Great gardens that will keep the kids happy too
IF YOU’RE looking to spend quality time with the family this summer, head for a garden that has more to offer than just plants. From classic landscapes with great adventure playgrounds to gardens with exotic animals, here are six of the best places to visit.
Bicton Park Botanical Gardens, Devon
Started in 1739 by politician and landowner Henry Rolle, this 64-acre landscape features an Italian garden, ornamental woodland, a lake, a fernery, herbaceous borders, a Victorian palm house and a rustic building that was once home to a hermit paid to amuse visitors. An indoor and outdoor play area, a maze and a narrow-gauge railway that runs for 1½ miles will keep children happy.
M Open daily, 10am-5pm, bictongardens.co.uk
Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens, Oxfordshire
Lions, rhinos and giraffes are among the 250 species that attract people to this 160-acre wildlife park that also boasts displays to satisfy discerning plant-lovers. There are prairie-style plantings, wildflower meadows and an old walled garden that’s been turned into a subtropical paradise. An arid area planted with cacti, succulents and Mediterranean species forms the backdrop to a meerkat enclosure.
M Open daily, 10am-6pm, cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk
Trentham Gardens, Staffordshire
Close to the Italianate gardens, prairie-style displays and ruins of a once-great hall that was demolished in the early 20th Century, there’s a hornbeam maze, adventure playground and a forest with free-roaming monkeys. Children are encouraged to take off their shoes and saunter along a barefoot walk, where mud, grass, water, bark, pebbles and other materials provide different sensations underfoot.
M Open daily, 9am-8pm, trentham.co.uk
Harewood House, North Yorkshire
An imposing 18th Century mansion, home to the Earl and Countess of Harewood, sits within more than 100 acres of gardens. There’s a walled garden, a border featuring tropical plants and a three-acre
Himalayan garden of streams, waterfalls and plants native to that mountainous region. Children will love the huge playground, originally opened by football legend Jack Charlton in 1970, boat rides on the lake and the bird garden.
M Open daily, 10am-6pm, harewood.org
Margam Country Park, South Wales
Covering 850 acres, Margam Country Park boasts a Grade I listed garden and landscape that includes a 327ft-long orangery built in 1786 which is the longest structure of its type in Britain. There’s an adventure playground equipped
with a castle, slide and rope bridge, while the Children’s Fairytale Village is aimed at under-tens and boasts a number of miniature buildings for youngsters to explore.
M Open daily, 10am-6pm, margamcountrypark.co.uk
Scone Palace, Scotland
This imposing palace near Perth, the family seat of the Earls of Mansfield for four centuries, nestles within 100 acres of grounds boasting lawns, walled gardens and a Victorian pinetum that contains some of the tallest trees in the UK. Children can let off steam in a well-stocked playground and explore the star-shaped maze, created by designer Adrian Fisher, which features more than 2,000 beech trees.
M Open daily, 9.30am-5pm, scone-palace.co.uk