Bedgebury National Pinetum & Forest, Park Lane, Goudhurst, Kent TN17 2SL, England
Tel. 00 44 (0) 1580 87 98 20   -   www.forestry.gov.uk/bedgebury   -   www.facebook.com/bedgeburypinetum   -   bedgebury@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Bedgebury National Pinetum & Forest in the High Weald of Kent is the perfect place for healthy outdoor activity.

The National Pinetum is an international centre for the conservation of rare and endangered plant species and contains the world's leading collection of conifers. The collection has over 12,000 trees and shrubs from five continents growing across 320 acres. Many are rare, endangered and historically important specimens.

The Pinetum is a beautiful setting for walks and picnics in all seasons, surrounded by lakes, streams, rolling hills and wide avenues. A network of paths throughout enables easy access for all levels of ability.

Open all year, Bedgebury Forest covers around 20,000 square metres of forest and features trails for family cycling, mountain-biking, Go Ape, horse riding, walking and adventure play for all ages and abilities.

The Visitor Centre features refreshments, toilets, bike hire including adapted cycles, showers for bikes and riders, and an education/community room.

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Chartwell, Mapleton Road, Westerham, TN16 1PS, England
Tel. 00 44 (0) 1732 868381   -   www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chartwell/   -   chartwell@nationaltrust.org.uk

Chartwell was the much-loved Winston Churchill family home and the place from which Sir Winston drew inspiration from 1924 until the end of his life.

The rooms remain much as they were when he lived here, with pictures, books and personal mementoes evoking the career and wide-ranging interests of a great statesman, writer, painter and family man.

The hillside gardens reflect Churchill's love of the landscape and nature. They include the lakes he created, Lady Churchill's rose garden, the kitchen garden and the Marycot, a playhouse created especially for the youngest Churchill daughter.

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Emmett's Garden, Ide Hill, Sevenoaks, TN14 6BA, England
Tel.: 00 44 (0) 1732 750367   -   www.nationaltrust.org.uk/emmetts-garden   -   emmetts@nationaltrust.org.uk

Emmetts Garden is an Edwardian estate located at Ide Hill, near Sevenoaks in Kent, UK. It is now owned by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty (National Trust).

Emmetts Garden was open farmland until 1860 when the present house was built. The name 'emmett' is a local word for ant and refers to the giant anthills that covered the area until the 1950s. The house and land was purchased in 1890 by Frederic Lubbock, a banker and passionate plantsman. Lubbock's elder brother was John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, coincidentally a world expert on ants, which may have influenced his decision to purchase the property.

The gardens were initially laid out between 1893 and 1895 under the influence of Lubbock's friend William Robinson in the fashionable Edwardian style popularised by Gertrude Jekyll. The shrub garden was added later in 1900-1908.

After Lubbock's death (1927), the estate was acquired by an American geologist Charles Watson Boise. He made various alterations to both house and garden but retained the original character of the gardens.

In 1964 Charles Boise bequeathed Emmetts to the National Trust. Since then the Trust has sought to maintain the botanical diversity of the garden developed by the two men.

Many of the old trees and shrubs planted by Lubbock were brought down in the Great Storm of 1987. Following the storm, which had the benefit of bringing more light to the gardens, the National Trust has undertaken a sympathetic replanting programme.
The garden, which covers an area of about six acres (approximately 2.5 hectares), occupies a commanding site on a 600-foot (180 m) sandstone ridge, overlooking the Weald. One of the highest points in Kent, it offers expansive views towards the North Downs.

It is mainly planted with trees and shrubs in the form of an arboretum; a magnificent 100-foot (30 m) Wellingtonia fortunately survived the Great Storm. There is also a rose garden located next to the Victorian house to which the gardens once belonged. The house is not open to the public.

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Hergest Croft Gardens, Hergest Estate Office, Kington, Herefordshire   HR5 3EG, England
Tel. 00 44 (0) 1544 23 01 60   -   gardens@hergest.co.uk   -   http://hergest.co.uk

Four gardens for all seasons from spring bulbs to autumn colour extend over 50 acres, with over 4000 rare shrubs and trees. Rhododenrons and azaleas grow in Park Wood and are spectacular in Spring, the large kitchen garden with the long double herbaceaous borders, rose garden and spring borders are always attractive.

Teas with home-made food are available in the old dining-room. Rare and unusual plants are for sale, and there is a shop selling a wide range of gifts.
 

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RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Creephedge Lane, Rettendon, Chelmsford, Essex CM3 8ET, England
Tel. 00 44 (0) 845 265 8071   -   hydehall@rhs.org.uk   -   www.rhs.org.uk

An inspirational Essex garden with sweeping panoramas, big open skies and far reaching views. Open daily from 10am the garden boasts an eclectic range of inspirational horticultural styles that provides year round interest and colour. Highlights include the traditional styled Hilltop Garden with its lush green lawns, ponds and roses and the Mediterranean Dry Garden which showcases drought tolerant plants.

Facilities include a restaurant, café, gift shop & plant centre. Groups welcome by appointment.

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Kew Wakehurst Place, Selsfield Road, Ardingly, West Sussex RH17 6TN, England
Tel. 00 44 (0) 1444 894066

"Kew à la campagne".  Sur 200ha s'étendent un jardin clos, un jardin asiatique, une partie marécageuse de conservation, des espaces boisés, lacs et plans d'eau.  Á voir également: quatre collections nationales, des plantes rares de l'Himalaya et de l'hémisphère sud, ainsi que l'exposition inter-active de la Millenium Seed Bank.  Ouvert du 1/3 au 31/10 de 10 h à 18 h (dernière entrée 17h30).  Du 1/11 au 28/02 de 10 h à 16h30 (dernière entrée 16 h) sauf 24 et 25/12.
"Kew in the country".  A 500 acre paradise of walled gardens, water gardens, conservation wetland, woodland, lakes and ponds.  As well as the four National Collections, there are rare plants from the Himalayas and the Southern hemisphere to delight the eye, not forgetting the interactive exhibition of the Millennium Seed Bank.  Opening times: 10 am - 6 am, 1/03 - 31/10 (Last admission: 5.30).  10 am - 4.30 pm (last admission 4 pm), 1/11 - 28/2 (closed 24 and 25/12).

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Marks Hall Gardens & Arboretum, Marks Hall Estate, Coggeshall, Essex CO6 1TG, England
Tel. 00 44 (0)1376 56 37 96   -   enquiries@markshall.org.uk   -   www.markshall.org.uk

A tree collection from all the temperate areas of the world set in more than 200 acres of historic landscape provides interest and enjoyment throughout the year at Marks Hall. Follow the paths through the Arboretum, where you can see beautiful vistas and a host of exotic trees from around the world.

Highlights include the Millennium Walk, designed for structure, colour and scent on the shortest days of the year; the largest planting in Europe of Wollemi Pine and the inspired combination of traditional and contemporary planting in the 18th Century Walled Garden.

This impressive Garden combines the best of contemporary and traditional design and includes both long established shrubs and interesting new plantings. The double border is the longest in East Anglia.

Beyond the Gardens and Arboretum, there are woodland walks where wildlife abounds, many species having survived on this site for hundreds of years.

The Visitor Centre, housed in a restored Essex barn, offers information, Shop and Tea Room serving morning coffee, light lunches and teas, with homemade cakes available all day. Our home cooked soup is always welcome after a morning walk or before an afternoon stroll around the spectacular Gardens and Arboretum at Marks Hall.

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National Trust Knightshayes, Bolham, Tiverton, Devon EX16 7RQ, England
Tel. 00 44 (0) 1884 25 46 65   -   www.nationaltrust.org.uk/knightshayes   -   Knightshayes@nationaltrust.org.uk

The gardens at Knightshayes hold a treasured collection of plants thanks to the continuous, long term commitment to both expand and propagate the plant collection since it was first laid out in the 1870s. The original Victorian garden designed by Edward Kemp was by 1937, according to Lady Heathcoat-Amory, the last member of the family to live here “confined to a few formal terraces, some bedding out tortuously clipped yew topiary and a small paved area with rose beds – the rest being given over to a bowling green and a large expanse of lawn”. It was therefore a courageous decision in the 1950s to plan anew and the present garden, renowned for its rare plants, is largely a result of the efforts and determination of the family, and the National Trust.
There are many rare plants at Knightshayes and some had not been grown successfully in the UK until their introduction here. In fact you will find quite a few plants with ‘Knightshayes’ in their name as these were first bred right here! Since records began in 1963, Knightshayes has received over 30,000 new additions to its plant collection. Many of these introductions are of natural source material from modern day ‘plant hunting’ expeditions, internationally imported for conservation, and it now represents one of the most valuable and varied collections in the country- with over 1,200 plants unique to this property – more than any other Trust garden.
There is also a Victorian Kitchen Garden, which was restored in 2002 after a big fundraising project. Now fully productive, the garden provides the café with fresh seasonal produce throughout much of the year, with the surplus being sold through a stall at the market in Tiverton. The Kitchen Garden at Knightshayes is an exemplar within the Trust, renowned for its success as both a commercial operation, and a popular attraction to amateur gardeners and horticulturalists alike.

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Pashley Manor Gardens, Ticehurst, Near Wadhurst, East Sussex, TN5 7HE, England
Tel. 00 44 (0) 1580 200888   -   www.pashleymanorgardens.com   -   info@pashleymanorgardens.com

Pashley Manor is a quintessential English garden located on the Sussex and Kent border in the heart of South East England’s garden country. Pashley offers a sumptuous blend of romantic landscaping, imaginative plantings and fine old trees, fountains, springs and large ponds.

The gardens are open from April to September, see Visitor Information for days and times, and there is also an exciting programme of Special Events for garden and art lovers. Whatever month you choose to visit there is something to delight the senses. From late March wild daffodils and narcissi herald the beginning of the spring flowers. Through April to May the various fruit trees blossom, bluebells carpet the woodland, the magnificent wisteria cascades down the rear of the Manor house and there are thousands of tulips throughout the gardens. As the tulips fade our new plantings of pastel hued azaleas bloom. June is fragrant with roses and lavender while in July the scent of sweet peas and the heady fragrance of lilies begin to perfume the air. The Kitchen Garden provides for the house and café throughout the season and is at its most bountiful in mid-summer. Roses, lilies and a variety of summer bedding plants continue through into August, then in late August and September the hot borders come into their own with dahlias, cannas and asters amongst the many late flowering herbaceous perennials.

Mr and Mrs James Sellick are the owners and inhabitants of Pashley Manor, a Grade I listed timber-framed house, dating from 1550 and enlarged in 1720. They opened their gardens to the public in 1992, having brought them to their present splendour with the assistance of the eminent landscape architect the late Anthony du Gard Pasley and their team of gardeners, and would be delighted to welcome you here in 2013.

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Sissinghurst Castle, Biddenden Road, near Cranbrook, TN17 2AB, England
Tel. 00 44 (0) 1580 710700   -   www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle/

The legendary poet and writer, Vita Sackville-West, with her diplomat and author husband, Harold Nicolson, began the transformation of the land at Sissinghurst Castle in the 1930s. Harold's architectural planning of the garden rooms, and the vibrant planting by Vita, reflect the romance and intimacy of her poems and writings, and it's the White Garden and Rose Garden in particular that we all admire in late June and July.

But that’s not all...

There’s so much more to explore and learn: from the architecture of the buildings to the astonishing history of the place and the people who lived here; the wonderful views from the top of the tower; the farm animals, and the huge wider estate. We have a very special link with another nearby National Trust place, and this year, we are open every day (except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day), and have new and exciting exhibitions to enjoy.

Not just a day's visit...

Spend more than a day with us to discover it all, and return at different times of the year to enjoy the changing colours and scenery and join in with our special events; there’s so much going on in 2013.

Sissinghurst Castle is for garden lovers, historians, aspiring farmers, walkers, ‘foodies’ and families, a forever place, for everyone.

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