Gardens to visit
Visiting a beautiful garden can be a wholly enriching experience. The benefits of visiting a garden – from mental health right through to exercise – are huge, and garden days out are perfect ways to have fun on your own, or as an entire family.
Regardless of how, and whoever you visit with, we have a host of suggestions of which gardens to visit, from gardens for the season, through to the gardens that are in full bloom and at their best each month. We have collated lists of the best gardens to visit with the help of our experts and many years of visiting gardens all around the UK, and beyond. We have gardens organised by theme, days out and local area, so you should find something for wherever you are and whatever garden experience you are looking for.
Enjoy our comprehensive guide to the best gardens to visit in the UK.
These are the gardens that will look most beautiful in May
Plantsman Keith Wiley recommends the best gardens to visit in May to see their plants in full bloom
Forde Abbey: the tulip display that gets better each year
The tulip display at Forde Abbey in Somerset gets bigger and better every year, with later-flowering cultivars intermingling effortlessly with annuals, biennials and perennials to enrich the planting in this progressive historic garden. Words Hannah Gardner, photographs Jason Ingram
The RHS's new Urban Show takes place this week and the public park it's next to is a riot of fun slides and dazzling planting
A derelict brownfield site next to a former railway yard is now brimming with life as Manchester’s first new city park in a century
Feel like you're on the set of Bridgerton with these Regency gardens to visit
With season three of Bridgerton hitting our screens soon, we’ve rounded up some beautiful regency gardens and landscapes to visit to make you feel as though you’re attending an early nineteenth century garden party
Japanese cherries blossom early in gardens across the UK
Warmer weather has meant Cherry trees have been blossoming much earlier this year
The best places to see a beautiful blue carpet of bluebells in a wood or garden near you
Wandering in a bluebell wood is a magical experience. Here are our recommendations for where to see bluebells – and other spring delights.
Gardens to visit that will look lovely in April
Plantsman Keith Wiley recommends the best gardens to visit in April to see plants at their best.
A festival for tulips? Here are the festivals around the world celebrating the arrival of the beautiful spring flower
Discover some of the best tulip festivals to visit for a colourful start to spring. From Amsterdam to London, find a festival near you.
Sissinghurst head gardener Troy Scott Smith on his vision for the garden
In 1930, the writer Vita Sackville-West and her diplomat husband Harold Nicolson bought an old farm in Kent and set about creating a garden that has become one of the best loved and most visited in the world. In the lead-up to the garden's centenary in 2030, head gardener Troy Scott Smith muses on the garden's enduring appeal - and outlines his vision for the garden. Images by John Campbell
Behind the scenes at Sissinghurst: springtime in the most-loved garden in the world
Sissinghurst’s head gardener Troy Scott Smith guides us through the jobs that he and his team do in spring. Images by John Campbell
A spectacular spring garden in bloom: the trees, shrubs and early flowering perennials of Malverleys
Malverleys’ head gardener Matthew Reese explains the importance of trees, shrubs and early flowering perennials for creating a dynamic planting scheme to carry the garden throughout the year. Words Matthew Reese. Photographs Jason Ingram.
Gardens to visit in March
Gardener and plantsman Keith Wiley shares his favourite gardens to visit in March.
This blank rectangular plot was transformed into a field of dreams by Piet Oudolf at a Somerset art gallery
Piet Oudolf has transformed a blank, rectangular plot
into a colourful, perennial meadow full of character
at the Hauser & Wirth art gallery in Somerset
Half term | Garden days out with the kids
Garden days out with the kids are the perfect way to spend half term holidays and more
Best places to propose: pop the question in a garden
Thinking of proposing to your beloved? Why not do it in style and pull off the perfect marriage proposal in one of our pick of beautiful garden venues
Top 10 most romantic gardens to visit with your loved one
Lose your heart in one of the world's most romantic gardens. Garden writer Anna Pavord picks ten of her favourite gardens to visit that will sweep you off your feet.
Gardens to visit in February
Keith Wiley, plantsman and owner of Wildside Garden and Tom Coward, head gardener at Gravetye Manor, recommend gardens to visit that look beautiful in February
The English country town where everyone goes completely snowdrop mad each February
The annual Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival in Somerset is the place to be for galanthophiles in February.
Words Lucy Bellamy, photographs Jason Ingram
Margery Fish's remarkable snowdrops at East Lambrook Manor
Margery Fish is best known for her books on creating her garden at East Lambrook Manor but, as designer Isabel Bannerman discovers, she was also an galanthophile who filled her garden with snowdrops. Photographs by Jason Ingram.
The best places to see snowdrops in 2024
For snowdrop lovers, or galanthophiles, February is the month to venture out to admire spectacular displays of snowdrops. Here are some of our recommended gardens to visit.
International garden festivals to visit
Horticulture events from around the world including flower shows and festivals.
Tips for visiting Christmas light shows
Christmas light show enthusiast Alice Tuffery gives us her advice on visiting festive light displays.
Best UK gardens open for Boxing Day walks
Many UK gardens are open this festive season, so why not work off your Christmas indulgence between Boxing Day and New Year with a winter walk at one of these 13 great open gardens?
The most inspiring winter garden walks
It may be cold outside but you can still visit beautiful gardens over the winter months. Here's our top picks of UK open gardens to visit for a refreshing winter walk