For years the owners of County Antrim’s Benvarden House woke up to the sound of roaring lions.
The exotic dawn chorus is hard to imagine now: the land that was once leased to a safari park has been restored to rolling grassland, roamed by nothing more alarming than sheep.
With its walled gardens and tree nurseries, the grounds have surprises that fit more naturally into the Northern Irish landscape than lions.
There’s the winter garden, where light at different times catches an array of bark colours and textures in the woodland, brightening even the dullest day.
A stream gurgles through the trees, descends down a small waterfall and into pools to create a home for water plants.
In summer there’s a spectacular display of roses, and home-made teas are available in the elegant stable courtyard.
Along the coast, the owners of Glenarm Castle conjured up a lion of their own one Christmas by re-creating Narnia in a corner of the walled garden, with artificial snow, talking animals and Santa’s elves handing out gifts.
Imaginative occasions in beautiful surroundings are part of Glenarm estate’s plans to be part of the community as well as a tourist attraction.
Acclaimed gardener Katherine Fitzgerald has overseen much of the planting in Glenarm’s new garden areas and created The Mount feature. This spiral earthwork provides a vantage point for views of the countryside.
On my hurried tour of Northern Ireland’s gardens, I started to get a little cranky that my hired car had no satellite navigation. The bigger gardens are well sign-posted, but hidden gems turned out to be well hidden.
But sat-nav would have deprived me of one of the great charms of the area – the helpful friendliness of the people.
In one small town the only people around were three teenage girls dressed in the belligerent, skimpy, Essex Girl-style that now seems universal. Polite as could be, they made sure I understood the route I had to take.
Featured on the BBC Secret Gardens series, Kilfaddy specialises in wild orchids, wood anemones and soft natural lines. Created with love, like Orchard Acre farm in Fermanagh, it is the project of a dedicated owner.
A “plot to plate” educational scheme for gardeners and children at Orchard Acre teaches people how to grow food, cook organically and harvest from nature. They also serve delicious nettle soup.
Keeping a garden that is an organic part of the landscape was the philosophy of Irish-born gardener William Roberson and the inspiration for Ballyrobert Cottage garden.
Ballyrobert specialises in local plants and has garden features referring to Irish mythology. A hedge has circles in it for viewing the moon, sacred to the Celts. A pillared entrance to the property has been built in basalt stone – and one of the pillars has a flat top so that, according to tradition, fairies can dance on it.
The owners are making a fun spiral maze through the swathes of rushes at the edge of their land that should be visible from aircraft overhead.
The grand gardens of Mount Stewart on the Ards peninsula make a different statement. Developed by flamboyant socialite Lady Edith Londonderry, there are Italianate garden rooms and imported statuary. There’s also an extensive collection of rhododendrons and southern hemisphere trees.
Until her death in 1959, Lady Edith sponsored plant-collecting expeditions and introduced many rare species to her gardens, as well as created informal areas of woodland around the large lake.
This whistle-stop tour only scratched the surface. All those visited have extensive nurseries and enthusiastic owners or expert guides to explain the plantings. There might not be lions, but there’s plenty for the nature-lover. Ask for directions – you may be surprised.
Travel Facts:
l Stena Line (www.stenaline.co.uk) offers crossings from Cairnryan to Belfast, Holyhead to Dublin Port, Liverpool to Belfast and Fishguard to Rosslare. Prices: £79 one-way (R1 000) for car and driver, extra adults £24, children under 16 £12.
l Irish Ferries (www.irishferries.com) sails from Holyhead to Dublin and Pembroke to Rosslare.
www.discoverireland.com - Sunday Tribune