Five beech trees had fallen in the valley area, nine very large trees had fallen across the drive blocking access and on the east side “a massive lime and a massive beech had flattened a whole corner of the garden”, he added.
Long said the pine and fir trees which had been planted as a windbreak some 200 years ago had fallen first.
He said they would have to take more damaged trees down and the camellias, a flowering plant, had also been badly affected at Trewithen – a Cornish word which means house of the trees.
Long said they would have to recover, replant and start again in some areas of the garden.
“This will be our great storm,” he said.
“In 1987, the south-east of England got hit and Kew Gardens was really hit devastatingly. This will be ours.”