The Laskett and Weston Hall Garden - Herefordshire
Wednesday June 5th, 10.30-16.30, £85 including welcome talks by Lucinda Aldrich-Blake and Sir Roy Strong, garden tours, picnic lunch and glass of prosecco.

An opportunity to visit two unique gardens in one day. We will start the day at Weston Hall with coffee and a welcome talk from Lucinda Aldrich-Blake. Simon Tarleton the Head Gardener, will then lead a short orientation tour of the garden, before allowing guests to wander off and explore this lovely six acre estate at will.

Weston Hall is a 16th Century house not included in tour and the garden has been tended by the same family for four generations. The lawns beside the house feature mature specimen trees such as cedars of Lebanon and magnolias; there is a large walled garden with yew hedging and espaliered fruit trees overlooked by a millennium folly; delightful herbaceous borders, courtyards and fountains. On the far side of the house there is a small lake surrounded by natural plantings.

Leaving Weston Hall at 12.45pm it is a 15 minute drive to The Laskett, where we will enjoy a lovely picnic lunch with a glass of prosecco in the newly created colonnade. The afternoon will start with a short talk by Sir Roy, after which guests will be free to walk around the garden at their leisure, and Head Gardener Shaun Cadman and his colleague Philip Teague will be very happy to talk with guests about the garden.

Otley Hall
Otley, Suffolk
Tuesday 11th June, 10:30-16:00, £65 to include a house & garden tour with two course lunch.

Otley Hall is a stunning Grade 1 listed private home with a 16th century moated hall and is surrounded by 10 acres of beautiful, award winning gardens. Conservation and nature play important roles and particular care has been taken to encourage wild flowers and hedges. The gardens include parts of an important design by Francis Inigo Thomas, featuring an H-canal, nutteries, croquet lawn, rose garden and moat walk. There's also an orchard, herber and knot garden. During our exclusive day at Otley Hall we will enjoy guided tours of the Hall and the gardens as well as a ploughman's lunch. We'll also have free time to wander in the gardens at leisure before rounding off our day with a delicious cream tea.

Deans Court
Wimbourne, Dorset
Wednesday 19th June, 10:30-15:30, £65 to include a house & garden tour by Sir William and Lady Hanham plus a two course lunch.

Deans Court has been owned by the Hanham family since 1548. During our day here we will enjoy a tour led by Sir William and Lady Hanham which brings to life the 1,000 year story of a manor house at the centre of a rural English community. The ancient garden tour provides much to delight the eye, from the monastic fishpond, herb garden and mature specimen trees planted by Thomas Hanham in 1607 to the serpentine walls around the flourishing kitchen garden. The garden was the first in the country to be accredited by the Soil Association. During the day we’ll enjoy tours of the house and the garden as well as a two course buffet lunch served on the terrace (weather permitting). We'll also have time to wander and revisit favourite areas of the garden.

SOLD OUT!

Mount St John
Felixkirk, North Yorkshire
Wednesday 3rd July, 10:30-15:30, £50 includes garden tour and two course lunch.

The house and gardens belong to passionate gardener Chris Blundell, who collaborated with Chelsea Gold medal winner Tom Stuart Smith to create this stunning garden, overlooking the Vale of York. This ambitious garden includes a walled garden, cut flower garden, kitchen garden and an adjoining valley garden containing three pools. The garden is planted with ornamental trees, azaleas, rhododendrons, shrubs and thousands of perennials. The day will start with coffee and biscuits, followed by a garden tour led by Head Gardener Elizabeth Balmforth before a delicious lunch made with produce from the Mount St John kitchen garden served up at the nearby Carpenters Arms. After lunch guests are free to return to the garden to explore at their leisure.

Boughton House
Kettering, Northamptonshire
Wednesday 10th July, 10:30-15:30, £65 includes house & garden tour with two course lunch.

Boughton House is the home of The Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch. During our day we'll enjoy guided tours of the house and garden. The house dates from 1528 and the magnificent facade reveals the extraordinary complexity of building work over the centuries, with its 7 courtyards, 12 entrances, 52 chimney stacks and 365 windows. The immense and stunning formal gardens, for over two centuries, had been virtually lost. However recent generations have undertaken a major restoration programme in the parkland, replanting hundreds of trees, restoring water features and vistas and commissioning a new 21st century feature, Orpheus. The Walled Garden delights with its herbaceous border, flower beds and newly created Sensory Garden, as do the Rose Garden and the ancient Lily Pond. After our tour we will enjoy our delicious two course buffet lunch. In the afternoon take time to revisit and enjoy your favourite areas of the garden.

Ridleys Cheer
Mountain Bower, Wiltshire
Wednesday 17th July, 10:30-15:30, £65 to include a house and garden tour by acclaimed garden designers & owners Sue & Antony Young, two course lunch & afternoon tea.

Ridleys Cheer features an entrancing and secluded garden and is the private home of Sue and Anthony Young, the acclaimed garden designer. Their beautiful garden contains a great many rare and unusual trees and shrubs which offer interest throughout the year. There are over 125 different rose varieties, including big tree ramblers, and mixed borders fringe sweeping lawns leading to a small potager. In front of the house there is a miniature box garden and the upper magnolia garden leads to the 2 acre arboretum and 3 acre wild flower meadow, containing some 45 native limestone flower species. After a guided tour with our hosts we'll enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by Sue (who is cordon bleu trained) using fresh, local produce. Feel free to enjoy the garden at leisure in the afternoon.

Whalton Manor Gardens
Northumberland
Wednesday 24th July, 10:30-15:30, £50 includes tea & coffee on arrival, garden tour & lunch.

Whalton Manor was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1908, and the garden was created with the help of Gertrude Jekyll. The creativity and outstanding design skills brought together in this famed partnership has created an exceptional 3 acre walled garden. The vast stone paved courtyard with the circular staircase, the Italianate and hexagonal summerhouses and many more of Lutyen's architectural gems can be seen in the garden and around the house. The garden itself has been continuously developed by the Norton family since 1920 to become the magical place it is today. There is a luscious rose garden, densely planted herbaceous borders, ancient walls and pergolas festooned with many varieties of climbing roses and clematis. The garden tour will be led by owner Penny Norton, followed by a delicious lunch using local produce. Whalton Manor is now licensed so you may enjoy a glass of wine with your lunch (not included in ticket price).

Kingston Bagpuize House
Nr Abingdon, Oxon
Wednesday 21st August, 10:30-15:30, £65 to include a two course lunch & afternoon tea.

Kingston Bagpuize, now the family home of Virginia Grant, had for centuries been the resident manor of aristocratic lords with a history that spans over a thousand years. The house is set within its own outstanding parkland, offering beautiful vistas as well as peace and tranquillity. The parkland to the east of the house together with the gardens was largely planted between 1939 and 1976. In 1995 Virginia and her late husband Francis began restoring the current garden, which includes herbaceous and shrub borders and woodland gardens. Developing a most unusual and interesting collection of trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs. During our day here we will enjoy guided tours of the house and garden as well as a buffet lunch. We will also have time to wander and revisit favourite areas of the garden before rounding off our day with a cup of tea and cake in the garden.

Passionate Lady Gardeners of Northumberland

6th-9th September - From £485.00

A group of independent, female and very passionate Northumberland gardeners have combined their four small, private gardens to provide a distinctively different garden experience. The gardeners offer guided tours of their own individual and imaginative gardens with each one giving an unusual insight into the pleasure of gardening in this most beautiful and tranquil corner of rural England.

In the pretty village of Whalton, Penny Norton has inherited all kinds of interesting plants at the Manor House, whose history features contributions from Jekyll and Lutyens. Herbaceous borders and beautiful plantings of mature shrub roses, peonies, wisteria and clematis are key characters in a garden framed by the most elegant architectural features. Over at Mindrum, Ginny Fairfax, a natural artist, has created a large and generous garden with skill and verve. Colours are soft and subtle and the garden is rich in roses, scented plants, wild flowers and remarkable trees.

Maggie Bell's Crook Hall provides a little oasis of colour and tranquillity in the heart of the city of Durham, with a dozen different gardens set around a medieval manor house, each one imaginatively planted to reflect a particular theme. At the Garden Cottage, Heather Russell has woven a rich tapestry of garden features, each with a character and mood of their own. Heather has combined passionate plantsmanship with a very strong sense of design in a delightful contemporary garden.

Finally, we could not organise a garden tour to this part of the world without visiting our friends at the Alnwick Garden, whose inspiration stems from the unbridled passion of the Duchess of Northumberland herself.

We are pleased to offer this holiday in association with Perennial, the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society.

Littlethorpe Manor Gardens
Ripon, Yorkshire
Wednesday 11th September 10:30-15:30, £45 includes tea & coffee on arrival, a picnic lunch in the marquee & garden tour led by Head Gardener Eddie Harland.

Mrs Thackray, our hostess, will be pleased to welcome visitors and Eddie Harland will lead the tour. The gardens have four acres of formal gardens and lawns around the house and 7 acres of stunning parkland. On show are 4 gardens with different themes linked together and at the heart of the estate is the walled garden, reflecting Mrs Thackray's desire to relate the four seasons to the cycle of life. In the centre is Yggdrassil, the Norwegian World Tree, the symbolic Tree of Life. The gardens around the house are increasingly formal. The Sunken garden parterre is based upon the White Rose of York emblem, the clipped box and trelliswork combining well with the white rendered Manor house. The main formal axis of the garden, from the terrace down to the classical pavilion, reflects Mr Thackray's ambition to create a 'mini arcadia'. After lunch, guests will be free to wander the gardens at leisure.