Classic England Garden Tour South

SISSINGHURST - GREAT DIXTER

Our guide will collect you and travel to Kent, The Garden of England. Arguably, the best C20th garden is SISSINGHURST. Created around the remains of an Elizabethan mansion by Vita Sackville West, it forms a series of enclosed compartments and outstanding design. GREAT DIXTER is the pioneering garden of Christopher Lloyd, famed for his carpets of wildflowers and exuberant exotic garden.

WAKEHURST - WINCHESTER

WAKEHURST PLACE is country home of the Royal Botanic Gardens,  Kew. An internationally significant botanic garden, there are plants from throughout the world, carefully planted in a secluded valley. Included is Kew’s Millenniun Seed Bank with 10% of the world’s seeds. In England’s ancient capital, Winchester, QUEEN ELEANOR’S GARDEN is a recreation of a C13th herbarium using plants of that time.

STOURHEAD - BRUTON - HOTEL ENDSLEIGH

Arguably the best landscape garden STOURHEAD, is set around a huge central lake. Paths move through magnificent woodlands and exotic trees, offering different vistas of the classic temples. A lunch stop and impressive garden is at BRUTON, designed by Piet Oudolf. Through national parks, HOTEL ENDSLEIGH is Humphry Repton’s last garden with 108 acres of woods, follies and grottos.

EDEN PROJECT - LOST GARDENS OF HELIGAN

Created by Tim Smit, the EDEN PROJECT is nestled in a crater. The revolutionary glass biomes have plants from different global climates like the tropics. The LOST GARDENS OF HELIGAN were hidden and overgrown from the earliest part of the C20th. They offer a fascinating insight into an Edwardian estate with long carriage drives, an exotic kitchen garden, unusual plants and swamp.

RHS ROSEMOOR - HESTERCOMBE

Royal Horticultural Society’s ROSEMOOR is set deep in the Devon countryside. The garden offers a vast range of plants and immense herbaceous borders. The most popular feature is the extensive rose garden and the sub-tropical plantings. HESTERCOMBE is a garden with history. With stunning views, it was started in the 1750s with the formal gardens added by renowned plantswoman Gertrude Jekyll.

HIGHGROVE - ABBEY HOUSE - ROCCO GARDEN

HRH Prince of Wales’s home HIGHGROVE, has an inspired and innovative garden. Based on organic principals, it encourages both plants and wildlife. Once part of a monastery ABBEY HOUSE Garden has developed into a delight with spring flowers, 2000 roses and herbs. PAINSWICK ROCCO GARDEN was laid out in 1740 in a hidden valley. Recently restored, it is now stunning floral place.

POWIS CASTLE - DAVID AUSTIN ROSES

On the border with Wales, POWIS CASTLE is a world famous garden overhung with enormous clipped yews sheltering rare and tender plants. The gardens date back to the C12th Welsh Kings and where further devolved in the Italianate and French styles in the C18th. The famous rose growers, DAVID AUSTIN have created a 2 acre show garden – probably the most beautiful rose garden in the world.

HIDCOTE - BOURTON HOUSE - ROUSHAM

In the Cotswolds, arts and crafts masterpiece, HIDCOTE MANOR GARDEN is famous for outstanding herbaceous borders, rare trees and shrubs, all developed in a series of outdoor rooms. BOURTON HOUSE is a a small award winning garden with stunning colour combinations. ROUSHAM PARK was one of the first landscape gardens created by William Kent and it remains much as planned in the C18th.

ADDITIONS TO THE ITINERARY

This tour is an example of what can be seen. There is an abundance of gardens to choose from or themes we can create tours around. One option is a few extra days in CORNWALL or KENT. The gardens of the north of England add a wonderful contrast to this tour as do the outstanding countryside and homes of the LAKE DISTRICT, NORTHUMBERLAND, the PEAK DISTICT or YORKSHIRE.

Please ask for ideas.