Garden visits don’t have to cost the earth – in fact, there are many beautiful places up and down the UK that you can enjoy for free during the summer holidays, with top-notch, inspirational planting schemes. From the tiny Walled Garden at Mells, through to Sheffield's Grey to Green public space, there are plenty of green spaces to visit that are entirely free.
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The best free gardens to visit in the UK
The Hepworth Wakefield Garden, West Yorkshire
The striking modernist gallery building is matched by a stand-out small garden. Designed by Tom Stuart-Smith and curated by cultural gardener Katy Merrington, the space is open to all. Planting gives colour from April to November, starting with tulips and narcissi, through to taller perennials, such as Echinacea pallida and tawny Stipa calamagrostis. Sculptures enhance the plants’ own sculptural qualities. Open 365 days a year, 24 hours. Gallery Walk, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WR1 5AW. Tel 01924 247360, hepworthwakefield.org
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Barbican Conservatory, City of London
A secret oasis in the City of London, housed under more than 2,000 square metres of glass and steel roof and spread over several levels. It’s home to more than 1,500 species of plants, including bananas, palms and cacti, as well as koi-filled ponds, all of which soften the Brutalist complex. While in the area, there’s also Beech Gardens, designed by Nigel Dunnett, free and open 24 hours. Conservatory open on selected days every week from 12pm. Free tickets are released online, on Fridays at 10am for the following week; a limited number of day tickets are released online from 9.30am on open days. Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS. Tel 020 7870 2500, barbican.org.uk
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Renowned for its botanical research, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a prestigious institution with a history dating back to the 17th century, but many people don’t realise that this 70-acre garden is also free to visit. Enjoy wandering the different areas such as the Woodland Garden, Heath Garden, Rock Garden, Arboretum, Pond and Chinese Hillside, each with its own style and community of plants. The Glasshouses are presently closed as part of a restoration project to protect the garden’s Living Collection.
Summer open hours: daily, 10am-6pm. 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR. Tel 0131 552 7171. rbge.org.uk
Hauser & Wirth Somerset
This is gallerists Hauser & Wirth’s rural UK setting. Outside the converted farm buildings and additional gallery space, tens of thousands of plants have been masterfully orchestrated by plantsman Piet Oudolf. As its name, Oudolf Field, suggests, this is more of a planted landscape than garden with Piet creating a series of huge interlocking beds that stretch away from the gallery with robust, form-focused planting at scale. The gallery hosts a full programme of high-profile exhibitions, plus there’s a café, bar and restaurant.
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm. Durslade Farm, Bruton, Somerset BA10 0NL. Tel 01749 814060, hauserwirth.com
Here's more on the planting at the Oudolf Field
Mayfield Park, Manchester
An ambitious, six-and-a-half-acre, urban project encompassing a sequence of spaces – open lawns, play areas, floodable meadows, riverside walks – inviting the user to ‘get closer to nature and experience the park differently’. Accessibility to the River Medlock has been reclaimed from decades of post-industrial neglect with flower-rich planting cleverly interwoven into the shared spaces. Don’t miss the children’s slides – including one that slides you across the river.
Open daily, dawn until dusk. Baring Street, Manchester M1 2PY. mayfieldpark.com
Horniman Museum & Gardens, London
The Horniman Museum in south London and its extensive gardens are concerned with natural history and human culture. There’s been a fresh approach since head gardener Errol Reuben Fernandes took over, and newer areas such as the Grasslands Garden, which celebrates wild landscapes and was designed by James Hitchmough, now complement established spaces including the Sunken, Wildlife, Sound, Medicinal and Dye Gardens.
Summer opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 7.15am-8.30pm; Sundays and Bank Holidays, 8am-8.30pm. 100 London Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ. Tel 020 8699 1872, horniman.ac.uk
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Grey to Green, Sheffield
This remarkably successful regeneration initiative has greened a formerly industrial corridor of inner-city Sheffield, with beautiful but low-maintenance, ecological, perennial planting schemes. Planting designer Nigel Dunnett and the project team created rain-garden-style beds to manage the rainwater runoff, planted many trees and introduced welcome ribbons of colour to the previously tarmac and concrete routes. There is also art to enjoy along the way.
Castlegate, Sheffield S3 8LE. greytogreen.org.uk
Read more about Grey To Green
Crossrail Place Roof Garden, London
Located on a rooftop in Canary Wharf, London, this little green surprise with its sweeping glass roof, designed by Foster + Partners, features many tropical and exotic trees and plants from around the world, including Asia and the Americas, and offers views out across the waterfront and city skyline. Inspired by the history of the surrounding docks in international trade, there are different areas of planting themed to various parts of the world, including Morocco and New York.
Open daily until 9pm, or sunset in summer. Crossrail Place, London E14 5AB. canarywharf.com/open-spaces/crossrail-place-roof-garden/
Inner Temple, London
You’ll find this gem tucked within the historic courtyards of London’s legal quarters. With its own microclimate, the garden includes semi-exotic borders, mature trees, seasonal containers and an immaculate glasshouse. The lawn is dominated by huge plane trees, while the area beneath has been left to give a more meadowy effect.
Usually open weekdays (excluding Bank Holidays), 12.30-3pm. Also look out for Open Days. Crown Office Row, Inner Temple, London EC4Y 7HL. Tel 020 7797 8243, innertemple.org.uk/estate-garden/
Peter Beales Rose Garden, Norfolk
As one of the top UK rose growers, Peter Beales has long been a destination for rose lovers. Alongside the nursery there’s a two-acre display garden showcasing unique, historic, rare and contemporary roses growing alongside other planting. The first rose was planted in 1983, while more recently, the gardens have been developed to include an area where roses are being grown for their benefits to pollinators and other wildlife. Plenty of expert advice available.
Open daily, 9am-5pm (Sundays and Bank Holidays 10am-4pm). London Road, Attleborough, Norwich, Norfolk NR17 1AY. Tel 01953 454707, classicroses.co.uk
Aston Pottery, Oxfordshire
A working pottery with shop and café, set in a charming Oxfordshire village, Aston Pottery also has a show-stopping garden made up of six large, inspirational border schemes, which give interest from spring right through to autumn. They include the Hornbeam Walk, Dahlia Garden, the Hot Bank, traditional Perennial Border, the Annual Border (peaking in September with over 5,000 plants), and a tropical border, many with bright, cheery colours and half-hardy and tender plants.
Open Monday to Saturday, 9.30am-5pm; Sunday, 10.30am-5pm. Kingsway Farm, Aston, Oxfordshire OX18 2BT. Tel 01993 852031, astonpottery.co.uk
The Walled Garden at Mells, Somerset
Step through the door into the walled garden behind a pretty cottage in the Somerset village of Mells and you’ll find that its low-key, relaxed atmosphere is infectious. It couples shabby-chic cottage-garden-style planting – including lots of roses and honeysuckle – with a café serving fresh pizzas, a community, not-for-profit plant nursery, and a programme of horticultural, social and therapeutic workshops. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 11am-5pm (last pizza order at 4pm). 5 Rectory Cottages, Mells, Frome, Somerset BA11 3PN. Tel 01373 812597, thewalledgardenatmells.co.uk
Head to our Gardens to Visit page for lots more great gardens to get to
