In the dash for Cumbria’s lakes and fells, the area’s other green attractions can get missed. On Knipe Scar, at the edge of the Lake District national park, Lowther’s acres sprawl around the shell of a ruined 19th-century castle. Wildflower meadows, bee-friendly tree hives and rambling woodland contrast with a parterre, sculptured hornbeams and a Sleeping Beauty-inspired rose garden designed byDan Pearson. Bikes and ebikes can be rented for pootling around the estate’s trails or perhaps a five-mile cycle to Ullswater. There is a Lost Castle adventure playground and a cafe. Before leaving, visit the west terrace for views across the Lowther valley to distant fells.Open daily, adults £15, children £10,lowthercastle.org
While filming his BBCBritish Gardensseries, Monty Don described Rousham as “one of my favourite gardens of all and one of the truly great gardens of the world”. Rousham is the handiwork of William Kent (1685-1748), whose imaginative use of follies, mysterious “ta-da” avenues and one of the earliest ha-has blur the line between fantasy and reality. A master of the unbroken view, Kent manipulated the landscape to create a harmonious flow between the garden, the surrounding countryside and Rousham’s castellated pile. The estate’s 10 hectares (25 acres) include kitchen gardens, a rill, classical statuary, cascades and a seven-arched colonnade overlooking the River Cherwell. The house is still owned by the family who employed Kent to reshape the garden centuries ago. No cafe or children under 15, but picnics are encouraged. House tours on request.Open daily, £10,rousham.org
Laid out in 1927, Parcevall Hall Gardens’ 10 hectares surround a Grade II-listed Arts and Crafts-style house set in the Yorkshire Dales national park. The topography and aspect enhance the experience, offering visitors views over the drystone wall-draped contours of Wharfedale to distant limestone crags. Admire plants from around the world, visit the chapel garden, follow a woodland trail, the camellia walk or a cliff trail – or simply listen to the birds and bleating sheep. There are views from the cafe’s terrace to the outcrop Simon’s Seat, part of the adjoiningBolton Abbey estate.Open April-Oct, adults £10, seniors £9, under-12s free,parcevallhallgardens.co.uk
On Ynys Môn (Anglesey) with views to Eryri national park (Snowdonia), Plas Cadnant feels like a portal to another world. As 70 years’ worth of undergrowth was peeled away, the present owner discovered enchanting spaces, including a walled garden that dips in a graceful catenary curve and a woodland garden containing the remains of a 19th-century folly. Steps lead down to an enchanting “valley garden” where four waterfalls splosh into the River Cadnant. Some of the outbuildings and a gardener’s cottage have been converted into holiday accommodation, and guests have full access to the gardens and parkland.Open April-Oct, adults £11.50, concs £2.50-£10.50,plascadnant.co.uk. The Coach House,from £720 for three nights for up to seven people
This Georgian walled garden has the national snowdrop collection. Woodland walks lead to the sea, and from February to mid-March there are showstopping carpets of yellow aconites, snowdrops (and possibly snowflakes). In April, blossom and the scent of wild garlic fill the air, followed by the rich collection of alliums. In June, it is the turn of Cambo’s historic roses. There are imaginative spaces for children to explore (think secret doors and fairies) and golden beaches. The Stables Cafe serves vegetarian and vegan food. If you’d like to stay longer, there are cabins to rent, including a bothy with views towards the Fife coast.Open daily, adults £7.95, under-16s free,camboestate.com. The Bothy, sleeps four, from £550 for two nights in June
Set in rolling countryside close to the Devil’s Water river, Dilston is a garden that whispers “slow down”. Over three decades, a hectare of agricultural land has been transformed into a flourishing wildlife garden filled with more than 700 flowers, herbs, vegetables and trees planted with biodiversity and natural healing in mind. A rewilding and wetland area has encouraged native flora, such as the Northumbrian bloody cranesbill, to thrive. Visit the “spirit henge”, breathe in the fragrant camomile lawn, wander the labyrinth and buy products made with ingredients from the garden in the shop (proceeds to the registered charity). Dilston is on the Corbridge Heritage Trail, and a scenic 20-minute walk along the Tyne from Corbridge station.Open Wed-Sun, April-Oct, Fri-Sun, Nov-March, adults £8, concs £4,dilstonphysicgarden.com
This tranquil, Grade I-listed garden is home to redwoods, giant oaks and the renowned Loderi rhododendron hybrids. Paths meander around lakes and through sculpture-studded parkland, lawns and forests, and visitors can join daffodil, bluebell and acer walks. In the autumn, the garden is ablaze with oranges, golds and delicate pinks, while winter brings spectacular illuminations. Children will love the wallaby enclosure (introduced in 1889), doll’s house museum and the new play park. You can stay overnight at Leonardslee House, where the Michelin-starred restaurant showcases garden-foraged ingredients.Open daily,adults £15.50, children £8.50,leonardsleegardens.co.uk. Doubles at Leonardslee House from £240 B&B
Ventnor Botanic Gardens’ 9 hectares luxuriate in an enviable microclimate at Ventnor Undercliff. Gardeners here use theVentnor Method, which allows plants to grow where they sow. A vast collection of rare and subtropical species includes the national collection of half-hardy and hardy puya, the giant viper’s bugloss and a renowned collection of red-hot pokers. Follow the Champion Tree Trail and head off the beaten track to find secluded seating areas and clifftop meadows with sea views. Hops grow on the clifftop to the south of the garden. Partnering with a local brewer, VBC produces a Botanic Ale, a Botanic Pale Ale and a Botanic Lager. Book an overnight stay to enjoy free access to the garden and evening walks along the coastal path; take your pick from two Victorian cottages and three cabins dotted around the grounds.Open daily, adults £11.50, children £7,botanic.co.uk. Doubles at the dog-friendly Cabin from £80 (min two nights)
Armed with a 19th-century Ordnance Survey map and a black-and-white photo, the owners of the Old Vicarage picked up their shovels and set about restoring the acres around their house on the north Norfolk coast. The result, 40 years on, is a practical and creative triumph featuring beautiful gardens, an enfilade of lawns and an “apple walk”. Some of the traditional – and windproof – wildlife habitat lost to modern farming methods is now restored. The Arizona-inspired Desert Wash garden is planted with drought-tolerant plants such as South American bromeliads, agaves and aloe. The cornfield has self-seeding poppies, corn marigolds and corn camomile, and there are shelterbelts of Monterey pine, Italian alders, holm oak and eucalyptus. A meditative space contains 16 Indian bean trees.Open Wed-Sun and bank holidays, March-Oct, adults £14.50, children £2,eastrustonoldvicarage.co.uk
From swept gravel and teahouses, to stone lanterns and zigzag bridges, every aspect of a Japanese garden holds meaning. At Cowden you can unpick the symbolism or simply enjoy the garden in its purest sense – as a tranquil space where everything is in its place. Cowden was inspired by the travels of a wealthy adventurer, Ella Christie, who commissioned Japanese horticulturist Taki Handa to design a garden in the boggy grounds of her home, Cowden Castle. A 10-year restoration, completed in 2023, was overseen by Chelsea flower show gold and best in show winner Prof Masao Fukuhara. The gardens undulate through woodland and over gentle hills dotted with cherry blossom, maples and acers. On the Christie Walk, you might spot Indian rhubarb, the heart-shaped leaves of the katsura tree and the petals of the Himalayan blue poppy fluttering in the breeze. Workshops include cyanotype printing and kintsugi (the art of repairing pottery).Open daily except Tue, adults £9.85, seniors £8.75, children £5.75,cowdengarden.com
You may have seen this 16th-century, English Heritage-listed house and its garden “rooms” on screen in Disney’s Christopher Robin, ITV’s Agatha Christie’s Poirot or the BBC’s 2017 adaptation of EM Forster’s Howards End. A Gertrude Jekyll-designed water garden is a highlight of the 2 hectares. Crossed by bridges and stone paths, the water garden contains 1,500 plants nurtured at Jekyll’s Munstead Wood nursery. Traditional rose varieties bloom in the Old Garden, and an orchard leads to a yew walk where pears fruit on a crinkle crankle wall and ferns sprout from Bargate stone – the medieval quarries that provided it can still be seen in the surrounding hills.Open Aprilto the first week in July, £10 (cash only),vanngarden.co.uk. On National Garden Scheme days, tickets must be booked in advance
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Stockton Bury is part of a working farm that once belonged to Leominster Priory. Gardens sprawl around medieval buildings including a pigeon house, hop kiln and tithe barn (now a cafe). There is also a glasshouse, water garden and cider orchard. May brings drifts of the rare, goblet-shape Sprenger’s tulip, and the delicate tea rose blooms from early summer into autumn. Garden-grown damsons, plums, apples and raspberries make their way on to the cafe’s menu, and the “secret garden” rewards explorers with views to the Black Mountains across the Welsh border. Gardener Tamsin Westhorpe runs bespoke tours, and there are botanical painting workshops during the summer.Open Wed-Sun, April-Sept, adults £9, children £5,stocktonbury.co.uk
At Logan, on Scotland’s south-western tip, Gulf Stream currents nurture exotics from five continents. Giant palms, eucalyptus and luxuriant tree ferns tower over Brazilian gunneras and other non-natives, such as angel’s fishing rods, which dangle their bell-like heads over the pond. Sit here with your phone switched off and watch damselflies skit (Logan has subscribed to theSilent Spacescheme). The conservatory, which houses South African tree heathers and a pelargonium collection, was the first public glasshouse in the UK to be heated entirely by green energy sources. Look out for guided walks and have a peep down a microscope in the Discovery Centre. There’s a cafe on site.Open March-Oct, adults £9, concs £7.80, under-16s free,rbge.org.uk
A visit to Felley Priory could be one of the best motorway breaks you make. Set in rolling countryside a mile from the M1, this all-season garden delights with fiery autumn colours, flower-draped pergolas, traditional roses and 60 varieties of snowdrops. Spring brings woodland bluebells and a daffodil soup of yellows, apricots, oranges and whites, as rare daff varieties light up the orchard. Take advantage of the plant nursery and tearoom, which has gluten-free menu options. The 12th-century house is private.Open Tue-Fri, plus the first and third Sun of each month from March-Sept, adults £8.50, seniors £7.50, under-16s free,felleypriory.co.uk
Donated to the public by the soap magnate Lord Leverhulme in 1902, Rivington sits within Lever Park on the edge of theWest Pennine Moors. Leverhulme went all out by commissioning an unusual seven-arched bridge based on one he had seen in Nigeria, a sitting room at the top of a four-storey pigeon tower, five summer houses set on lawns and a replica of Liverpool Castle. In all, there are 11 Grade-II listed structures to explore (suffragette Edith Rigby burned down Lever’s original house) along with rock gardens and grottoes, a wide variety of fungi, a Japanese garden and an Italian lake, where Leverhulme took daily dips.Open daily, free entry,rivingtonterracedgardens.org.uk
With its small beach, ancient Cornish orchard and pontoon on the River Fal, the National Trust’s Trelissick isn’t your average garden. Paths wind through Brobdingnagian sub-tropical gardens, and dawn-till-dusk woodland walks bring snapshots of the river. Spring delivers magnolias, camellias, rhododendrons and fountains of wisteria; later in the year, it’s the turn of ginger lilies, dahlias and bananas. TheKing Harry Ferrydeparts from Trelissick to St Mawes and Falmouth, and there is a lovely walk around Restronguet Creek to the thatched-roofedPandora Inn(allow three hours for the walk) for a creekside afternoon tea. The orchard’s restored screw-turn apple press will be in action overApple Weekendin October. Stay the night in Trelissick Tower, or the restored Trelissick Engine House, and enjoy access to the garden.Open daily,adults £17, children £8.50,nationaltrust.org.uk. Two nights at the Trelissick Engine House, sleeps three, from £439
Former US president Franklin D Roosevelt visited Easton with his wife, Eleanor, in 1905, as part of their honeymoon, and described the gardens, now 464 years old, as “A dream of Nirvana … almost too good to be true”. Gardener Ursula Cholmeley began a large-scale restoration in 2001. Now the gardens brim with snowdrops, flower-filled meadows and David Austin roses. In season, 50 varieties of sweet pea flourish. Look out for “purple pimpernel”, “clotted cream”, “watermelon” and “Albutt Blue”. There is a pub on the estate, with real fires and a suntrap garden, and guests staying at Easton’s lodge or loft apartments have free access to the gardens. There are EV charge points, too.Open Wed-Sun and bank holidayMon,12 Feb-21 Dec, adults £12(half price Nov and Dec), children £5,visiteaston.co.uk. Loft apartments from£160a night
The restored 18th-century walled garden at Hillsborough is a gem. Walking around the beds you will see heritage varieties such as golden beetroot mixed with modern ones such as par-cel (which looks like parsley but tastes like celery). Visit the cafe for garden-to-plate “walled garden scallion potato bread” and an afternoon tea featuring a “garden beetroot brownie” and “walled garden raspberry posset with thyme shortbread”. The rest of the garden is full of interest. The lake is fed by a stream which meanders through the gardens, and a pinetum contains a stand of giant sequoias planted in the 1870s. In the grotto, a statue of the Irish warrior poet Ossian and an accompanying bench and stones tell his story and explain the castle’s links to the romantic movement and the Gaelic revival.Open daily, gardens £10.30, children £5.20,castle and garden adults £20.80, children £10.40,hrp.org.uk
The Arts and Crafts Manor House at Upton Grey is striking in its own right, but laid around it is a garden with a rare boast: it is believed to be the most complete and authentic existing example of a Gertrude Jekyll-designed garden. When owners John and Rosamund Wallinger purchased the 2‑hectare site in 1984, it was nearly derelict, but after they discovered the eminent garden designer’s original plans for the garden, they embarked upon a remarkable journey of faithful restoration. Situated east of Basingstoke, Upton Grey features wild, kitchen and rose gardens, the nuttery, and a yew-hedged formal garden filled with the hallmarks of Jekyll planting design: lofty hollyhocks and azure delphiniums, billowing phlox, poppies and campanulas.Open Mon-Fri, May-July, entry £7,gertrudejekyllgarden.co.uk
One of Britain’s premier romantic gardens, Iford Manor meets formality with enrapturing naturalism: euphorbia and catmint soften the stone terraces, roses clamber up the columns; a 200-year-old wisteria romps in unbridled profusion. Located on the edge of the Cotswolds, beside the River Frome in Wiltshire, Iford was the home in the early 20th century of influential architect and garden designer Harold Peto, who augmented its Georgian roots with Italianate flare and finesse. There are intimate cloisters and grand steps, a tranquil Japanese garden, and masterfully positioned statues and architectural fragments, while more modern additions include an award-winning restaurant and bakery. For the last half-century, Iford has been under the stewardship of the Cartwright-Hignett family who, with current head gardener Steve Lannin, are continuing the garden’s expressive legacy. Book in advance to ensure entry.OpenWed-Sun,2 April-Sept,adults£10, children £9, under-10s not permitted,ifordmanor.co.uk
Additional reporting by Matt Collins