Last year I briefly mentioned that a new Coronation Garden had been opened by King Charles and Queen Camilla close to where I live. Located in Hazelbank park on the shores of Belfast Lough, the royal couple opened the Coronation Garden in Newtownabbey back in May 2023. Diarmuid Gavin, the celebrity Irish gardener designed it and he has created a truly wonderful garden. Accordingly, I thought it deserved a few more words dedicated to it on this blog.
The garden’s design
The Coronation Garden is a three floor pavillion topped by a crown, surrounded by a tapestry of beautiful herbaceous perennials which at this time of year are coming into peak loveliness. You walk along a circular path with the garden to your right and a wildflower garden to your left. Every fifteen minutes as you walk round the garden, you are treated to a musical performance of dancing topiary and rotating conical trees. Indeed, while I was there, the trees did a dance to the sound of ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ by Morecambe and Wise which, I must admit, brought a smile to my face 🙂
The star of the show for me, though, is the planting.
The Wildflower Garden
At this time of year, the wildflower garden is full of swathes of soft yellow buttercups, cheerful oxeye daisies, purple alliums and towering white camassias. Buzzing with pollinators and swaying in the early morning breeze, it adds a carefree, early summer vibe to proceedings.
The main garden
As I mentioned, the main garden is full of herbaceous perennials, creating a cornucopia of colour at every turn. Geraniums, nepeta and geums feature heavily throughout the garden. I also spotted irises, salvia, knautia, poppies, silene, daisies and candelabra primula. I’m sure there are others too. As always, I made a mental note to add more perennials to my little garden. It might be a tight squeeze but I just loved the sheer feeling of abundance in the Coronation Garden. Not a single patch of earth was left unoccupied by plants !
Visiting the garden
Honestly, I took so many photographs during my visit, what I’ve shared here is just a fraction. At that time of the morning, around 9am, I had the garden to myself which was lovely. I suspect though, over the coming months, visitor numbers will start to increase again after winter. In fact, last year between May and November in its first year of opening, approximately 120, 000 people visited the garden. The local council has plans to upgrade some of the adjacent facilities to include a cafe which should boost visitor numbers even further. Personally, for me, a visit to a garden should always end with coffee and cake !
The garden is free to enter and there is ample free car parking nearby. At weekends, a little coffee van parks up in the car park serving refreshments and traybakes. The Coronation Garden opens between 9 am and 9pm during the summer months. You can round off your visit and take in the sea views with a walk through Hazelbank Park and along the shore at Belfast Lough.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I do hope I have brought a little horticultural happiness to your inbox today.
Take care,
Paula x
Useful Links
King Charles: Diarmuid Gavin-designed coronation garden unveiled
Other posts from Typewriter Girl to enjoy:-
Yet another place for my list!! Looks like a lovely place to get lost in for a bit!
Gosh, that list must really be very long at this stage ! It is really a lovely garden 🙂
It’s more like a small booklet 😂❤️
Stunning photos, and I love your descriptions!
Oh thank you very much. It is such a beautiful garden 🙂
I love the colour and the detail of the pavilion, but the flowers are exquisite too!
Yes, the pavilion is very ornate. I love the disco ball at the top !
Another great post with amazing photos! Definitely worth a visit, especially if there’s tea & cake close by! 🌹🙋♂️