A Natural Christmas at Trebah Garden

This Christmas, Trebah Garden, near Falmouth, has embraced the beauty of its sub-tropical garden. Staff and volunteers have been working tirelessly over the past few weeks to create a stunning display of decorations in Trebah’s Visitor Centre, crafted largely from plants and leaves gathered from its 26-acre valley.

Throughout autumn the gardeners have collected a huge variety of plant material that would otherwise have been deadheaded and composted and woven some magic to turn them into decorations. Nestled amongst it all, a visitor favourite also returns - the ‘Elford Express, a model locomotive laden with presents destined for the North Pole.

With tinsel crafted from chestnut and acer leaves and cuttings from their iconic 70-year-old Hydrangeas which cloak the garden in blue every summer, other delights from around the world include Banksia, Callistemon, Agapanthus, Pterocarya, Eryngium and bamboo. Instead of an angel atop the tree, visitors will find palm fronds - a fitting nod to Trebah’s sub-tropical microclimate and its champion Chusan palm, Trachycarpus fortunei, which is the tallest in the UK.