Gardeners looking to maximise their crops and learn new harvest skills this autumn will be heading to Toby Buckland’s new Garden and Harvest Festival at Forde Abbey, near Chard in Somerset on 16th and 17th September. A host of local artisans are bringing their expertise to the two-day event, with talks, workshops and demos on vegetable growing, bulb growing, apple-pressing and seed collecting.
The Bishop’s Palace lies at the heart of the historic City of Wells and is a place full of secrets, stories and stunning scenery, and home to the Bishops of Bath and Wells for 800 years .Surrounded by a breathtaking moat you can cross a flagstone drawbridge, under the portcullis and experience a gem in the heart of the City of Wells.
The historic gardens host a new Summer Rare Plant Fair on Sunday, August 20th and visitors will see the garden at its high summer best.
Gardens in Hampshire and Sussex which open for the National Garden Scheme are some of the most popular in the country.
The NGS has launched its first ever week dedicated to promoting the positive impact gardens can have on health and wellbeing. The timing of the week will be chosen at county level. All of the gardens taking part will open free of charge for a small, private group of people who would not usually get the opportunity to enjoy a garden, or for whom garden visiting is not always possible, either because of health or social reasons.
There’s the opportunity to listen to the owners of one of the finest nurseries in UK when Rosy Hardy who has a great following throughout Dorset talks at West Dean Gardens in Sussex on choosing the right plants for your garden.
Rosy and Rob Hardy founded Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants in 1988 and are based in the Hampshire village of Freefolk. They have won 21 consecutive gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Popular Exeter nursery Bernaville is running a free Children’s Summer Trail throughout August from 10am to 4pm. It features an interactive trail through the Devon nursery with lots of interesting and educational things for children to see. After completing the trail, children will receive a goody bag and sticker and be given a free terracotta pot to take home and decorate, which they can then enter into our prize draw to win a family ticket to Woodlands.
No booking is needed but children must be accompanied at all times.
An enchantingly secret garden which stretches alongside the Oxford Canal on the border of Fenny Compton is opening this year for the final time. The garden, at the Granary, which is open over the August Bank Holiday on Sunday, 27th and Monday, 28th August has sweeping views of the Dassett Hills, its herbaceous beds of riotous colour house plants rare and popular – each with its own name-tag for the serious plants person - a cascading water feature, and herb garden with dramatic sweet pea spire.
A trip to RHS Rosemoor is a must for visitors this summer as the garden celebrates with a ‘Rose Festival’ through to July 30th.
Boasting one of the UK’s largest collections of roses, Rosemoor is home to two dedicated rose gardens, bringing together 200 different cultivars , from cottage garden climbers to bright and beautiful container plants.
Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat-Saisons has announced its own gardening school. Named after the Oxfordshire hotel’s charismatic chef and patron, The Raymond Blanc Gardening School will impart secrets and expertise from the team behind the two-acre kitchen garden, which supplies more than 90 varieties of vegetable and 70 types of herb for Blanc’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant.
The Gloucestershire town of Tetbury is staging its annual Summer Show, which incorporates the Tetbury Flower Show on Sunday, 13th August. The event has a strong gardening theme throughout and has been growing every year and the show still clings to the traditional with the marquee boasting a finery of flowers, fruit and vegetables all grown and displayed by local exhibitors. Also on show will be many domestic offerings including cakes, sponges and jams to name just a few along with floral artistry and displays of arts and crafts.
Alresford & District Horticulture Society has been established in the town for 70 years and is celebrating its anniversary! The
society existed between the wars as a garden and vegetable club but its exact make-up is not known.
