Glenarm Castle Walled Garden

Glenarm Castle Walled Garden sits within the estate of the Earls of Antrim on the County Antrim coast. The garden was first made in the 1820s to supply the castle with fruit, vegetables and cut flowers, and it has been fully re-imagined and restored by the present Lord and Lady Antrim. In 2023, after a national public vote, it was named Historic Houses Garden of the Year.

Today the garden still reflects its productive past, but in a more ornamental way. Expect vibrant herbaceous borders, decorative fruit gardens and a potager-style vegetable garden, all planted to give colour from early spring until the end of October. Climb the Mount, a raised viewpoint, to look out across the North Channel to Scotland. One of Ireland's largest Victorian glasshouses still in use stands in the garden, along with water features, sculptures and oak structures made by local craftspeople. A Woodland Walk continues beyond the walls, and the drive to the castle passes under an arch of lime trees planted in the 18th century.

Kitchen gardeners will enjoy the potager, which shows how vegetables can be laid out to look as good as a flower border, and the decorative fruit gardens offer ideas for training fruit in ornamental ways. The estate also has a dog park, a play area, places to eat and drink, shops and the Antrim McDonnell Heritage Centre, so it works well for a family day out. Castle tours are offered at certain times and can be combined with afternoon tea.