NATIONAL GARDEN SCHEME OPEN DAYS IN THE COUNTY THIS WEEK

115 Hadlow Road, Tonbridge The terraced garden features a large collection of modern roses, island herbaceous border, clematis, hardy fuchsias, heathers, grasses, hostas, phormiums, ferns, shrub borders and alpines. There are also a kitchen garden. When: Sunday, June 30 Cost: Adults £3.50, children free Contact: 01732 353738

Boundes End, 2 St Lawrence Avenue, Bidborough, near Tunbridge Wells This unusually shaped plot is formed from two triangles of land. The front garden has raised beds, and the main garden is divided into a formal area with terrace, pebble bed and two pergolas, and an informal area in a woodland setting with interesting features and specimen trees. When: Sunday, June 30 Cost: Adults £2.50, children free (share to Hospice in the Weald) Contact: 01892 542233

Cottage Farm, Cackets Lane, Cudham A cottage garden roughly an acre in size. Features include self-sufficient vegetable and fruit gardens; a tropical garden; cut flower garden; greenhouses with tender and tropical fruits and flowers; rose-covered pergolas; and wildlife ponds. There is also a large rockery. When: Saturday, June 29, Sunday, June 30, Thursday, July 4 Cost: Adults £5, children free (share to Harris Hospiscare) Contact: 01959 532506

Garden House, off Swan Lane, Surrenden, Pluckley The garden features a collection of magnolia, unusual specimen trees, yew topiary, and an avenue of tulip trees. A recently planted parterre leads on to a cobnut walk underplanted with bulbs. When: Saturday, June 29, Sunday, June 30 Cost: Adults £4.50, children free Contact: www.ngs.org.uk Great Maytham Hall, Rolvenden The gardens inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett to write The Secret Garden. Features include parkland, woodland with bluebells, a walled garden, rose pergola and pond garden. When: Wednesday, July 3 Cost: Adults £5, children free Contact: 01580 241346

Knole, Sevenoaks Lord Sackville’s private garden at Knole takes visitors back to horticultural fashions uprooted and discarded in many of England’s greatest houses. Features include the longest wisteria wall in the country; the walled, medieval garden-within-a-garden; the 16th century Wilderness with its historic long alley; the Patte d’Oie or ‘goose-foot’ clearing, a 17th century device bringing paths together; and the Tudor-style knot garden. When: Tuesday, July 2 Cost: Adults £5, children £2.50 Contact: 01732 462100

Lords, Sheldwich, Faversham This unique garden has a herb terrace, cherry orchard grazed by Jacob sheep, lawns, ponds and a wild area. Old specimen trees include redwoods,

planes, copper beech, yew hedges and a 120ft tulip tree. When: Sunday, June 30 Cost: Adults £4, children free

Contact: 01795 536900

Sevenoaks allotments, Allotment Lane, off Quakers Hall Lane, Sevenoaks The association self-manages more than 11 acres of allotment gardens in the heart of the town. A wide variety of flowers, fruit and vegetables are grown using a number of different techniques. When: Sunday, June 30 Cost: Adults £3, children free Contact: 01732 453178 The Secret Gardens of Sandwich at The Salutation, Sandwich The ornamental and formal gardens surrounding a Grade I Listed house were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll in 1911. There is a historic park and garden, a lake, and white, yellow, spring, woodland, rose, kitchen, vegetable and herbaceous gardens, designed to provide year-round colour. When: Friday, June 28 Cost: Adults £6.50, children £3 Contact: 01304 619919 Yew Tree Cottage, Penshurst This hillside cottage garden has lots of seats and secret corners and many unusual plants, including hellebores, spring bulbs, old roses and perennials. There is also a small pond. When: Tuesday, July 2, and Thursday, July 4 Cost: Adults £2.50, children free Contact: 01892 870689

The Secret Gardens of Sandwich