We all have our favourite outdoor spaces to visit, but with warmer weather on the horizon, it's a great time to explore some of the new and exciting gardens opening to the public this year. From redesigned areas in famous gardens to brand-new spaces opening for the very first time, there are plenty of noteworthy plots to discover this year, both in the UK and further afield.
Scroll down to see the bucket-list destinations to add to your calendar this year.
New gardens to visit in the UK this year
The Carbon Garden at RBG Kew, London
The Royal Botanic Garden Kew’s forward-looking Carbon Garden opened last summer. The redesigned plot is recognisable from its striking central pavilion designed by Mizzi Studio, reminiscent of fungi and built using low-carbon, natural materials.
Look out for the drought-resistant plants and stripes of herbaceous perennials, which visually depict rising global temperatures over time. Kew has also added Mediterranean plants to show how London gardens might look in the future as a result of climate change.
Open 10am-6pm daily
Tickets from £10
Web kew.org
Bowood walled garden, Wiltshire
Bowood gardens in Wiltshire will open up its walled garden for the first time this year, from 27th March.
While it’s previously been a private space for Lord Lansdowne, its borders are now being updated with pale-coloured blooms inspired by the house's interior to contrast with a bold red, orange and blue scheme. There’s also a new sensory garden, featuring scented flowers, corkscrew stems and eye-catching colours.
Open from 27 March, 12-4:30pm daily
Tickets Garden tours from £21.85
Web bowood.org
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Cliveden's Long Garden, Berkshire
Cliveden in Buckinghamshire has 80 acres of gardens, including a geometric parterre, a maze and a water garden, but its 200-metre Long Garden has now been given an eco-friendly makeover by the garden’s current custodian, the National Trust.
The team have widened the central path and added a revitalised planting palette to better cope with our changing climate. Annual bedding displays have been replaced by a biodiverse selection of pollinator-friendly shrubs, perennials and grasses. In the winter months, rose hips and the seedheads of Pennisetum and Calamagrostis grasses will provide visual interest, as well as food and shelter for wildlife.
Open 9:30am-5:30pm daily
Tickets From £21 / free for National Trust members
Web nationaltrust.org.uk
Garden for the Future at Sheffield Park and Garden, East Sussex
Sheffield Park and Garden in East Sussex has opened its new Garden for the Future by landscape architect Joe Perkins. It's the first significant planting update since the National Trust bought the Grade I-listed landscape in 1954, and adds more than 4,500 plants to the remodelled half-acre plot.
The garden features snaking benches and curved ‘pebble’ seating made from UK-sourced sequoia, and is split into three planting zones. Dry Exotic features raised beds holding sub-alpine species from Tasmania, New Zealand and South America; Gondwanan Forest, inspired by the mid-altitude hillsides of Chile and Argentina; and Temperate Woodland, combining ferns, grasses and forget-me-nots with mahonias and azaleas beneath the garden’s existing tree canopy.
In a nod to the park’s experimental former owner, the new visitor experience will test plants’ resistance to drought and extreme temperatures, and inform the National Trust’s future work.
Open 10am-5pm daily
Tickets from £18 / free for National Trust members
Web nationaltrust.org.uk
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Normans Hall, Cheshire
The National Garden Scheme (NGS) offers the chance to peek inside more than 3,000 private plots across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands - including the woodland and herbaceous gardens at Normans Hall in Cheshire.
Opening for just one day on the 14 June this year, Normans Hall doesn't open its gate often. Book a ticket to explore the three-acre plot, which features a rill with roses at the front of the house, herbaceous gardens and a new woodland with more than 100 birch trees.
Open Sunday 14 June, 10am-4pm
Tickets £10
Web ngs.org.uk
Natural Dye and Wellbeing Garden at the National Theatre, London
Here's a unique new garden sure to intrigue visitors on London’s South Bank. The National Theatre’s Natural Dye and Wellbeing Garden on the National Theatre’s riverside terrace has begun growing plants to colour costumes.
Vibrant plants such as French marigolds, hollyhocks, dahlias, indigo and chamomile - all grown from seed - will be used to create natural dyes to colour textiles for costumes in the theatre’s future productions. The garden will complement the roof’s existing three beehives, and host workshops on natural dyeing techniques.
Open Monday–Saturday, 10am-11pm
Tickets Free
Web nationaltheatre.org.uk
Horatio's Garden Sheffield & East, South Yorkshire
This calming garden started out at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, where it won Best in Show, and has now been transported to the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre at Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. It was designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg from Harris Bugg Studio to provide a restorative space for patients, their visitors and NHS staff.
Visit on 13 May as part of the NGS to admire the space, which includes a water feature made with historic Sheffield cutlery casts and stone cairns built by fifth-generation master stone wallers, as well as layered, sensory planting.
Open Wednesday 13 May, 1-5pm
Tickets £5
Web ngs.org.uk
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Crocus at Dorney Court, Berkshire
The online plant retailer Crocus has opened a new plant centre in the grounds of Dorney Court, near Eton in Buckinghamshire.
Kew-trained head gardener Ashley Edwards and resident garden designer Lucy Willcox have helped to transform the beautiful walled garden, which showcases a curated selection of plants for all seasons as well as clever design and planting ideas. It also has nursery, shop and café.
Open Mon-Thurs 10am-4:30pm, Fri-Sun 9am-5pm
Tickets Free
Web crocus.co.uk
The Winter Garden at RHS Rosemoor, Devon
Later in the year, it’s worth paying a visit to Jo Thompson’s Winter Garden at RHS Garden Rosemoor in Devon. The remodelled space features over 1,600 new bulbs, 1,120 herbaceous plants, 260 shrubs and 96 trees.
The garden is designed to capture low winter sun, so there are also more than 230 grasses, as well as plants with sculptural seedheads. Dogwood stems and trees with white, pink and gold bark bring vibrant winter colour, while evergreens, such as weeping conifers, scented camellias and dwarf rhododendrons, create year-round structure.
Open October–March 10am–5pm daily; April-September 10am-6pm daily
Tickets from £13.25 / free for RHS members
Web rhs.org.uk
Hauser & Wirth, Somerset
Dutch designer Piet Oudolf created his much-loved Oudolf Field for Hauser & Wirth in Somerset 10 years ago, and has now returned to the gallery to revitalise its courtyard garden, in collaboration with landscape design studio Urquhart & Hunt.
At the garden's centre is a pride of India (Koelreuteria paniculata) tree, which is surrounded by a mix of colourful and textural plants and, unlike Piet's classic perennial style, 15 ornamental trees and shrubs, including the Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum) with its bright-pink blossom for seasonal interest. All are chosen for sun and part-shade conditions, allowing them to thrive within the courtyard walls.
Open Wednesday–Sunday, 10am–5pm
Tickets Free
Web hauserwirth.com
Wylam House, Devon
Three hundred feet above sea level, the gently sloping gardens at Wylam House in Devon offer fantastic views across Torbay. There are two acres of gardens to explore around the Italianate 1861 villa, which include a central ornamental pond and a late Victorian rose garden.
Visit on 23 and 24 May when it opens as part of the National Garden Scheme (NGS).
Open Sat 23-Sun 24 May, 11am-4:30pm
Tickets £6
Web ngs.org.uk
Ashby Manor House, Warwickshire
Although it was once the home of the Catesby family, where Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators gathered to plan their gunpowder plot in 1605, Ashby Manor House is now owned by descendants of the 1st Viscount Wimborne.
The garden is returning to the NGS for the first time in 30 years; a great opportunity to admire the grounds, with their canal parterre, statue garden, orchard and croquet lawn, as well as the rose and peony borders. Visit on 10 May.
Open Sunday 10 May, 11am-5pm
Tickets £10
Web ngs.org.uk
Upper Bwlch Farm, Powys, Wales
Another NGS opening, Upper Bwlch Farm in Wales will welcome visitors on the 27 and 28 June this year. Back in 2019, this rural plot was designed and created on television in two days by Charlie Dimmock, so it's a chance to see a bit of TV magic - complete with cottage planting and a stumpery.
Open Sat 27-Sun 28 June, 2-5pm
Tickets £5
Web ngs.org.uk
Glenburn's Walled Garden, Scottish Borders
In the Scottish Borders, Glenburn’s Walled Garden, Berwickshire, is opening for charity for the first time this year as part of Scotland's Garden Scheme (SGS). It's just one acre in size, but the romantic planting makes it well worth a visit. Explore the handsome walled garden and its glasshouse to see espaliered apple trees, Himalayan poppies, irises, fritillaries, scented roses, delphiniums, verbascums and thalictrums.
Glenburn's Walled Garden is open on 20 May, 19 July and 31 August.
Open Wed 20 May, Sun 19 July & Mon 31 August, 2-5pm
Tickets £5
Web scotlandsgardens.org
Shobrooke Park Gardens, Devon
This smart 15-acre garden with its impressive stone terraces is part of a wider 200-acre landscape, and the result of ongoing work since 1980. The house itself was lost to a fire in 1945, after which the garden became neglected and overgrown, but now a walk through the grounds reveals its original rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias and camellias, as well as new planting for year-round interest and swathes of bluebells under the oak trees.
Shobrooke Park gardens are opening for the NGS on the 18 April.
Open Saturday 18 April, 10:30am-5pm
Tickets £5
Web ngs.org.uk
Raby Castle, County Durham
Completed last year, Raby Castle's redesigned walled garden is one of the top new spaces to visit this spring and summer. It's part of a wider scheme to update more of the grounds at Raby Castle, and the five-acre garden incorporates the much-loved yew hedges and Raby fig already in situ.
Visitors can also complement a tour of the gardens with a trip to the Vinery Café Restaurant and seasonal markets at the Dutch Barn.
Open 10am-5pm daily
Tickets from £23
Web raby.co.uk
Auckland gardens, County Durham
Auckland Gardens in County Durham has undergone a huge transformation over the past few years. It has already celebrated the opening of its restored Wilderness Garden, Faith Garden and Victorian-inspired glasshouse, and has also been gearing up for the reveal of its centrepiece, the Great Garden.
All these gardens are part of the 10 acres of green space surrounding Auckland Castle in County Durham, which includes a bowling green hosting summer events, and a walled garden for growing fruit and veg served up in the cafe. Stroll along the North Terrace for views of the nearby 150-acre deer park.
Open Wednesday-Sunday, 10:30am-4pm
Tickets £20
Web aucklandproject.org
New gardens to visit outside of the UK
Copenhagen's Opera Park
Instantly striking with its intriguingly shaped central 'greenhouse', Copenhagen's new Opera Park is one for the bucket list. For decades, this space surrounding Copenhagen’s Opera House was just a simple lawn, but now it's a biodiverse public park, complete with a café and underground parking, connected to the opera house via a pedestrian bridge.
The park features 628 trees and 80,000 bushes and herbaceous perennials, which make up six internationally inspired gardens – a North American Forest, Danish Oak Forest, Nordic Forest, Oriental Garden, English Garden and Subtropical Garden in the greenhouse.
Open Park 7am-11pm daily; Greenhouse Mon-Fri 10am-11pm, Sat 9am-11pm, Sun 9am-3:30pm
Tickets Free
Web operaparken.dk
Vandalorum Museum of Art & Design, Sweden
In Sweden, another new garden by the celebrated Dutch designer Piet Oudolf has transformed a 2,500-square-metre courtyard around the Vandalorum Museum of Art and Design - the second phase of a larger scheme, which includes a 3,500-square-metre perennial garden.
This new courtyard has an 850-square-metre perennial meadow and a large seating area for the museum restaurant’s diners, as well as art installations and zones for educational activities. The bowl-shaped layout showcases Piet's naturalistic planting style, with pockets of salvias, asters and perennial grasses.
Open Check website for monthly opening times
Tickets Adults 130 SEK; students 110 SEK
Web vandalorum.se
Calder Gardens, Philadelphia, USA
If you live in Philadelphia or are planning your next getaway, consider a trip to Calder Gardens. The new art institution displays a rotating selection of works by Alexander Calder (1898–1976), and now has its own brand-new garden designed by Piet Oudolf and featuring over 250 plant varieties.
You can discover how the gardens were designed and put together in our online masterclass from horticulturist Rebecca McMackin, who documented their creation last summer - a unique opportunity to see how Piet's planting schemes are planned, constructed, laid out and planted.
Open Thursday–Monday, 11am–5pm
Tickets Adults $18; seniors $16; students $5
Web caldergardens.org
Looking for more gardens to explore? Head to our Gardens To Visit hub for inspiration.
