Storm Arwen: Work finished on Bodnant Garden clear up

Storm Arwen caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage to Bodnant Garden, and work has finally been completed on the restoration

Work to clear up extensive storm damage at one of Wales' finest gardens has been completed.

A year ago, Storm Arwen caused damage running into hundreds of thousands of pounds to Bodnant Garden, in Conwy county.

The Dell area was badly affected, with more than 50 trees were felled in one night by gale force winds.

Staff at the National Trust-owned garden will now start the work of replanting areas of the garden.

General Manager John Walker said the largest obstacle had to be cleared away was a large sequoia tree, which fell into the heart of the Dell area.

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"It's not just about the sequoia, it's also about the actual plants and shrubs that were underneath, there was a lot of history there, there were a lot of important plants," he said.

Four of Bodnant's 25 full-time gardeners, along with tree surgeons and machinery drivers brought in as contractors, have spent the past year working almost exclusively in the Dell area to clear away the debris, and begin the process of replanting.

The river bank has been repaired following the loss of a massive tree

New head gardener Ned Lomax oversaw the restoration project and said it had been difficult with a lot of plants lost, but he said many were propagated before they died, with hopes they could come back to the garden as new plants.

"It can be seen as a positive thing, this part of the garden was quite congested and dark, and now it's light and open, so the plants that survived, and the plants that go in will fair better," he said.

Head gardener Ned Lomax said he has had to take factors such as climate change into consideration when restoring the garden

Mr Walker added that while the storm was a highly unusual event, they will probably face such challenges more often in the future, because of the effects of climate change.