Gardens for all seasons

Nearly all these gardens began life as part of country estates, private places enjoyed by a privileged few. Now they can be enjoyed by everyone – and the gardens at How Hill are even free to visit (though donations are very welcome).

How Hill Trust's Secret Gardens, How Hill National Nature Reserve, Ludham

Lose yourself in the Secret Gardens, open all the time, with free entry, though donations to the How Hill Trust are very welcome. These water gardens were created by local architect Edward Boardman for the family home at How Hill, which dates from 1904. The gardens are always lovely and secluded, and in early summer there are spectacular displays of azaleas and rhododendrons. Follow the signs from the car park, moorings and house (now home to the Environmental Study Centre run by the trust). The formal gardens surrounding the house are sometimes open too – check the signs on the gates. Both gardens are part of the How Hill Environmental Study Centre.

• For locally made ice cream try Toad Hole Cottage, the visitor centre for the Broads Authority’s How Hill National Nature Reserve.
• Don’t miss out on other things at the reserve – the cottage and its tiny garden, wildlife boat trips on the Electric Eel, a nature trail and riverside walks. Wherry Hathor may also be moored at the staithe and open to visitors.

East Ruston Old Vicarage

Though no doubt the vicarage had a pleasant garden in its day, by the time the current owners arrived there was no real garden, just rough grass. Since then the garden has been transformed and land added, creating a huge area with gardens of all kinds within it, including woodland, Dutch, Mediterranean, exotic and winter gardens to name just a few. There are also mixed hedgerows, banks, wildflower areas and ponds to encourage wildlife. Birds of all kinds visit the garden, including kingfishers and barn owls.

• There's a tea room serving delicious cakes and savouries.
• For further exploring in this area, indoors and outdoors (with boat trips, including one accessible to wheelchair users), try the Museum of the Broads at Stalham.

Hoveton Hall Gardens

Enjoy woodland and lakeside walks, an 18th-century icehouse, an early 19th-century glasshouse, walled gardens including the Spider Garden (there's a spider in the 1936 wrought-iron gate and another one to find too) and the lovely gardener’s cottage. Visit in May and June for the azaleas and rhododendrons. Frogs, toads, ducks, kingfishers and herons enjoy the water and Ashmanhaugh Wood is home to white admiral, purple hairstreak and speckled wood butterflies.

• For something to eat, pop into the estate’s Garden Kitchen Café.
• For more things to do at Hoveton, read our 10 Things to do… blog.

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden, South Walsham

If you enjoy a combination of the cultivated and the wild, this garden is one for you. Its facilities are all fully accessible and normally include mobility scooters to hire and boat trips (additional charges) on the garden’s own broad. In spring you’ll see an abundance of bluebells and candelabra primulas, dragonflies and butterflies are among the wild flowers in summer, autumn shows amazing leaves and fungi, and winter is great for bird-watching. The gardens are organically managed, which benefits all the wildlife.

• The Tearoom is open to all throughout the year.
• South Walsham is a small village but it has two churches sharing the same churchyard – St Mary’s, dating from the 13th century and St Lawrence’s, now an arts centre. They were on the border between two medieval manors.

Raveningham Gardens, between Loddon and Haddiscoe

The main season starts in May with spring bulbs, shrubs and wild flowers. The roses will be looking good in June, followed by the amazing agapanthus in July and August, with late flowering into September. Summer is also the best time to see the Victorian walled kitchen garden in full swing with salad crops, vegetables and soft fruits interspersed with flowers. The estate’s conservation policy promotes and enhances biodiversity within the local landscape, creating new habitats and improving existing ones.

• When the gardens are open, try the Tea Hut for take-away light refreshments.
• The Old Granary Studio, part of the estate, offers a series of concerts each year. The historic building dates from the 1790s and retains many original features from its agricultural past.

Somerleyton Hall and Gardens

As with many large estates, Somerleyton has evolved over the centuries and the present house and gardens date from the Victorian period, when Sir Samuel Morton Peto, engineer and railway pioneer, commissioned John Thomas, sculptor and architect, and William Andrews Nesfield, celebrated garden designer. The gardens include a wonderful yew hedge maze, planted in 1846, in which to lose yourself. Current restoration projects are highlighting the best of both the garden’s 17th and 19th century designs.

• For something to eat, try the estate’s Greenhosue Cafe.
• Feel like a walk? From the Duke’s Head pub in the village, you can stroll along the River Waveney to Herringfleet Mill.

Please check opening times and other details for places you plan to visit.

These sites will help you find more gardens to visit, including town and village open gardens:

National Garden Scheme

British Red Cross Open Gardens

Open Gardens - the UK National Directory

Great British Gardens