‘The scent of damp earth, the hum of bees and treasures in every border’: readers’ favourite UK gardens | Parks and green spaces

County Durham hosts vibrant delphiniums

Thornton Hall GardensOwners of a garden near Darlington describe it as “a hobby gone out of control”. Sue Manners had never worked in a garden before, but after purchasing the old Hall with her husband Mike back in 1989 she began to do so alone. The gardens are now among the best in the country. While you walk, you will discover an abundance of rare and unusual plants and flowers that are mixed in with beautiful trees and shrubs. The gardens are a lush and flowing landscape with irises and delphiniums mingling in the beds. As Thornton Hall is an active farm, there are no formal gardens. open on nine days this summer (£10, 10am-4pm).
Mike Ladyman

Gotha Gardens in Hertfordshire buzzing with bees

The site of a family-owned Gotha Gardens Pembroke Farm was an agricultural field in north Hertfordshire until 1990. Originally, the plan was to create an area with plants that would attract pollinators as well as other wildlife. Topiary and formal gardens were then added. When we visited, the purple delphiniums, alliums, and water boatmen were buzzing around the pond. The different sections were like separate outdoor rooms with plenty of places to relax and enjoy. We loved the tea, scones and small cafe outside the garden.
The door is open Friday to Monday each week It costs just five dollars to enter.
Sharon Pinner

An Italianate terrace in Norwich

The ‘City of Lights’ is a small, but beautiful park located just outside the centre. It may be overlooked by tourists (but not locals), but it is a must-see for anyone visiting the city. Plantation Garden. This sunken Victorian garden is like entering a different world. We had a few hours to kill before our train back home. We spent the afternoon walking through the woods and admiring views from the Italianate terrace, before having a cup tea and some homemade cake while listening to a jug band (part of the summer music program). Entrance costs just £2 and the place is open 9am-6pm in spring and summer and 9am-4pm October to March. Each summer, they offer music, dance and play classes to those who are lucky enough.
Lisa

Gwynedd’s Menai Straits is a place of wild beauty.

What I saw Treborth Botanic Garden It was alive in May. The gardens, which cover 18 hectares on the Menai Strait shores and are owned by Bangor University, combine wild beauty with meticulous horticulture. I was guided by informative labels through an assortment of fascinating plants. A wildlife area included a pond filled with vibrant dragonflies and tadpoles. Cacti and orchis are housed in glasshouses with restricted entry. There were ancient woodland trails that led to the Menai Bridge and offered spectacular views over the Strait. Treborth has award-winning garden, including one which won the gold medal in the Chelsea Flower show. The entry is free and it’s open every day during daylight hours.
Pamela

Cornwall’s ever-beautiful peninsula

The formal gardens at Mount Edgcumbe country park They are located in the quiet hills of Rame peninsula but are only a few minutes away by foot ferry from Plymouth. Free to enter, they cover three hectares of 500 years’ worth of historical garden designs within a honeycomb-shaped hedge maze. They serve as gateways between 18th-century Italy and 19th-century France. And the unique flora from New Zealand. In the Regency Orangery, you can enjoy ice cream and the serenity of the Fern Dell. The park is the UK’s only reserve for rare Cornish Black Bees. Both the lower gardens and the park are open year-round.
Charlotte Robinsmith

Horticultural masterpiece, Harlow, Essex

It is important to note that the word “you” means “you”. Gibberd GardenThe collection of one collector, outside Harlow, Essex is a testament to his determination. The architect Sir Frederick Gibberd used all of them, from architectural salvage rescued by bulldozers to Staffordshire figurines displayed inside the house. He diverted the stream slightly to create a moated fort for his grandchildren – complete with working drawbridge– put up a swing, a tree house, a grotto and completed the magic with imaginative planting including a glorious mosaic beech hedge. You will find small delights and monumental features that have been repurposed in order to impress. This enhances every turn and vista. Open Wednesdays and Sundays and bank holiday Mondays; adults £6, under 16, £1. There’s also a great cafe on the site.
Vicky

Somerset is a hellebore place

Entering East Lambrook Manor GardensThe Somerset countryside is a beautiful place to visit. Walking into the garden, hidden away in the Somerset countryside feels like entering a living painting. It’s a paradise of winding pathways, unusual plant combinations, and treasures hidden in every border. The garden was designed by Margery Fish. I visited on a drizzly spring morning and had the place almost to myself – just the scent of damp earth, the hum of bees, and the joy of discovering rare hellebores and old-fashioned roses around every corner. My tip? Go on a weekday and linger – the nursery has incredible finds to take home, and the tiny cafe serves up tea that tastes twice as good after a ramble through such quietly magical surroundings. The gardens are open Tues-Sat (10am-5pm) and cost £7 to enter, with under-16s going free.
Mahesh Lakhani

The 17th century wall, North West London

Church Gardens This hidden gem is located on the outskirts Harefield Village, just a few minutes north of Uxbridge. The couple who own it – Kay and Patrick McHugh, a musician and an architect respectively – have worked hard for about 25 years to bring the hectare (three acres) of 17th-century walled gardens back from dereliction. The kitchen gardens is a patchwork design of 56 organic vegetable beds arranged geometrically. The orchard may be the remnants of an historically significant Renaissance garden. With a unique arched wall consisting of 33 identical niches, only a few gardens of this style survived the landscape revolution. The gardens are open on Sundays (12-5pm) and bank holiday Mondays (11am-5pm), adults £7.50, children £3.
Sarah Bayley

Incredible vegetables, Moray

We enjoyed our visit to the city of Gordon Castle’s walled gardenIt is located between the River Spey, and the Moray Coast, about 50 miles east from Inverness. It is a three-hectare (eight-acre) garden that was bursting with flowers, vegetables and fruit. We were inspired to grow our own. The friendly gardeners shared their knowledge of what was growing, and also told us stories about their own gardening adventures. The cafe serves delicious garden produce, and there is also a great shop. All that for £10 for adults (child, £5) in summer (or free for RHS members on Thursdays). The cafe is open daily from 10am to 4pm. However, it’s closed on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Siobhan

Winning tip – a garden dripping in temperate rainforest decor, Argyll

If you enjoy trees and more natural gardens, head to the west. Ardkinglas Woodland Garden, near Inverary. At the modest price of £5 (children £2.50, open all year dawn to dusk) you can wander under towering North American conifers alongside Himalayan shrubs and native UK trees, all dripping with that lush temperate rainforest decoration of mosses and lichens. The visitors can see red squirrels jump on the beautifully chaotic deadwood. They can also enjoy the forest bathed in dappled sunlight with the sweet scent of resin and watch dippers at the burn. Ardkinglas is a combination of a formal arboretum and the wild wood. It does this rather well.
Liam