Hidden Gardeners Trail

Pinetum Gardens in St Austell, Cornwall, will launch two new outdoor trails this spring, one featuring sculptures, the other themed by a fictional story.

Pinetum Gardens boasts 30 acres of curated gardens holding 6,000 different plants which include native and exotic species.

Steel sculptures and secret gardens

New for spring is the Hidden Gardeners Trail. Celebrating the natural world's 'hidden gardeners', the sculptural trail features giant metal recreations of creatures which are essential to garden life.

Visitors can spot a bat, a bee, a beetle, a spider, a dragonfly and a snail, all made out of shaped steel as they walk around the park.

Groups can also take the new Soul Bird Trail, which has been adapted from a book called The Soul Bird by Michal Snunit, which was first published in Hebrew. The trail leads you from Pinetum’s ‘secret garden’ to the Soul Bird hideaway.

The trail is strewn with a series of cabinets located within the flora and fauna of the park, and visitors can open the drawers to discover poetic phrases, insightful inspiration and thoughts taken from the book.

The tour is described as a spiritual one that’s suitable for all ages. Both trails are free to enjoy.

More about Pinetum Gardens

Separated into ten different themed areas, Pinetum features 80 varieties of conifer including a giant redwood from America that can reach up to 90 metres in height.

Other highlights include: a Japanese garden, said to be inspired by visits to the botanical gardens in Kyoto; a water garden; a woodland garden with bluebells, camellias and rhododendrons; and a traditional Cornish cottage garden complete with water features and colourful flowers.

Group visits

Groups, tour operators, coach companies and garden societies are all welcome at Pinetum.

Discounted rates are available for pre-booked groups of 15 or more, welcome talks are available on the coach on arrival free of charge, and full guided tours are also available by prior arrangement.

For further information visit www.pinetumpark.com.