Five of the UK’s most magnificent gardens to visit this summer

There is something about summer that makes the great outdoors feel truly irresistible. From royal retreats and sweeping arboretums to historic estates, here are five of England’s most breathtaking gardens worth adding to your summer plans.

1. HM The King Charles III Highgrove Gardens, Gloucestershire

Few gardens feel quite as personal as Highgrove. More than 35 years in the making, this is a garden shaped by the vision of HM King Charles III and a living reflection of his lifelong commitment to nature and sustainable gardening. The grounds surrounding the house he shares with Queen Camilla are rich with carefully considered landscapes and an extraordinary variety of flora and fauna.

Visitors can explore it all on a 90-minute guided tour, an experience that captures the spirit of Highgrove in a way that feels both intimate and quietly extraordinary.

2. Broughton Grange Garden & Arboretum, Banbury

Widely regarded as one of the most significant private contemporary gardens in Britain, Broughton Grange is a place that stays with you long after you’ve left. At its heart is the celebrated walled garden designed by landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith, a remarkable transformation of a six-acre field into what many consider to be among his finest work, and a space that has been widely featured in books and magazines.

Visitors can wander through an array of beautiful and varied gardens, visit the arboretum, small knot garden and enjoy more traditional planting in the long borders.

Surrounded by open countryside, Broughton offers an unforgettable escape that leaves a lasting mark on visitors.

3. Thenford Arboretum & Garden, Oxfordshire

Thenford stems from 25 years in the making, crafted by Lord and Lady Heseltine. Its vast herbaceous borders burst with colour and variety, while charming water gardens, an enchanting walled garden and a sculpture and rose garden sit alongside 40 acres of ancient woodland.

The sculpture garden is home to one of the estate’s most unexpected and compelling features: a 7.5-tonne bronze head of Lenin, originally from Latvia, which once commanded a public square before being decommissioned in the wake of the fall of communism in 1989. With more than 3,500 species of trees and shrubs to discover, Thenford is a place of quiet surprises at every turn.

4. Boughton House & Garden, Kettering

Nestled in the heart of England, Boughton House is home to the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry. Drawing inspiration from the Palace of Versailles, the estate offers visitors a captivating blend of the intimate and the grand, with its spectacular architecture and grounds speaking to its French influences.

Spread across 150 acres of gardens and parkland, the estate is laced with tree-lined avenues and serene waterways. The popular sensory garden offers a wonderfully immersive and tranquil corner within the historic walled garden, while herbaceous borders and flowerbeds bring colour and life throughout the seasons. There is, quite simply, something here for everyone.

5. Calke Abbey, Derbyshire

Hidden away in the south Derbyshire countryside, Calke Abbey is quite unlike any other National Trust property. Built in the early 18th century and owned by the reclusive Harpur Crewe family from 1622, this baroque mansion was handed to the National Trust in 1985 and has been deliberately left in a state of beautiful, faded grandeur — a vivid and compelling portrait of a country house in decline. Peeling paintwork, overgrown courtyards and rooms filled with extraordinary collections of natural history and taxidermy tell the story of a family, and an era, frozen in time.

Outside, the estate is every bit as remarkable. The walled gardens, dating from 1773, offer a wonderfully unhurried space to explore, taking in the domed orangery, the kitchen gardens and one of the UK’s most unusual horticultural gems — the auricula theatre, the only original tiered, semi-circular display stage of its kind in the country. The wider parkland, a National Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest, is home to over 650 veteran trees, more than half of which are considered ancient, including oaks estimated to be over 1,000 years old.

For those keen to explore the very best of the UK’s gardens, we offer a range of day trips and extended tours to some of the country’s most celebrated gardens and estates.

Wisteria Tours’ Jacky Burnell said: “The UK has some of the most magical and breathtaking gardens. Whether you’re looking for inspiration for your own garden, a day in nature, a day to unwind and relax, or a longer trip away visiting new places and making new friends, our summer coach and garden tours are perfect.”

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