Autumn In All Its Glory!

Snowcapped mountains and angled sunlight help to create an explosion of fiery colour to bring the season to a close at Bodnant.

- Geoff Hodge

Probably best known for its world-famous 54m (180ft) long laburnum arch, first planted in 1880 and taking two gardeners five weeks to prune it in January, Bodnant Garden (bod meaning dwelling and nant meaning valley: the dwelling in the valley) in North Wales is a fiery spectacle of foliage colours in autumn.

John Rippin has an idyllic job. As head gardener, he looks after one of the country’s finest collections of plants in a fabulous setting. It even looks a spectacle now. As John says: “The snowcapped mountains and lower-angled sunlight help to create a really dramatic end to the season, and act as the perfect stage set for autumn and winter performers.”

Having worked at several other renowned gardens, including Castle Drogo in Devon, Hidcote Manor in Gloucestershire, Heale House in Wiltshire and the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Hampshire, John is now extremely happy to be at Bodnant. “It’s the pinnacle of my career,” he says. “It combines all the things I loved about the other gardens, creating a complete ensemble. It’s the most challenging garden, but also the most rewarding.”

And despite now working further north than ever before, the climate isn’t one of his challenges. “It’s wetter, but not noticeably colder, thanks to being reasonably close to the coast and the Gulf Stream. There are lots of different microclimates to experiment with, too, thanks to the garden’s topography and layout. We do have to protect and move the more tender plants into a heated greenhouse, but we can plant out earlier in spring, and everything grows away well.”

The autumn colour reaches its pinnacle in the garden now, weather permitting! In November, the vast golden backdrop of native oaks and beeches come into their full autumn glory.