The Arboretum at Canford School has been nationally recognised and has several unusual and rare tree species and two National Collections. A limited number of tickets have been made available for this special one-day event, kindly hosted by Canford School on behalf of The National Garden Scheme. It includes a talk and guided tour with Andrew Powell who is master i/c trees at Canford School. Andrew will share his wealth of botanical knowledge and talk about the history and ongoing developments at the arboretum. His sense of humour and love of the collection is infectious, making this a very entertaining morning amongst this magical and majestic collection of trees. Opens Saturday 3rd May, pre-booking essential.
Terraced valley gardens surrounding Tudor/Jacobean manor house. On upper levels, walled croquet lawn, orangery and Italianate formal garden with fountains, topiary and grottoes. Below, C17 summerhouse and fishponds. Lower garden with shrubs and rare trees, leading to woodland and spring gardens. Mapperton is also home to a spectacular rewilding project known as Mapperton Wildlands and a limited number of tickets have been made available for a special 1 day rewilding tour on 29th May. On arrival please meet at the Coach House Café, where you will be joined by Ben Padwick, the ranger at Mapperton. Ben will give an introductory talk and will be your guide throughout your visit. Opens Thursday 29th May, pre-booking essential.
Designer Jasper Conran has given one of England’s loveliest smaller houses, Bettiscombe Manor, a garden to match, with orchards, mellow brick enclosures, and broad beds flanking an unforgettable view of the Vale, looking down to the sea. The garden has a magical quality, it is informally planted and flower-filled, reflecting the designer’s predilection for constantly evolving and creative planting. A limited number of tickets have been made available for this exclusive special afternoon event, kindly hosted by Jasper’s Head Gardener, Midori. It includes a talk on the gardens and how they have evolved to empathetically embrace and work within the surrounding landscape. Midori will also provide a background to how the garden has been created, as well as its ongoing development and provide further detail on what is growing in the garden currently. Opens Thursday 5th June.
60 acre park, 40 acre lake and 3 acre walled garden surrounding Crichel House split into 3 distinctive parts. Mature trees inc exceptional cedars form the backdrop to the Walled Garden which was set out in 1976 and recently over the last 9 yrs. Box hedges and paths lead into herbaceous borders. Lime avenue flanked by orchards, leads to reflecting pond completed by a stone pavilion and 7 individual secret gardens – these are themed and include the blue and white garden, a fragrant garden, the tapestry gardens (x2), a hot garden and the silver and lavender gardens. In addition to this, there is the ‘chill out’ garden with a grass sofa and stunning garden sculpture in the shape of a large sphere. Opens Friday 6th June, pre-booking essential.
The garden has been created over the last 25 yrs and sits within dry Purbeck stone walls with views to the sea. It is divided into different garden rooms with planting themes, all surrounding the C16/17 house. These inc more formal yew hedge pyramids, lonicera balls and cloud topiary alongside soft floral planting, with an orchard of wild flowers, and a working vegetable garden. Opens with Encombe House on Thursday 12th June, pre-booking essential.
The historic Encombe House and Estate is nestled within a unique stunning valley in the Purbeck hills. The garden has been extensively redeveloped since 2009, with a modern, sympathetic design for the garden by Tom Stuart-Smith. The main garden to the south of the house inc large sweeping borders filled with grasses and perennials, alongside extensive lawns, lake and deep herbaceous beds. Opens with Easington Farm on Thursday 12th June, pre-booking essential.
Enjoy several distinctive walled gardens, rolling lawns, sculpture and giant topiary around one of Beaminster’s historic town houses. John’s inspirational grass garden and Jennie’s very contrasting garden with an oak fruit cage; a riot of colour. Glasshouse, straw bale studio, geese in orchard. Remarkable trees, planked and seasoning in open sided barn for future furniture commissions. Opens Thursday 12th June and Wednesday 24th September, pre-booking essential.
Parnham House, near Beaminster, is one of the oldest Grade I listed stately homes in Dorset. The beautifully presented spacious gardens surrounding the house have been extensively restored and inc terraced formal gardens, topiary, an avenue of yew tree pinnacles leading to a lake and a walled garden with deeply planted perennial and herbaceous borders. A limited number of tickets have been made available for this special open day. The Head Gardener will give a talk on the history and ongoing recent developments of the garden and grounds, and the gardening team will be on hand throughout the afternoon to answer any questions. Opens Thursday 19th June, pre-booking essential.
Johnnie and Sophie Boden bought Wytherston in 2005. Since then they and their fantastic team have tried to encourage wild flowers in both their garden and in the meadows surrounding the farm, which makes for a breathtaking display. They have also maintained the gardens around the house, which inc deep herbaceous borders, roses and formal topiary structure interspersed with bright floral colour. Opens Saturday 21st June, pre-booking essential.
The owners of Wyke Farm, Robert and Alex Appleby, are both fanatical about rewilding, environmental conservation and preservation of the natural habitat. They have lived at Wyke Farm for almost 20 yrs and in this time have worked hard to empathically restore the land to inc a substantial wildflower meadow at the front of the house, and a large lake and woodland area. There are herbaceous borders and lawns around the house. There is a rose garden that leads to the woodland garden, then a more formal courtyard garden that leads through the barn to a kitchen garden. Opens Sunday 22nd June, pre-booking essential.
Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe, one of our finest landscape architects, was commissioned in 1969 to create a water garden for Lady Anne and Captain Michael Tree. The result was Shute House Gardens; his favourite and some say his finest work. The River Nadder rises at the top of the garden and is diverted into canals, waterfalls, rills and mysterious pools through a series of atmospheric garden ‘rooms’. A limited number of tickets have been made available for this special one day event, which includes a talk and private guided tour with the garden owner, Suzy Lewis followed by tea and cake. Please note the refreshments will be served in two sittings; one before and one after the garden tour. Opens Thursday 26th June, pre-booking essential.
The gardens at Stafford House inc a river walk and tree planting in the style of early C19 Picturesque. Humphry Repton prepared landscape proposals for the garden and the designs were later implemented, they were also included in his famous Red Books. A limited number of tickets have been made available for this private morning opening, hosted by Lord and Lady Fellowes. Opens Friday 4th July, pre-booking essential.
A wonderfully calming garden with naturalistic plantings of ornamental grasses interspersed with an array of flowering perennials. Grand specimen trees and beautiful shrubs offer shady spots to take in the open vistas of the prairie style gardens, benefiting both wildlife and environment. On Tues 2nd Sept owner, Neil Lucas, will be offering a guided tour of the gardens (tickets must be pre-booked). Opens Tuesday 2nd September, pre-booking essential.
Dorset Dahlias started 9 yrs ago at Befferlands Farm and has since overtaken the kitchen garden and a large patch in one of the farm fields. Dahlias are grown in rows and organised by colour, with up to 80 different varieties grown, and around 600 plants, that bloom from late Jul until late Oct. There are multiple colours from whites and baby pinks through to bright corals, oranges and pinks. Opens Sunday 7th September, pre-booking essential.
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