I’m often asked for advice on visiting gardens in the UK.
And the first thing I say is ‘look up the National Garden Scheme.‘
The National Garden Scheme opens gardens around England and Wales to raise money for a range of charities. While grander gardens often open for a special NGS day, the main strength of the scheme is that it encourages beautiful small and middle-sized gardens to open.
This makes it the perfect opportunity to pick up inspiration for your own garden.
The picturesque village of Stanton in Gloucestershire opens a group of gardens once a year for the National Garden Scheme.
And in the last few years, the NGS been expanding its ‘group openings.’ These are collections of private gardens in a district, town or village. For a visitor, they offer a unique insight into how people garden. Most open for just one day a year, but it’s worth checking to see if there is an NGS garden or group of gardens within travelling range on any summer weekend.
NGS group openings vary from around five gardens up to 25 or so, usually all quite close together. So I visited the picturesque village of Stanton in Gloucestershire at the time of its NGS village open day. And I picked out ideas you could borrow for your own garden.
As it’s in the Cotswolds, it’s hilly and all of the gardens had some element of a slope, which they dealt with in different ways.
Disclosure: I’ve had no contact with the National Garden Scheme itself while compiling this post, so this is not sponsored. I’m frequently asked for recommendations for gardens to visit, so I thought a post and video would be helpful.
Elaine and Kevin’s long, thin sloping garden
This is the smallest of the five and is beautifully designed and maintained.
It just shows that you don’t need a big garden to achieve impact.
There is a downward slope away from the house. They have a terrace immediately outside the house, with an arch that leads to a central path. The path leads down to the bottom of the garden where there is another terrace with a pond, a fountain and a bench.
This, too, is framed by an arch.
A central path links an arch at the top of the garden with the arch and terrace at the bottom of the garden. The focal point is a pond and a fountain.
Elaine and Kevin’s top terrace is directly outside the house and has a formal structure. There’s a herb bed inside the box and clematis grows up the arch.
The lower terrace in Elaine and Kevin’s garden has a pond, fountain and bench. Behind it, you can just see the greenhouse and the practical part of the garden.
There were several established trees in the garden when Elaine and Kevin moved in. They’ve stripped out some of the lower branches to give them space and light for planting.
Liz Philpott’s garden – a clever use of colour for a larger garden
Liz Philpott’s house is off the main high street, but the garden behind it is large and slopes uphill to the open countryside. Apart from terraces immediately outside the house, Jenny has generally gardened with the slope. She’s made the most impact in a large garden by using big blocks of planting colour, which flower at different times.
Liz Philpott uses large blocks of colour to create impact in her garden. She propagates and grows from seed, then plants in large drifts (‘I had to use plants I could grow or get easily,’ she says. ‘There wasn’t much budget left for the garden after we’d renovated the house’). The big border in the top photo is Geranium macrorrhizum. The photo below it has hostas, Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’, creeping Jenny and a clump of candelabra primula in sherbert colours.
The wonderful candelabra primulas.
You need different places to sit in a larger garden. Liz has seating near the house, looking out. She also has seating around the garden looking back. And although the lawn is mainly neatly mown, there are wilder areas where there are two old rocking chairs underneath ancient apple trees.
When you’re garden visiting, don’t just look at flowers. It’s a good opportunity to see how other gardeners manage trees. Here Liz has kept two ancient apple trees, and is allowing them to gather moss and lichen. Unless an old tree is dangerous (and do check for safety), they add texture and interest to a garden and offer major wildlife benefits. The moss and lichen won’t harm the tree and help biodiversity.
When visiting gardens, check out the hard landscaping. Liz has finally achieved a life long ambition to get a greenhouse. They used the leftover bricks to make a path, and their other pavers echo the Cotswold stone of the house. When choosing paths and pavers, always consider the materials and architecture of your house or any surrounding buildings.
Jackie Jones-Parry’s garden – look at the trees when visiting gardens!
Jackie Jones-Parry’s house was the farmhouse of a local farm and still has the old farm pond behind it. Where cattle and horses would once have drunk, there are now elegant weeping willows which help soak up excess water.
Jackie Jones-Parry’s pond. Graceful willow trees help absorb excess rainwater and create a peaceful backdrop.
Jackie’s garden is a wonderful lesson in making the most of your trees.
We are often reminded to think about foliage when planning our borders, but what about your trees? There is some magnificent foliage in Jackie’s garden. There is a copper beech, smartly pruned into a dome. That contrasts with the lively green and long thin branches of the weeping willow.
The trees in Jackie Jones-Parry’s garden have been well maintained and pruned. The weeping willow contrasts with the neat hedging, a conifer, an acer, the variegated sycamore and other trees. The result is peaceful and beautiful.
Choosing the right trees is a key part of making a garden. You need to think about what height they will grow and what their role is in the garden. (There’s a post here on choosing trees for smaller gardens.)
If you already have a tree or trees, it is really worth thinking about whether you can prune or shape them rather than getting rid of them. A mature tree adds depth and character to a garden. It’s hugely valuable to wildlife and helps clear air pollution. And although you can buy mature trees, they are very expensive and you have to make sure you look after them carefully while they get established.
Look at the trees when you’re visiting gardens. Jackie’s are well chosen and beautifully maintained.
Once you have your trees, then invest in maintaining their shape and health. Jackie’s trees are superbly pruned and maintained, and this is a big part of their success. If you just hack a tree back because, say, a branch is in the way or you want it to be smaller, you could stimulate growth and ultimately achieve exactly the opposite effect. Qualified tree surgeons are a big investment but you will only need them every three to five years. Find out the difference between a tree surgeon, an arborist and a man with a chain saw here. And here’s what you need to know before you book the tree surgeon.
Jackie’s house also has several climbers. This is Virginia creeper, which is invasive in some parts of the world. She also has climbing hydrangea up the front of the house and a grape vine around the door. Many people are warned against climbers up the house by their builders, but that is partly because it’s difficult to work around climbers when you’re decorating. Some climbers can be bad for brickwork,but many offer insulation and colour without damaging your property. See how to choose the best climbing plants for your garden.
Jenny’s garden – a contrast of formal and relaxed
Jenny’s garden was originally designed by their predecessors in the house and she has been adapting it slowly to her own style. It has a formal parterre close to the house and Jenny has added a contrasting wildlife friendly area tucked around the corner.
This parterre was originally created by Jenny’s predecessors. It’s a mix of box and roses and creates a formal area just outside the house. There’s only a gentle sideways slope in Jenny’s garden so it doesn’t impact the design.
Jenny stacks logs and tree stumps here, and allows self-seeders and weeds to pop up and benefit wildlife. It’s a good contrast to the formal parterre which is just a few feet away.
Although the slope is quite gentle, it is there, so a raised bed and path at one side create some terracing.
Jacqui Tucker’s garden – a mix of structure and wild elements
Jacqui Tucker’s garden is a beautiful mix of structured formality, good planting and relaxed wildness. Self-seeded flowers pop up amongst the mown lawns and well pruned trees.
Once again, garden visitors should pause to admire the trees. Jacqui has a large ancient Tulip Tree on her lawn. Some people might have wanted to clear it away and have a completely open lawn, but the garden would have lost some of its character if it had been chopped down. It frames both the house and garden beautifully. When it flowers, the Tulip Tree is stunning.
An old tree gives your garden a sense of texture and permanence. In a city, it’s common to rip out a house and garden and replace it with the latest fashion.
In the countryside, the pace of change is slower. Of course, you can accommodate a big old tree in more easily in a larger garden, but it still may not be exactly where you would have put it.
But an old tree is especially important for wildlife and no amount of money can replace the look of a mature tree.
A beautiful old Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) in Jacqui Tucker’s garden. It frames the buildings and adds vertical interest to the lawn. It’s around 40 years old, and only flowered for the first time five years ago. Tulip Trees generally don’t flower until they’re at least 30 years old but they are worth waiting for!
Jacqui Tucker’s sculpture is a beautiful focal point, framed by relaxed planting. There’s plantain, roses and a mix of self seeded wildflowers and planted ones. It’s a patch of wildness surrounded by well maintained lawns.
Jacqui allows self seeded plants to pop up around the garden. Here Linaria ‘Canon Went’ has planted itself just in front of the log store.
You’ll see some unusual ideas when you’re visiting gardens – anyone for a tortoise garden? These lucky tortoises have their own area at the back of Jacqui’s garden, planted up to provide them with food and shelter. The tortoises are so happy that they laid six eggs, which Jacqui hatched in an incubator, and all six survived.
See round the Stanton village gardens in video
You can see more of these gardens in this video.
Pin to remember visiting gardens with the NGS
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