Gardens

This is a constantly expanding list of great gardens to visit in the UK. They are not currently grouped by county or special features, because I haven't yet visited enough to give a true picture of what's on offer nationwide.

But this list will grow and by clicking on the links within this directory of gardens that I have visited to date, you will get taken directly to the garden and find pictures and information about it:

It's worth noting that Britain has many gardens in bloom throughout the year, so you don't need to be here in summer to appreciate them. I have listed properties below that are particularly noteworthy during other seasons. As with gardens in the above directory, this list is growing, so please bear with me! I visit 30-40 new gardens every year, but not all of them make the grade, but for a taster, click here.
Outstanding British Gardens (i.e. Don't miss them if you're in the area!)
Stourhead, Wiltshire - one of the finest landscape gardens in the world
Cothay Manor, Somerset - glorious moated manor house
Garden of Cosmic Speculation, Scotland - you'll never see another like this!
Gravetye Manor, Sussex - former home of William Robinson
Great Dixter, Sussex - Christo Lloyd's amazing garden
Houghton Hall, Norfolk - the greatest walled garden in Britain?
Iford Manor, Wiltshire - Harold Peto's hidden secret
Kiftsgate Court, Gloucestershire - charming secret garden, right next to Hidcote
Levens Hall, Cumbria - the most outstanding topiary in Britain
Little Sparta, Scotland - a "modern, mythological garden"
Millgate House, Richmond, Yorks - a secret walled garden in the heart of Yorkshire
Millgate House, with its walled garden in the heart of Richmond, Yorks
National Botanic Garden of Wales - amazing glasshouse culture
Rodmarton Manor, Gloucestershire - Arts and Crafts doesn't get much better!
Sezincote, Gloucestershire - garden with a real difference
Stourhead, Wiltshire - one of the finest landscape gardens in the world
Sussex Prairies, West Sussex - Oudolf-style planting taken to extremes
The Garden House, Devon - delightful throughout the seasons
Vann, Surrey - wonderful Arts & Crafts planting with a Gertrude Jekyll water garden
Veddw, Wales - small, but stunning
York Gate, Leeds, Yorkshire - glorious garden rooms - run by Perennial
Little Sparta in Scotland - created by Ian Hamilton Finlay

Winter & Glasshouse Gardens - Open all year

Birmingham Botanical Garden, Midlands
Compton Acres, Dorset
Kew (Royal Botanical) Gardens, London
National Botanic Garden of Wales
Nymans Garden, West Sussex
Painswick Rococo, Gloucestershire - famous for its snowdrop displays
RHS Wisley, Surrey
Sheffield Park, East Sussex
Waterperry Gardens, Oxon
West Dean Gardens, West Sussex

Spring Gardens (Also see special rhododendron and tulip gardens below)

Borde Hill, West Sussex
Dorothy Clive Gardens, Staffordshire
Exbury Gardens, Hants
Great Dixter, East Sussex
Holker Hall, Cumbria
High Beeches, West Sussex  
Parham House, West Sussex
Pashley Manor, East Sussex
Vann, Surrey

 Summer Gardens (Also see rose gardens below)

 Hidcote Manor, Gloucestershire
Houghton Hall, Norfolk
Kiftsgate Court, Gloucestershire
Moors Meadow, Herefordshire


Autumn Gardens

Sandringham, Norfolk
Savill Garden, Surrey
Sheffield Park, East Sussex
Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hants
The Garden House, Devon
Westonbirt, Gloucestershire
Winkworth Arboretum, Surrey


Tulip Gardens


Abbey Gardens, Gloucestershire
Alnwick Garden, Northumberland
Chatsworth, Derbyshire
Chenies Manor, Buckinghamshire
Dyhram Park, Gloucestershire
Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall
Pashley Manor, East Sussex
Stourhead, Wiltshire
Waddesden Manor, Buckinghamshire
The Dorothy Clive Garden has one of the most spectacular rhododendron displays in the UK
Rhododendron/Azalea Gardens

 Borde Hill, West Sussex
Dorothy Clive Garden, Staffordshire
Exbury, Hampshire
Furzey Gardens, Hampshire
Holker Hall, Cumbria
Sheffield Park, East Sussex


Rose Gardens

 Hever Castle, Kent
Hunt's Court, Gloucestershire
Kiftsgate Court, Gloucestershire
Mottisfont Abbey, Hants
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
Queen Mary's Rose Garden, Regent's Park, London
Savill Garden, Surrey
St Mary's House at Bramber, West Sussex
Wisley (RHS), Surrey
The Gibberd Garden in Essex


Sculpture Gardens


Asthall Manor, Oxon (Exhibition alternate years in June and July, next exhibition 2014)
Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden, Cornwall
Gibberd Garden, Essex
Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Surrey
Little Sparta, Scotland
Tremenheere, Cornwall

York Gate near Leeds in Yorkshire - a stunning one-acre garden owned by Perennial, the charity that helps horticulturalists in need

 Outstanding NGS Gardens (i.e. Get to see them if you can!)


The National Gardens Scheme includes some 3,700 gardens in England, open throughout the year to raise funds for all the cancer-related charities that the NGS supports. Gardens can get very crowded, but you know that you're doing your bit for charity! These are some of the best I've seen so far in the South of England.

 Bramdean House, Hants
Clinton Lodge, Sussex
Dean House, Hants
Lake House, Hants
Little Wantley, Surrey
Town Place, West Sussex




Please feel free to email me if you want advice, or are planning a trip to the UK to visit 
gardens and if I can help, I will. You can contact me direct on:

 thegallopinggardener@gmail.com

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