Szarvas Arboretum

The Pepi-kert at Szarvas was laid out from the 1830s by the Bolza family on the bank of a cut-off arm of the Koros, and it grew into the largest arboretum in Hungary: around eighty hectares carrying well over a thousand woody taxa, including conifers and exotics planted early enough that many are now mature specimens of a size not seen elsewhere in the country. The layout is a landscape park rather than a botanical grid, with lawns, water and long views along the dead river arm, and it is at its best in the spring flowering and again in autumn colour. It is run as a research collection by a forestry institute, so labelling is thorough and the planting is documented.

What to look for

• Mature exotic conifers - specimens planted from the 1830s.
• Over a thousand woody taxa - the collection built as research material.
• The dead Koros arm - water and long views through the park.
• Landscape park layout - lawns and groves rather than beds.

When to go

April to May for flowering and October for colour. Half a day. Summer is hot and less interesting botanically. It is open year round with reduced winter hours.

What to expect

It is a tree collection: rewarding if that interests you and dull if it does not. Summer heat on the open lawns is heavy. Facilities are basic. Szarvas town is a long way from anywhere else worth stopping for.

Nearby

Gyula is south-east; Szolnok lies north-west.