THE famous Christmas garland at Cotehele National Trust is taking shape as volunteers and staff painstakingly attach thousands of dried flowers to greenery.

Gardeners at Cotehele have grown and dried 30,000 flowers for the annual highlight for visitors and a festive tradition at Cotehele since 1956. This year is even more significant for the property, with it being the twentieth garland overseen by head gardener Dave Bouch. 

Back in 2004 when Dave Bouch first joined as head gardener at Cotehele, the garland was built by a team of only three people and loved by locals. The team has now grown to include a dedicated garland gardener, supported by a team of committed volunteers, and the garland is visited by around 30,000 people every year. 

Dave said: “Over the last 20 years, my highlight is really seeing visitors return every Christmas and watching their families grow, with the garland becoming part of their Christmas family tradition as well as ours.”

Although the garland is a Christmas tradition, it is the culmination of a whole year of hard work. All the flowers are picked and dried in the garden at Cotehele; seeds were sown in early spring, flower picking began in May, with stripping flowers to bunch and dry – taking place over the summer months. Each flower is added by hand to create the stunning 60-foot long display.

Dave Bouch added: “After 12 months of work by the garden team, we are now reaching the final 12 days of creating this year’s garland. This starts by creating an evergreen shrub base with pittosporum which we then put into position in the hall of the house, before individually placing every single flower to create this year’s amazing display. My favourite garland is always the one I’ve just done, because it reminds me of that growing year.”

Visitors can currently see the garland come alive. It is due to be completed this Saturday (November 23) and will be open until Sunday, January 5 (closed 25 and 26 December), 10.30am-4pm.