English Gardens
 

Over the last couple of years we have been visiting some of the smaller and less well known of the English Gardens. There is information and pictures here:
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...and/index.html

This includes Painshill Park in Surrey, one of the best examples of an C19th landscaped park which has been carefully restored to its former glory and contains an amazing crystal grotto.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...ill/index.html

Constable Burton Gardens at the mouth of Wensleydale
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...ton/index.html

and Eggletone Hall Gardens in County Durham.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...ton/index.html
are very attractive gardens. It is possible to scamper round them in 30 minutes but this is a shame as there is so much to enjoy.

Misarden Gardens in Goucestershire is well off the beaten track and another lovely garden.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...den/index.html


We also enjoyed the gardens at Hanbury Hall
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...ury/index.html

and Burton Agnes Hall.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...nes/index.html

If plannning a visit to the hall, it is well worth planning in additional time to enjoy the gardens too.

hi ESW,

I love the pics of the grotto at Painshill, and the topiary face at the Abbey Gardens. What a shame that it may not carry on.

anyway you've managed to find quite a few gardens that I don't know, but none in Cornwall I note.

any plans to get down this way?

Hanbury Hall is on my list for 2015. Their collection of pinks featured in a recent BBC series, Great British Garden Revival.

It is many, many years since we were in Cornwall and I'd love to get back there, but no plans at the moment. There are some great gardens there too.

Can't I tempt you?

on 28 & 29 March we have the annual show of the Cornwall Garden Society; it's really the best time of the year because all of the bulbs are flowering plus the camellias, magnolias and Rhododendrons are at their best.

I've been recording the Great British Garden revival and am watching the one about tulips as I write. I was converted to them by a trip to Keukenhof a few years ago, so I've been trying to plant as many as possible in my garden. I'm not sure that I buy the premise of the programme though - did you know that there was a decline in scented plants? or climbing plants?

not round here there isn't!

I would suggest the small and compact Milldene Gardens in the hamlet of Blockley close to Chipping Campden and Broadway. We found it appealing, tranquil and quite charming. We were the only visitors early that day. Please scroll down to #19-43.

https://picasaweb.google.com/stuartt...twE&feat=email

I've not heard of Mildene Gardens. They do look lovely. We also like Kiftsgate Gardens which is only a few miles away, but it is a while since we visited. Hidecote Gardens are also close to, so for the garden enthusiast these are three very different gardnes to be enjoyed.

It always surprises me how little gardens figure on most people's itineraries given that they are such a quintessential part of England. This is a very green country, and most people, other than those living in flats, have their own little patch to tend. Childrens stories are rife with the nostalgia of them (The Secret Garden, Tom's Midnight Garden etc). Kew and Wisley are the obvious London-friendly ones, but I also love the Cornish gardens like Trellisick- usually with spectacular views out to sea. Read up on Heligan, history and remembrance is a big part of the garden's story. Finally, many many small private gardens are open to the public, sometimes free, sometimes with a nominal fee for charity, in the summer months - keep an eye out for posters on gates and hedges.

Gardens feature a lot in our family's itineraries, RM, as my kids would tell you with a sigh.

Though they are showing more interest in the process of gardening now they are older.

Bookmarking! They sound wonderful.

I second annhig's recommendations of Cornish gardens. Cornwall, tucked into the SW of Britain, has a unique climate, and some gardens take advantage of of even warmer microclimates down in ravines. There are a number of Cornish gardens (my favorite was Trebah) and any garden lover should make of point of going to Cornwall.

Mimar - Trebah has the advantage over some cornish gardens that it's not just good to visit in the spring. Some - Trelissick, Trengwainton, Llanhydrock and Carhays are pretty much only spring gardens though the NT does its best to provide year-round interest for the ones it owns. [all except Carhays which is privately owned and Trebah which I think is owned by a trust].

but there are loads more, some quite hidden away and only open for a few days of the year, which is where the Yellow Book comes in.

I’ve recently added another three English gardens to Eleanor’s Pages, and reorganised these pages:
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...and/index.html

PACKWOOD HOUSE GARDENS in Warwickshire have splendid topiary yews, planted over 350 years ago and said to represent the Sermon on the Mount. There are the twelve apostles, the four evangelists and the ‘Master’. In the summer, the sunken garden and the herbaceous borders are a riot of colour.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...ood/index.html

BRODSWORTH HALL GARDENS in South Yorkshire have been restored to what they may have been like in their heyday in the C19th. There are immaculately laid out borders by the house filled with summer bedding plants. There are mature trees and grassland with Italian statuary. The quarry garden is now a fernery and rock garden.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...rth/index.html

Not strictly a garden, but included here is FARNDALE, in North Yorkshire. This is one of the few places wild daffodils are found and in April, the banks of the river and surrounding hillsides are a golden mass of daffodils. which is covered with wild daffodils in the spring.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...ale/index.html

Two of our favorite trips to the UK were during Open Garden weekend. We loved walking around in several villages visiting private gardens, plus we spent a Sunday at Canterbury Cathedral the day they had all six of their gardens open to the public.

The walk down through Farndale is very beautiful as the daffies come out.

I guess you know about the massive one at Harlow Carr. We have friends who visit it every weekend to see the seasons change.

My primary reasons for visiting the UK are walks and houses/gardens, next in May. So these additions are welcome and since I'll be staying in the neighborhood for a week, Mildene is already on my list. And several others, of course, with revisits to Kiftsgate & Hidcote, a short walk from my B&B.

I've been to Harlow Carr in the past, but never with the camera. I'm now dependent on public transport and unfortunately it's not so easy to get to from where I live.

Kiftsgate Garden is wonderful and I preferred it to Hidcote. Again I've not got photos of either.

I love visiting gardens. Each is so different and there is always something different to see. Hard as I try, my garden never lives up to them....

I've also added another two gardens to Scotland.
http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/garden...and/index.html

catch the x6a bus out of Harrogate

http://www.connexionsbuses.com/route...e-bus-station/

Thanks for the link, but it involves three trains (minimum of two hours each way) and then bus to get there... I need to persuade a car owning gardening friend that they would like to visit.

Never ventured east?

http://www.e-ruston-oldvicaragegarde...w/564/home.htm

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sheringham-park

http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ang...-and-lode-mill

http://www.fairhavengarden.co.uk

http://plantationgarden.co.uk/

http://www.bressingham.co.uk/home.aspx

Ok, the last one is more about the miniature trains, but still fun.