Last week was all about local adventures. With both kids off at sleepaway camp, we wanted to make the most of our time close to home — no overnight bags, no itinerary spreadsheets (though you know I love a good travel spreadsheet!), and no flights to catch.
The Tangled Garden in Grand Pré had been sitting on my mental to-do list for literal years. It’s even been featured in Martha Stewart Living (which should have tipped me off), but somehow, we’d never made the trip.
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you’ll know I’m a frugal girl at heart. So, full transparency: the $10 entrance fee (kids under 15 are free) was the main reason I’d held off visiting. Nova Scotia is full of stunning landscapes, most of them free — did I really want to pay to visit a garden?
Turns out the answer is a resounding yes.
For the past 30 years, Beverley McClare has been designing a masterpiece just outside Wolfville. Her line of savoury jellies (which we’ve loved for ages) are made with ingredients grown right on the property — alongside small-batch sweet jams, herb vinegars, liqueurs, non-alcoholic cordials, and ice creams.
But the real magic is the garden itself.
This isn’t your average stroll through manicured flower beds.
We saw lily-covered ponds, meandering paths, a dry creek-bed trail, and even a seven-circuit labyrinth. There’s a tea room, a tented wedding space with a dance floor, and beautiful natural backdrops everywhere you look.
The fun starts at the entrance to the garden where the walls of her shop are covered in drying herbs and the range of (delicious!) products made on-site.
It all felt like The Secret Garden meets Cottingley Fairies, sprinkled with a little pixie dust courtesy of Tinkerbell.
At the entrance to the garden, there’s a gong. Naturally, John couldn’t resist tapping it. (I have a feeling Indy would have a hard time limiting it to one tap.) Beverley heard the clanging and popped her head out the door to tell us we’d discovered the proper way to announce your presence to the resident fairies and gnomes. (Michelle and Nicole, you would love this place!)
Phew. We managed to pass the first test.
“Reserved for fairies, gnomes & elves. No human bottoms!” I mean…can you even?
We must have said at least a dozen times — probably more — this place must be perfect for wedding photos. The soft, natural light. The layers of texture and colour. The feeling that you’ve stepped into another world.
The tea room is…adorable. You can get a picnic basket full of baked goods and enjoy a “plein-air” picnic on Saturday and Sunday afternoons all summer.
It felt like I was wandering around the set of The Secret Garden!
There were flowering bushes, plants, and trees everywhere. I mean, I know it’s a garden — but this felt next-level. I’ve been to formally landscaped gardens in various parts of the world, but this truly felt like something out of a fairy tale.
Here I am, full Maximus-from-Gladiator mode, walking through the labyrinth and running my hands through the tall grass. (Okay, I guess that’s not exactly a fairy tale vibe, but still magical.)
There were new things to see around every corner. Lots of colours and textures and different forms of shade/light.
Even the outdoor washrooms had a touch of whimsy. One mirror looked like a magical portal — framed by greenery and reflecting the garden so perfectly, we didn’t even realize it was a mirror until we got close. Perfect selfie spot!
All good things must come to an end, but before we left, we picked up a new jelly to try: Hot Dilly Cuke. SO good. Like dill and cucumbers fresh from the garden decided to throw a spicy party.
This little corner of Nova Scotia is something special. If you’ve ever debated whether it’s “worth it” to pay to wander through a garden — this one might just change your mind.
It has mine!
Your turn.
- Which do you prefer: wild, whimsical gardens or structured, manicured ones?
- If you could design a dream garden, what would it include? (Fairy doors? Elaborate water features? Secret benches? A maze?) I think I’d opt for plants that actually grow despite my desperately pale green thumb.
- What’s one place in your own community you’ve always meant to visit but haven’t gotten around to yet?
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Wow. Magical, indeed.
I think my dream garden would involve someone else doing all the work! I don’t have much skill in the landscaping department and while I love the aesthetic and function (go pollinators), I have no real desire to do the research and work myself.
I am here for someone else doing all the work! Coming up with the ideas might not be so bad – or at least doing it in consultation with someone – but the planting and buying and knowing what to do with the plants. Yikes. I don’t have the skillset for doing it well.
Hmm. I think I like all gardens. For some reason it feels like it would be easier to design a structured garden and have it look good. It almost feels like it takes more “talent” or creative vision to create something that’s a bit more wild and whimsical. Does that make sense?
This logic makes perfect sense to me. I’m sure both take their own form of talent and eye for design, but I really enjoyed seeing something that was a bit more wild. But it was “wild” in a way that was so perfectly orchestrated and executed upon!
Gladiator is such a classic movie and that scene is especially memorable. I can see why it popped into your head.
Hindsight is always 20/20 when paying for something. Sometimes it’s worth it and sometimes it’s not. Unfortunately it can mean spending good money on letdowns…and deciding not to spend money on things that would have been great. I guess that’s part of the adventure?
Nova Scotia is just beautiful. I can’t believe how many gorgeous things seem to be located so close together geographically.
Nova Scotia is a gem.
I was speaking to some people about NS the other day (other enthusiasts) and I appointed myself a “Nova Scotia evangelist.” I’m especially humbled to be able to “preach” to people who are largely “from away” as we would call it in the Maritimes.
There is something unique about the people, the landscape, and the way of life in Nova Scotia that makes it a true gem in the world.
The biggest “bad money spent” memory for me was the forced perspective of Borromini in Rome. Underwhelming and through a series of language miscues (and a particularly rude staff member), it was an epic fail! Thankfully, Tangled Garden more than made up for that experience.
Oh wow! You weren’t kidding when you said the Tangled Garden is a gem! This is a place I’d love to visit, and I’m sure the gnomes and fairies are very happy living there! (No human bottoms!! Ha! Ha!) I love visiting a garden. We went to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria for our honeymoon and 25th anniversary. There’s a gorgeous rose garden in Portland, Oregon, and there’s a magnificent garden in Utah (Thanksgiving Point). My parents have an amazing garden and I love to walk through it. However, I don’t really love gardening! Isn’t that crazy? There’s too much sun and too many bugs – plus our weather makes it complicated. I love to see both natural and manicured gardens.
I love the photo of you running through the tall grass! Magical!
I thought of you immediately when I saw those chairs, Michelle!
You have to be an outdoor lover to be a contented gardener, that’s for sure. Between weather and bugs, it’s not for the faint of heart.
I don’t think I knew your parents had an impressive garden. I’d love to see pictures!
I trust your review but I can’t wait to verify it in person!
My answer to the question about whimsical or structured is that beautiful is beautiful. It’s two different ways to getting to the same end. My dream garden would include lots of little nooks that where I could enjoy my morning coffee or nest with a book, and since I don’t enjoy gardening or taking care of green stuff, it would also include staff to take care of it (shhh…don’t tell my family that I just called them “staff”).
As you know I come from a frugal background, and in recent years I’ve done a lot of local travel, and now not-local travel. I really can’t think of many admission fees that I’ve regretted paying. I guess it’s like the whimsical vs structured question – both have their place!
Yes! Clearly my review needs corroboration, so a huge sigh of relief you’re on your way (IN A LITTLE OVER A MONTH!) to do just that 😉
Love that approach to gardens. Beautiful is beautiful. Amen.
Chuckling over the family staff. My father-in-law is a wonderful gardener, but beyond that, I can’t think of anyone in my family that’s a natural with green stuff, so I might have to look beyond my family to keep this dream garden of mine alive.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Ten dollars is a STEAL for that kind of magic! How amazing! I want to go there!!!! It’s magical!
Listen, I love a manicured garden as much as the next person but I also love it wild! My own gardens are pretty whimsical, lots of colours, lots of gnomes, kind of crazy and full. My garden is my dream garden, honestly.
I recently went to the Kangaroo Farm, which is a local thing I’ve heard about a lot but never visited. It is, weirdly enough, a sanctuary for kangaroos and other down under animals. How they got to KELOWNA is a whole thing (the OG kangaroos came from NZ, which was culling the kangaroo population as it was destroying native species). Anyway, it’s been there for decades and I went with my little niece and it was pretty fun!
Nicole, the instant you arrive in Nova Scotia I promise to take you here. (Side note: please tell Rob he needs to start planning a trip to NS…like today.)
My friend “My garden is my dream garden.” This is why you’re such a ray of sunshine!
Wait, you went to a kangaroo farm?
Looks like an amazing place!! Definitely worth the $10! I also giggled at the Gladiator reference- ironically, that movie was randomly on one of our TV movie channels on Thursday (when someone had left the TV on) and I stopped to watch just maybe 10 minutes of it in passing- and it was that scene! Ha. Hadn’t seen that movie in ages otherwise!
It didn’t hit me right away. It actually takes a surprisingly long time to work through the labyrinth. But I unconsciously started running my hand through the tall grass (that was rustling in this mesmerizing way), and then it hit me. Wow! I feel like Maximus. Thankfully, no death or mayhem ensued…
We’ll have to figure out if Sarah wants to go too. I hope you enjoy the space as much as I did!
I like both wild and structured gardens. This looks like it’s worth more than the ten dollar entrance fee. Wow—so very gorgeous and natural and creative, and, and, and!!
So, did you have any of the ice cream? I’m intrigued about the Rose Petal flavor.
I didn’t have any ice cream. The servings were quite small and, well, I can’t completely throw my frugal nature out the window, right? But I was very intrigued. And I know I’ll be back with Cool Bloggers in the next few months, so I’m certain I’ll cave and try some. Will report back 😉
Oh my goodness, thank you for those stunning photos! If Tangled Garden were anywhere near me, I’d have a season pass! (hopefully they would offer a discount…)
I’m totally on board with the wild, whimsical garden vibe. My dream garden would definitely have hidden nooks with cozy benches, winding paths, and a pond full of ducks waddling about.
We’re going to see an immersive Titanic show in Zurich this September with my parents. I shelled out USD 20 per ticket, so fingers crossed it’s worth it. My dad already joked he hopes it’s not too immersive! 😂
They actually DO have a season’s pass. I think it’s $26!
That show sounds intriguing. And yes, hopefully not too immersive indeed. I’d like to keep my feet on firm ground (and dry at that).
What a lovely place to visit! I enjoyed your thoughts and pics so much 🙂
What a gorgeous place! I definitely prefer a wild, whimsical garden, and if I ever get to Nova Scotia, I will need to visit that one. It reminds me of the book I just finished, The Spellshop. It has the same “feel”.
I would want bird baths and fountains, fairy houses and paper lanterns for nighttime, and plants of all time with a gardener who could help me keep it all up. 🙂
Thank you for sharing your trip with us.
Sounds like a magical place indeed (love the idea of paper lanterns to make the magic keep on well into the evening). Of course there would be lots of fireflies too, right?
And I’d definitely need need a gardener on full time to help me!
This garden looks absolutely gorgeous. I would choose a wild garden over a formal garden every time. At home I’ve tried to make our garden beds very full, to give that look, but we have a lot of paving that cannot be changed as it is the roof of the basement carpark. If I had plenty of room and plenty of time, I would include secret benches and a labyrinth rather than a maze. We have a little water feature in our garden and I feel like some kind of water is a must in a garden. Just before COVID they opened the roof the Melbourne Exhibition Building for tours and I would love to do that. We have also never been up to the observation deck of the Eureka tower.
I always love seeing pictures of your garden. We have almost no landscaping at our place and that’s something to work on in the coming years. We had to tear up everything to deal with tree roots and such, so now we’re in a phase of rebuilding what was removed…bit by bit. Maybe next summer we’ll add in some shrubbery!
There are lots of secret benches AND a labyrinth at Tangled Garden. I hope you and G come visit Nova Scotia and I’ll definitely take you there for a visit <3
I like any garden, but the gardens of my heart are a little less manicured and a little more wild. This is unbelievably magical – I’m overdue for a Nova Scotia visit anyway, so I will put it on the list. I just finished blogging about a day trip and ornamental gardens, fortuitously enough, although mine was prompted by my kid coming home rather than going away.
Allison! Come to Nova Scotia! And bring Nicole (she’s also overdue). You’d love the Tangled Garden.
And I just read your post a bit earlier today and it is magical!!
I LOVE THIS! I would much rather visit a garden like this than a more structured one. I think this is WELL worth the $10. Two questions- did you try the ice cream? And what do you use the jellyon- do you spread it on toast?
Jenny, I vote you and Paul do a Canadian road trip and come visit me in NS and I’ll take you to Tangled Garden 😉
I did NOT try the ice cream. But I have a feeling between trips with Birchie and Kae/Sarah this fall, I WILL.
I used the jelly on homemade biscuits. So good!
This might be my dream garden 😍😍😍 Oh it’s just so darling!!! As someone who got married/eloped in an urban garden, I must say this one takes the cake for being the most *perfect* wedding destination.
It felt like around every little corner was a new surprise and lovely backdrop. While my wedding is in the rearview mirror, I’m thinking we might need to do family pictures here this fall!
What a gorgeous place to visit. You definitely got your money’s worth. What a photographer’s dream, though!
I like both structured and wild gardens. I can’t even say we have actual gardens at our house. We haven’t put much time and effort into the landscaping but I’d probably go with a structured kind of garden since it fits best for a city lot IMO. I would like more hydrangeas as that is one of my favorite flowers!
We have so little landscaping at our property now. It’s sad because when we bought our place there were grape vines all over the place, two weeping willows, three apple trees, hostas EVERYWHERE, lilacs, and a cedar hedge. Of that, only one tree is left 🙁 It was hard to dig up and remove all the old things, but for various reasons we had to do just that.
It’s time to start rebuilding some of the landscaping because it does so much for the aesthetics of a house.
Wow, what a beautiful place Elisabeth! So fun you’ve discovered something so special so close to home. And now you have something additional to take visitors to, so you can make up for the lost years of not visiting. I’m not sure I have a preference between wild and manicured gardens – they are special in their own way. We have a VERY wild acre of gardens, and let me tell you, its hard work keeping wild gardens under control – there’s a fine line between naturally charming and totally overgrown haha! We have the opposite problem to you – we have TOO many plants and they grow too well, especially in summer we spent so much of our time just cutting back the plants that are trying to block our driveways, paths, etc. HA.
Isn’t that the irony about plants — they grow when we don’t want them to, and don’t grow when we DO want them to!
Absolutely stunning! Thank you for bringing the blog along with you into this wonderland.
I am gobsmacked! What happens to the place in those long winters?? Does the owner have a real job too? I want to know how many employees it takes to keep things in order. I want to go there in person. I want the owner to come make my property look like that. I want to live where water isn’t a problem. I want to know if she battles deer, gophers, bad bugs, and birds. I want, I want, I want. . . sigh.
I don’t know any of the answers to these questions, Jana. I guess that means you just need to come to Nova Scotia for a visit and ask her!
Oh my gosh. What a whimsical and beautiful place. And you have such a talent for capturing it in photos.
It does make me want to re-read The Secret Garden. (I secretly hope Engie chooses it for the next Cool Bloggers Bookclub).
I haven’t read The Secret Garden in years (and remember not loving it as a kid), so I’m fascinated to see what I’d think of it now. I’ll definitely vote for it for CBBC!