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Stephen, easily our favourite gardener in Cornwall, is originally from Kent and discovered his love for gardening at the age of three. Travelling further south and working on projects for places such as the Eden Project, Stephen has always remained passionate about gardening and now enjoys this hobby as his own business.
Since working at The Alverton, Stephen has enjoyed being given a free hand at shaping, nurturing and preserving the ancient gardens.
The fact that in the small city of Truro, you’ve got such a spectacular garden with such beautiful, unusual trees. There are also such lovely buildings that have been restored and developed over the years. There’s a real mixture – it’s like a real sanctuary in the city.
Gosh, that’s a tough one! I think for me my favourite thing about the plants here, and Cornwall’s unparalleled climate itself, is that you can grow things you wouldn’t normally be able to grow in other parts of the country. The garden has some fine examples, such as plants like the capensis, which have grown almost wild here. I couldn’t pick a top favourite plant, but Cornwall and its plants are very special for that reason.
The walled car park must have been a vegetable fruit garden, as there are signs that there was a big greenhouse in there. The second secret is that there may have been a lake at the bottom of The Alverton’s garden. I was gardening here one afternoon and a visitor stopped for a chat. She told me she had read a book from 1908 and that it described that there was once a river, before the roads were developed. I wish I could recall what the book was called as I’d love to find out for certain!
A large part of my day consists of maintenance, such as sweeping and tidying up borders. The other moments are rather more exciting, like pruning the huge numbers of shrubs here. The trees here are really spectacular, so I enjoy making sure they look their best.
It’s such a an interesting garden, right in the middle of a city. And also a working hotel!
Make sure that you continue to enjoy your garden. What I mean by that is, keep on top of the maintenance. Don’t let it get out of control. That way it won’t become a duty rather than a pleasure.
A great night’s sleep and cream tea or two house drinks - from £119 for two people. Valid from 1st December 2023 to 28th March 2024.
Our garden view rooms have views of The Alverton gardens, each with varying details so no two are the same. They are all airy, spacious and charming.