The magnificent botanical gardens provide us with inspiration and ingredients. The English estate teas and herbal infusions originated here, Manuka and wildflower honeys were pioneered here, and more botanicals are awaiting discovery. The conservation collection is well known in the botanical world and is an official safe site for many endangered species as well as significant registered national collections.

The gardens, both by the river and east of the house, are the beating heart of the estate and we are constantly inspired by their resilience and beauty.

The flora at Tregothnan has been cherished for seven centuries. From the 1840s it became a global hotspot for botanical innovations,  “the most introduced plants anywhere in the world now flourish in Cornwall” according to horticulturalist Philip McMillan Browse. The equable climate is moderated by the vast Atlantic Ocean as the ocean air rises above the ten-mile ridge of Cornwall. The humid air loses its damaging saltiness begore reaching the plantations.  Tregothnan itself is six miles upstream on the banks of the deep-sea creek that is the river Fal – truly a micro-climate that has supported many extraordinary species of fruit trees and an enormous range of rare plants for centuries. Tregothnan river gardens perfectly mimics the atmosphere of the  high foothills of the Himalayas. The main expansion of the collection in recent years has been in the River Gardens, where visitors are invited to tour the expansive orchards, tea and jungle gardens. The linear riverside gardens are unique in having such a large waterside backdrop, almost every garden view looks out onto the vast river running through Tregothnan and its tidal tributaries.