A walled garden in Wrexham will be holding an open day for people to come and enjoy the produce and learn more about their work in the community.
Erlas Victorian Walled garden was once the kitchen garden of the Bryn Estyn House, which had replaced an earlier Georgian house belonging to the Wrexham Lloyd banker family.
Around 20 years ago a group of people came together to restore the garden and use the space for the well-being and development of those with disabilities or circumstances that prevented them from accessing mainstream opportunities.
Now it is a community hub where volunteers and staff have come together to grow and learn both in and out of the garden, and funding by donations.
A bridge over the pond (Image: Newsquest)
Staff say that they see a positive change in the people who have worked in the garden who are able to grow their skills socially and learning.
The garden is open to the public, who can enter for free where plants, vegetables and fruit are all available for purchase and there is a café on site.
Elly Evans, the garden support worker said: “It’s the best job in the world, I come in on my days off.”
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The garden even produces its own confetti, from the petals of flowers from the garden.
The garden is weeded by hand, and also has its own orchard, and nature area with a pond and bird observation area.
@leaderlive_ The Erlas Victorian Walled Garden is simply stunning! #wrexham #walledgarden #Erlas #fruitandveg ♬ A tropical house that feels Summer vibes - Roa
In the garden, seasonal vegetables and fruit are grown, including grapes, rhubarb, carrots, pumpkins, peas, cooking apple and even giant cabbages!
The team is working to get more schools and guide groups involved and offer lessons in the Roundhouse as well as having outside areas for education and learning for children.
Elly added: “I’ve been given some extra hours for education here so my push is to get some schools involved, so we’ve had some schools here.”
The team has also seen the general public getting involved with some of the work.
Gardener Jim Crabtree said: “Now it’s picking up, we’ve got people walking past shouting ‘do you want a hand?’ ad they come down and help us weed. It’s really good.”
The garden is also home to a mulberry tree that is thought to be one of the oldest in Britain, at an estimated 250 to 300 years old.
The mulberry tree (Image: Newsquest)
Jim said: “This is everyone’s favourite part of the garden, because it's so old, it's an original, so this was here from when the first house was built. They must have planted this in the 1700s, and it could have been here before them.”
On Saturday, July 1, the garden will be holding an open day with stalls, a tombola and even a steel band from Ysgol Clywedog to entertain guests from 10am till 2pm.
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