Cae HirGardens

Wil Akkermans, whose family had worked in the Dutch tree-nursery trade for generations, began clearing a derelict smallholding at Cribyn in 1983 after settling in Ceredigion from the Netherlands. Working mostly with hand tools, he laid out the garden in stages, opening the first phase to the public in 1989 and completing the final section in 1995. The garden became one of the Royal Horticultural Society's original Partner Gardens in 2004, recognised for its themed plantings of native and exotic species. Akkermans handed the garden to his children, Julie and Stuart, in 2009, and they continue to run it along with an on-site plant nursery propagated from stock grown in the garden itself, and a tearoom serving light lunches and cakes. The gardens sit in the hills above Lampeter and open seasonally through spring and summer, drawing garden society visits and RHS-affiliated tour groups from across Wales.