There are loads of fantastic azaleas and rhododendrons. The ancient rhododendrons tower above you and they have wonderful, structural trunks that frame and screen the planting beyond. It’s brilliant! Thanks to the microclimate, you can grow things there that you wouldn’t expect in the rest of the UK, let alone on the Welsh coast.
It has made me think about having more wild areas in my garden, and to plant more heavily with shrubs. Even though it’s an enormous area, you can translate the ideas into the much smaller space that I have at home.
My favourite spot is the furthest viewpoint you can get to and I make a point of going there at least once each time I visit, to sit peacefully and look out across the sea.
■ Portmeirion, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, Gwynedd, LL48 6ER; www.portmeirion. wales/visit/explore/the-gardens.