Mlyňany Arboretum

Štefan Ambrózy-Migazzi began planting at Mlyňany in 1892 with a single idea: to make a garden that stayed green through the winter in a climate where almost nothing does, using evergreens collected from across the northern hemisphere. The core planting he made survives and the arboretum has grown to some sixty-seven hectares with around two thousand species, run by the Academy of Sciences, with East Asian, North American and Korean sections added later.

What you actually see

• The evergreen core - Ambrozy's original planting, designed to stay green all winter.
• The Asian sections - Chinese, Japanese and Korean collections added later.
• The species count - around two thousand woody species across sixty-seven hectares.
• The winter effect - a garden that keeps its colour when everything around is bare.

When to go

April to November is the main season, and the point of the place is best appreciated in late autumn and winter when everything else is bare. Rhododendrons flower in May. The arboretum closes early in winter.

Honest expectations

The site is large and covering it takes a couple of hours of walking. Labelling is largely in Slovak and Latin. Facilities are limited.

Nearby

Topolcianky is north, and Nitra is southwest.