Hardymount

Opening Months: May, June, July, August
Opening Days: Sunday
Opening Hours: 2-6pm, Sun & Bank Hols; during festival and also at other times by appointment for groups
Admission Charge: €5 per person in aid of Cancer Research

• Appointment Only
• Admission Charge

 “Welcome to my garden,” says the notice hanging on the gate, and indeed it is a welcoming place. The sight of Hardymount - a 1730s former road house with Regency bow ends added a century later - is enough to raise expectations. Set amid lawns, a sweeping drive and mature trees, the romantic house is veiled in old roses and the walled garden hides behind it like a child behind a mother’s skirts.

Vistas down grass paths, espaliered apples trees, a wisteria pergola and a lily pond, its corners marked by topiary box, give the garden its formal structure. In between these features big rectangular beds barely contain the exuberant display of herbaceous perennials. In high summer Hemerocallis and Lobelia tupa and Ligularia provide gold and fire while roses with Tradescantia make unusual bed fellows.

Each turn in the grid of paths reveals something new, a little parterre of box with a sundial in the centre or a greenhouse sheltering ripe grapes. A pair of venerable Hoheriamake a focal point at the end of the garden and the grassy paths lead to vistas of statues - and the discovery of a rustic gazebo, and a productive vegetable patch hidden away behind trellis.

And there are also the kind of treasures you might expect to find in a long established garden: a peony bed with companion tree peonies, prolific old fashioned climbing roses, Arisaema, hollyhocks and foxgloves.


Best time of year to visit: May, June, July, August

Groups & Tours

• Groups Accepted
• Groups Need Appointments
• Accept Only Groups
• Guided Tours

Tour Days:

Tour Times

appointment for groups

Additional

Festivals

Wicklow Garden Festival