Be inspired by our previous group outings; click on the title to see photos and a summary from each trip. To see our upcoming excursions please visit the Outings page.
If you have photos to share please send them to Anne Freimanis a.freimanis@icloud.com
Spring Lunch – Knebworth House and Gardens, Hertfordshire
March 2024
There have been gardens at Knebworth House since at least the 17th Century, but the present layout dates largely from the Edwardian era. The architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, simplified the ornate beds and statuary of the Victorian garden with lawns and avenues of pollarded lime trees. The Herb Garden was recreated in 1982 from Gertrude Jekyll’s 1907 design. Each generation has enhanced the gardens and the recent wood carvings are particularly interesting. Following one tour, we have reserved Knebworth Barns for a two course lunch and tea or coffee. Afterwards there will be the second tour before making our way home.
Coton Manor, Northamptonshire
June 2024
We are teaming up with Orange Henn to visit this beautiful house and gardens, stopping on the way for morning refreshments (not included). Coton Manor is one of our members’ favourite gardens and is famous for its early summer rose and peony borders. This beautiful 10 acre garden occupies a hillside position extending down from the 17th century manor house. Its luxuriant borders will delight plant enthusiasts while everyone will enjoy the garden’s charm and special atmosphere. The Stableyard Cafe serves homemade lunches and teas. The extensive nursery has over a thousand varieties of plants, many of which are unusual and are propagated from the garden.
RHS Wisley, Woking, Surrey
September 2024
We have taken advantage of the Society’s RHS membership to get free entry for us on this trip. We have also arranged for a garden tour. Since we last visited Wisley is much has changed – although its most loved features remain, often with a new twist and fresh planting. The atrium at RHS Hilltop has opened with its permanent exhibition. Dramatic showcase displays and interactive exhibits feature the best of the RHS’s research and world-class collections. Wisley’s famous double Mixed Borders run either side of the Broadwalk, on the slope leading up to Battleston Hill, a 400 foot long horticultural wonder, bringing bold colour and texture from late spring to autumn. The Equinox Border reaches its peak in the early autumn with dahlias, sedums, and salvias blooming abundantly, joined by asters and monkshoods, as well as the grasses with their combination of feathery delicacy and grand stature.
Bressingham Gardens, Diss, Norfolk
20 September 2023
Laid out in six linked gardens over 17 acres, Alan and Adrian Bloom’s gardens are famed for their unusual trees and displays of perennials with clever underplanting. There is plenty of colour throughout the year, but especially in the autumn for which the main gardens are designed. Facilities include cafes, steam train rides and a steam museum to allow you to make the most of the day. There is also a large garden centre next door.
Gloucestershire and Herefordshire Short Break
Details pending this summer for our next short break in 2023. It will be to gardens in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire. Staying in Hereford, we’ll be visiting the Laskett Garden, Hampton Court (not that one!) and the Garden at Miserden amongst others.
- Hidcote Manor Garden – introductory talk
- Hampton Court Castle – guided tour
- The Laskett Gardens – audio guided tour
- Picton Gardens
- The Garden at Miserden – introductory talk & included light lunch
Leonardslee Gardens, Horsham, West Sussex
The gardens have been extensively renovated by the new owners. We have timed our visit to make the most of the wonderful colour of the azaleas and rhododendrons for which the gardens are truly famous. Features include a lake, the famous dolls house museum, a sculpture park and art gallery. The gardens and woods can be explored by winding paths. You will be able to take the day at your own pace stopping if you wish at a range of food and drink venues, including the delightful lake side Engine House Café.
RHS Hyde hall and the Rayleigh Club
The coach will take us to RHS Hyde Hall Gardens, where we can see the winter gardens renowned for their early colour.
You will have some time to enjoy more of the extensive gardens or browse in the shop and café. We will go on to enjoy a three-course lunch nearby at The Rayleigh Club and then return at about 4pm
Two Oxfordshire Gardens – Pettifers & Broughton Grange
Tuesday 12th July 2022
Price includes morning tea/coffee/biscuits, a light lunch at the Saye and Sele Arms, Broughton, with cake, tea/coffee and afternoon tea/coffee/ biscuits.
Both of these gardens are privately owned. Pettifers is the creation of influential garden designer, Gina Price. It is a mingling of formal and naturalistic planting, with the surrounding countryside providing a ‘borrowed landscape.
Broughton Grange is owned by ex-chief of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Stephen Hester and has both traditional planting and extensive contemporary planting: including a walled garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith.
Deene Park, Northamptonshire & Elton Hall, Cambridgeshire
Tuesday 7th June 2022
Price includes coach travel, morning tea/coffee/cake, two garden entries & guided tours and a light lunch.
Deene Park has belonged to the Brudenell family since 1514 and the gardens have fine herbaceous borders, a rose garden and a parterre designed by the late garden-designer David Hicks. These formal gardens give way to a vista of parkland and lakes linked by a canal; which, at its narrowest point is spanned by a fine stone bridge.
Elton Hall has been home to the Proby family since 1660 but, by the 1980’s, the Edwardian gardens had fallen into disrepair. Since then, a continuous programme of restoration and improvement, by Meredyth Proby, has produced the immaculate gardens and topiary that today provide the stunning backdrop to the house.
Pie Corner, Bedmond, Herts
Tuesday 26th April 2022
Price includes a light lunch, at the Hollybush, Potters Crouch, with dessert and tea/coffee.
A privately owned garden, designed and created by Bella Stuart-Smith (sister-in law to Tom), to complement the 1980’s, neo-classical, architect- designed house. Formal near the house, the gardens become more informal towards the woodland. Our visit is timed to see the display of blossom, bulbs and wild garlic.
Winter Lunch – Cambridge Botanic Gardens & Scotsdales, Shelford
Tuesday 22nd February 2022
Price includes coach travel, garden entry and guided tour, morning tea/coffee and biscuits, pre-lunch drinks, three course lunch with tea/coffee and after-lunch talk
After a guided tour of the famous Winter Garden and other seasonal delights at Cambridge Botanic Gardens, we will have our annual Winter Lunch in the Winter Garden Marquee at Scotsdales Garden Centre, Great Shelford. Menus will be available in November, when you can pre-order your meal. After lunch, there will be a topical talk by Scotsdales’ Kevin Marsh entitled ‘The Joys of Spring’ and then time to peruse the Garden Centre.
Welwyn Garden City Horticultural Society 