Summer gardens to visit

Summer is a great time to visit this collection of stunning gardens

1 BLARNEY CASTLE

Visit the prehistoric Fern Garden, our deadly Poison Garden, and our magical Rock Close. Stroll by the lake, riverside and woodlands or through the dazzling arboretums and herbaceous borders in all their summer splendour. But don’t forget to kiss the famous Blarney Stone! Café and shops on site. Blarney, Cork, Ireland | blarneycastle.ie | +353 21 438 5252

2 HEVER CASTLE & GARDENS

Discover glorious award-winning gardens at the 13th-century castle, best known as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. Hever in Bloom (26 June – 1 July) showcases the glorious gardens with free guided tours led by the gardening team and floral displays in the castle. Hever, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG | hevercastle.co.uk | 01732 865224

3 HISTORY & HERITAGE AT SHUTTLEWORTH

The Swiss Garden at Shuttleworth was created by Lord Ongley in the 1820s with 13 structures and intriguing vistas in nine acre grounds. Embellished with Victorian features during the 1870s, it nestles adjacent to The Shuttleworth Collection. Open all year round except Christmas. Bedfordshire SG18 9EP | shuttleworth.org/swissgarden | 01767 627927

4 WOOLBEDING GARDENS

Woolbeding Gardens is a masterpiece of colour and design. Embraced by the river Rother, this oasis of tranquillity merges elegant garden rooms and meticulously composed borders with a wooded landscape that conceals dramatic architectural follies. Open Thursdays and Fridays, booking is essential. nationaltrust.org.uk/woolbeding-gardens | 0344 249 1895

5 HAM HOUSE AND GARDEN

Visit Ham House and Garden in June to enjoy our living exhibition in the kitchen garden. The edible exhibition Eat your flowers! will enable you to taste flowers, learn about their nutritional value and then enjoy them as ingredients in our tasty Orangery café food. Ham, Richmond, TW10 7RS | nationaltrust.org.uk/ham-house-and-garden

6 THE BISHOP’S PALACE & GARDENS

Over 14 acres of spectacular RHS partner gardens, including picturesque, romantic, formal and Victorian styles, a wildflower arboretum, specimen trees, alongside waterfalls, well pools, a moat with resident swans and a stunning medieval palace. Tickets now on sale for Garden Festival 22-24 June. Wells, Somerset BA5 2PD | bishopspalace.org.uk | 01749 988111

7 ABERGLASNEY GARDENS

Aberglasney was made famous by the BBC television series A Garden Lost in Time, which followed its restoration. Today it’s quite simply one of Wales’s finest gardens; a renowned plantsman’s paradise with an Elizabethan Cloister Garden at its heart. A stunning venue for exhibitions and events. Llangathen, Carmarthenshire SA32 8QH | aberglasney.org | 01558 668998

8 WOBURN ABBEY AND GARDENS

The award-winning gardens are Humphry Repton’s most realised landscape and in 2018 will play a pivotal role in celebrations marking his bicentenary. A new exhibition will feature Repton’s life and his work at Woburn and his most elaborate Red Book will be on display. Woburn, Bedfordshire MK17 9WA | woburnabbey.co.uk | 01525 290333

9 BLUEBELL ARBORETUM & NURSERY

Visit our tranquil, nine-acre woodland garden full of unusual trees and shrubs, many of which have been planted for their superb summer flowers and foliage. Many of the rarities on display in our gardens are available for sale from our adjoining plant nursery. RHS Partner Garden. Ashby, South Derbyshire LE65 2TA | bluebellnursery.com | 01530 413700

10 NATIONAL TRUST’S CLIVEDEN

Reinstated in 2014, Cliveden’s Rose Garden is based on an original 1950s’ design by renowned garden designer Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe. Cliveden’s Rose Garden, filled with over 900 colourful roses, is in bloom from mid-June until late September. A selection of the David Austin cultivars stocked in the shop. Maidenhead, Buckinghamshire SL1 8NS | nationaltrust.org.uk/cliveden

11 HUNTING BROOK GARDENS

One of Ireland’s largest private collections of plants and home to Jimi Blake. The constant changing palette of plants, reflects this very modern garden-maker’s unbounded enthusiasm for creative gardening. Open April to mid October, Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 5.30pm. Co Wicklow, Ireland W91 YK33 | huntingbrook.com | jimi@huntingbrook.com