25 beautiful British gardens to visit all year round
In every corner of Britain and Ireland, there is another beautiful garden to be discovered, each with its own variety of beautiful flowers and unique design. Taking an insider's road trip around the UK and Ireland, our garden editor Clare Foster rounds up beautiful gardens to visit that are off the beaten track, from a wonderful garden in the Scottish Highlands with a vast variety of snowdrops, to a contemporary garden in Sussex. Some of these gardens (as well as many more) can be accessed via the National Garden Scheme, an always brilliant source for finding less well-known gardens in any part of Great Britain and Ireland.
GAP Photos/Carole Drake - Garden Doddington Hall Owners Claire & James Birch1/25Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire
These historic gardens are at their best in early summer, when Doddington’s spectacular collection of bearded irises is in bloom. Swathes of irises can be seen in the parterres of the west garden and in the kitchen garden, which contains a collection of tall bearded irises raised by the celebrated breeder Bryan Dodsworth. The gardens at Doddington Hall are open Wed, Fri, Sun & BH Mon until the end of July, and daily in August 2023, 10am-4pm.
Admission £8.50. doddingtonhall.com
2/25Woolbeding, West Sussex
A new glasshouse designed by Heatherwick Studio forms the centrepiece to the newly planted Silk Route Garden at the National Trust’s Woolbeding Gardens in West Sussex. The 10-sided pyramidal glasshouse opens out like petals into a 141-square-metre space showcasing tender plants such as Aralia vietnamensis. ‘This is a place and a project that literally unfolds,’ says Thomas Heatherwick. ‘You step into a bewitchingly beautiful garden and discover an object that starts like a jewel and ends like a crown.’ Open Thursday-Friday, 10.30am-4.30pm.
Pre-booked entry £10. nationaltrust.org.uk
3/25Chelsea Physic Garden, London
Celebrating its 350th anniversary this year, Chelsea Physic Garden, SW3, has organised plenty of events to highlight this milestone. These include a talk by Pamela Holmes about the botanical illustrator Elizabeth Blackwell, followed by a botanical drawing workshop. The garden will be awakening after winter, with impressive plantings of bulbs and early-spring blossom alongside permanent displays of medicinal, edible and exotic plants.
Open from Sunday to Friday; admission £10. chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk
4/25Wimpole Hall, Cambridgeshire
This impressive house in Cambridgeshire is part of a working estate that includes parkland, a farm and a walled garden. With its variety of fruit trees, Wimpole’s orchard looks spectacular in spring, while the walled garden is home to many trained varieties. Beginning with apricot, plum and greengage blossom early in the season, the beauty continues with apples and pears and, finally, medlars and quinces. Daffodils, fritillaries and tulips add to the views. Open daily 9.30–4.30pm all year round; adult admission is £18.
nationaltrust.org.uk
5/25Forde Abbey, Somerset
Plan a visit to Chard, Somerset, to see the new plantings at Forde Abbey. Head gardener Joshua Sparkes has created a tapestry of spring bulbs, such as tulips, narcissi and muscari, combined with perennials and biennials to form ribbons of colour through the garden. An interconnected swirl of tulips planted in the grass allows visitors to enjoy the flowers close up.
fordeabbey.co.uk
6/25Antony Woodland Garden, Cornwall
With a wonderful setting alongside the Lynher Estuary near Plymouth, Antony Woodland Garden is back open this year. With a landscape originally designed in the 18th century by Humphry Repton and Reginald Pole-Carew, the garden was used by Tim Burton as a location for his film Alice in Wonderland. It is particularly magical in spring, with nearly 250 different types of magnolia and swathes of primroses, celandines and bluebells. This year, the garden is due to be open from February 14 until the end of October, 10.30am-5pm, and is closed on Mondays (except on Bank Holidays).
antonywoodlandgarden.com
7/25Feeringbury Manor, Essex
Although they look as if they have been here for hundreds of years, the gardens at Feeringbury Manor have been created over the past 40 years around a 14th-century manor house. With two ponds and the River Blackwater running through the gardens, there are many different habitats, and although a yew framework provides structure, the planting is lush and informal. The garden is open frequently through the NGS, including several dates in the autumn. It is a particularly wonderful sight in spring with glorious blossom, a jewelled lawn and many varieties of tulip. Later on, the herbaceous borders come to the fore, with a collection of Michaelmas daisies brightening up the latter part of the year.
ngs.org.uk
8/25Knightshayes, Devon
This is one of the finest woodland gardens in the country, with lots of different areas to explore. In early spring, the slopes are studded with magnolias and camellias, with erythroniums and wood anemones underneath. If you leave your visit until slightly later, the rhododendrons and bluebells will be out. The garden is open 10am–5pm and entry costs £11.
nationaltrust.org.uk
9/25Fairlight End, East Sussex
Fairlight End, near Hastings, is a contemporary garden with flower meadows, kitchen garden and interesting planting, with sweeping views to the English Channel. Steeply sloping in all directions, the site has been described by its owner as ‘odd, wonky and windswept’. Garden designer Ian Kitson came up with an ingenious method for terracing the space, using a sinuous Corten steel retaining wall to divide two areas. Linking the garden to the Sussex Weald countryside beyond, the planting is relaxed and naturalistic, focused on texture and movement, and planted in zones that envelop paths and steps rather than in traditional borders. The garden is open for the NGS and by appointment.
fairlightend.co.uk | ngs.org.uk
10/25Holbrook, Devon
Holbrook Garden near Sampford Peverell in Devon is open on sporadic dates throughout the summer. Taking inspiration from natural plant communities, the owner has filled two acres on a south-facing hillside with a joyous mix of plants to resemble an enhanced meadow. With the emphasis on vibrant colour and interesting texture, the experimental plantings mix native flora with wilder forms of non-natives in an open matrix that allows for self seeding.
holbrookgarden.com
11/25Cothay Manor, Somerset
Around a fabulous 14th-century moated manor house on the Somerset/Devon border, romantic gardens are laid out in a series of hedged or walled rooms. Expertly gardened by the owner, each enclosed space invites exploration. You will find surprises around every corner, from secret courtyards to delightful cottage-garden borders and a riverside walk. Areas of formality, including yew topiary and an avenue of mophead robinias, contrast with wilder, more relaxed planting. According to local legend, red and white roses were planted here to celebrate the end of the Wars of the Roses, and you can still see the red rose of Lancaster and the white rose of York flowering in the garden today.
cothaymanor.co.uk
GAP Photos/John Glover12/25Great Dixter, East Sussex
Being able to visit Great Dixter at various points in the year is a treat. The East Sussex garden, the former home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd, has a different character in each season, demonstrating head gardener Fergus Garrett's talent for successional planting. An annual ticket costs £32.50 or £44.50 for a couple and allows unlimited admission during opening hours, but a 10 per cent discount on plants from the nursery. The gardens re-open 28th March 2023; the nursery is open Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 4:30 and on Saturdays from 9:30 to 12:30.
Day tickets for house & garden tour, £14.50 for adults, £4.50 for children; greatdixter.co.uk.
13/25Bramdean House, Hampshire
Laid out behind a handsome 18th-century house, this five-acre garden in Hampshire is known for its traditional mirror-image herbaceous borders. Designed in the Forties by the present owner’s mother, they are looking their abundant best in June and July, filled with colour and texture. There is also an orchard, a wildflower meadow, areas with unusual trees and shrubs, and a wonderful collection of old-fashioned sweet peas in the traditional walled kitchen garden. The garden is open for the National Garden Scheme on 5 June, 3 July and 7 August. ngs.org.uk.
14/25Mapperton, Dorset
Chosen as the Historic Houses Garden of the Year in 2020, Mapperton is a wonderful place tucked away in its own romantic Dorset combe. Overlooked by a Jacobean mansion, it has features dating back to the 17th century. With an Italianate topiary garden and orangery, colourful herbaceous borders, an arboretum and stone-edged pools, it is full of interest almost all year round. It is open to the public from spring to autumn, Sunday to Thursday 11am to 5pm.
mapperton.com
Rhapsody15/25Hunting Brook Gardens, Ireland
A visit to Jimi Blake’s garden in County Wicklow is an exciting and immersive experience in the spring or summer, but it is at this time of year that the garden is at its colourful best. Described by Jimi as ‘contemporary exotic’, Hunting Brook has five acres intensively planted with an abundance of late-summer plants, including salvias, heliopsis, cosmos and Jimi’s own dahlia selections. There is also an innovative sand garden planted with hundreds of succulents and cacti, with Mediterranean plants woven through. Open Wednesday to Saturday, 11am-4pm, re-opening in March; entry €8. huntingbrookgardens.com
16/25Cambo, Fife
Open daily, this garden near St Andrews is a joy to visit at any time of year, but there are two particular seasonal highlights that are well worth looking out for. In late winter, the snowdrops take centre stage, with more than 350 delicate varieties carpeting the woodland surrounding the gardens. Then in late summer, the recently created prairie garden comes into its own, with hundreds of North American plants and grasses creating a colourful, dynamic spectacle. A 2.5-acre Georgian walled garden is built around the delightful Cambo Burn, with impressive herbaceous borders, an ornamental potager and new cutting garden, while the Stables Visitor Centre includes a café and a shop.
cambogardens.org.uk
17/25Radcot House, Oxfordshire
Radcot House, near Faringdon, is a brilliant autumn garden, but open to the public only very occasionally through the National Garden Scheme. However, it is worth making a note of the dates – listed on the NGS website – just to see what the owners have achieved. Based on an interplay of contrasts, the garden contains areas of calm and clarity, set against areas of dense, exuberant planting. A hedged room with a serene pool leads through to the perennial garden, where the display is designed to come to its peak in autumn, with perennials, shrubs and ornamental grasses arranged in interlinking sweeps for maximum drama. Set out around a handsome Cotswold stone manor house, the gardens invite exploration.
ngs.org.uk
18/25Hergest Croft Gardens, Herefordshire
Set in the Welsh Marches with views of the Malvern Hills, Hergest Croft is a wonderful garden to visit, especially in the autumn, with more than 5,000 rare trees and shrubs. It holds a National Collection of maples, including some rare specimens brought back from China in the Eighties. These trees are a brilliant spectacle, as they turn vibrant shades of red, ochre and yellow in the autumn. A secluded valley is planted with over 30 acres of exotic trees and giant rhododendrons, while herbaceous borders and a kitchen garden make this an interesting place to visit year round.
hergest.co.uk
GAP Photos/Jonathan Buckley - Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire19/25The National Arboretum, Gloucestershire
With 2,500 tree species from all over the world, The National Arboretum at Westonbirt, in Gloucestershire, offers a rewarding day out. It was established in the 1800s by wealthy Victorian landowner Robert Holford, who financed several plant-hunting expeditions to source rare specimens, many of which still flourish there today. Discover chammpion trees – the largest trees within their species growing in the British Isles – as well as National Collections of aces, limes and walnuts.
forestryengland.uk
Steve Adams20/25Millennium Garden, Pensthorpe Natural Park, Norfolk
Planted by Piet Oudolf 21 years ago, the Millennium Garden at Pensthorpe Natural Park comes into its own in late summer and autumn. Drifts of perennials and grasses mingle together to show how spectacular a garden can look at this time of year, with the focus on seed heads, foliage and plumes of ornamental grasses. This dense, self-supporting sea of plants is a haven for wildlife, providing nesting materials and seeds for birds, as well as shelter for insects. The garden is open throughout the year, Wednesdays to Sundays, 10am-4pm.
pensthorpe.com
GAP Photos/John Glover21/25Dingle Nurseries & Garden, Welshpool, Wales
This garden is worth a visit for its spectacular autumn display. Created by the late Barbara Joseph, the garden – on a sheltered four-acre site sloping down to a small lake – has trees and shrubs as its mainstay. Mature evergreens are dotted among beautifully coloured trees, such as acers, rowans and raspberry pink Euonymus alatus. Plants are available in the nursery and entry is £3.50.
dinglenurseryandgarden.co.uk
22/25Aberglasney Gardens, Carmarthenshire
With over 10 acres, these gardens have much to entice the autumn visitor, with late-flowering dahlias and salvias in addition to nerines, colchicums and other autumn bulbs. A large stand of Clerodendrum bungei blooms until the first frosts, while there is plenty of autumn colour in the surrounding woodland. Open daily, admission is £9.75.
aberglasney.org
GAP Photos/Clive Nichols - Garden: Brodsworth Hall, Yorkshire23/25Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, South Yorkshire
Designed in the 1860s to complement the ornate house, the gardens of Brodsworth Hall, in South Yorkshire, were laid out in the Italianate style. Described as a collection of ‘grand ardens in miniature’ by English Heritage, they are ideal for a chilly winter walk, with the quirky topiary borders looking particularly fine in a frost, and a woodland garden, rose garden and fern dell, all linked by sinuous paths, statuary and stone follies.
Admission £9.90; english-heritage.org.uk.
24/25Trentham, Staffordshire
Trentham in Staffordshire is a treat to visit in winter when the landscape is pared back and the light is low. The mile-long Capability Brown designed lake is bordered by the Italian Garden (pictured), which was designed by Sir Charles Barry in the nineteenth century and replanted by Tom Stuart-Smith in 2004–5. There is also a floral labyrinth and rivers of grass designed by Piet Oudolf. The borders are filled with perennials and grasses that are left standing through winter, so there is plenty to see against the formal geometry of the garden. The gardens are open 9am-4pm; admission £12.50.
trentham.co.uk
Fred Cholmeley25/25Easton Walled Gardens, Lincolnshire
This historic garden in Lincolnshire has been brought back from dereliction and lovingly restored by Ursula Cholmeley over the past 20 years. With meadows, grassy terraces, cottage-garden borders and its woodland walks, Easton is a delight at any time of year and, in February, the snow-drops are a special attraction. Carpeting the woodland slopes in thick drifts, they mingle with winter aconites and hellebores in an uplifting display.
visiteaston.co.uk
