Summerfield Botanical Garden

Summerfield is a private garden in the Malkerns Valley developed around a resort, planted over decades with palms, cycads, indigenous trees and a large collection of ornamentals, laid out around ponds and lawns with the valley hills behind. It is a designed garden rather than a wild one and the maintenance is close. Non-residents can visit and walk the grounds, and the cycad collection is the part specialists come for.

What you actually see

• The cycad collection - the part of the planting specialists come to see.
• The palms - the collection through the middle of the garden.
• The ponds and lawns - the layout the planting is arranged around.
• The valley setting - the Malkerns hills rising behind the grounds.

When to go

September to April is the growing season and the garden is at its fullest. Winter is dry and much is dormant. Mornings are best before the valley heat.

Honest expectations

It is a resort garden and the visit runs alongside hotel operations. The entry fee is high for the size. Much of the planting is ornamental rather than native.

Nearby

Malkerns Valley is around it, and Manzini is east.