Temperatures have been exceeding 40 degrees centigrade in the garden consistently over the past weeks, and some of the plants, such as the poppy cultivar Patty's plum, near the veranda, have become stressed as a result. We have a limited irrigation system at the Plas, so we are working around what we have. Too much water is as bad as not enough, and the worst thing that could happen now is that we have a downpour as some of the plants will be smashed to pieces.

The Keating sisters, who donated the property to The National Trust, must have had a plan when they started on the garden, but it will have evolved. There are a few rarities in the garden such as the Japanese Snowdrop tree styrax japonica. It's not progeny of the garden, but there was one here before as part of the exotics collections from Australasia, Japan and Chile. This collection illustrates that the sisters had an interest in those countries, horticulturally at least.

There's a Maakia (left), a member of the leguminosae or pea family, from Japan. Another unusual plant is the Colvilei (top), a member of the buddleia family, it's fairly rare and from Eastern China. Not everyone delights in the rare plant, some visitors, especially from areas of Britain without acid soil, love the fact that fuchsias grow here. Wonderful smells come from roses such as the Moss rose (below), one of the first groups of roses introduced in Britain in the 17th century. I'd love to be able to bottle it.

There are many wild flowers and weeds at the Plas, many moved into the garden by the sisters, things like wild Penllyn orchids. With some of the more invasive plants such as the periwinkle, we take heed of how far it's spreading and take action if we think it's necessary. We work a lot from the memories of people who visited at the time the Keatings lived here, there's even a photograph of me as a wiper-snapper with my brothers when we visited with the family.

There are seven varieties of boxus sempervirens, the common box - mostly Mediterranean, with one Japanese and one from North America - in the garden and we clip them constantly to keep them in check, so that they counteract the 'wildness' of the rest of the planting. But even The National Trust sometimes gets it wrong. A few years ago we lifted all the geraniums in the garden, identified them and bagged them up, as we were waiting for a few cultivars we had ordered. The decision was to lose a third of the original population, composting some or planting them up to be sold at the annual plant fair at Plas yn Rhiw. But the wrong third was thrown away, and we didn't realise until the following year when one of the beds came up, not mixed with blue, blue and white etc, but all in pink.

Because we have so few staff some areas have had to be left, but by next year the vegetable garden should be up and running and there are plans to have a small lean-to Victorian greenhouse, so we can do some small-scale propagation. It will also be open to the public. We work hard at the Plas to make sure that the way we garden does not affect the visitors, so no machines are used when the property is open. It's part of the experience of visiting the garden to experience the stillness and quietness. It has such an effect on people it's a bit like entering a library and people speak in hushed tones whilst they are here!

Staying faithful to the past.