Nothing says spring like a garden in bloom, and here are some beauties to discover in Kent this season...
Balmoral Cottage
Lovingly created over a 40-year period by artist and plantswoman, Charlotte Molesworth, this unique garden is whimsical and romantic, with topiary atop wavy hedging and an extensive palette of layered planting in mixed borders. Planting is also chosen for wildlife, in particular nesting birds and small mammals. A tranquil haven to discover.
Balmoral Cottage, Benenden, TN17 4DL
Open through the National Gardens Scheme
Sundays 7 and 21 May (12-5)
Adm £6, chd £2.50
Beech Court
New young owners, Chloe and Garth Oates, are restoring and adding new features to this 1930s woodland garden, with its mature collection of rhododendrons and acers, oaks, pines and firs.
Beech Court Gardens and Tea Room, Challock, TN25 4DJ
Open Fridays, see website for details; beechcourtgardens.co.uk
Belmont House and Gardens
Belmont House is surrounded by large formal lawns that are landscaped with fine specimen trees, a pinetum and a walled garden containing long borders, wisteria and large rose border. Across the drive there is a second walled kitchen garden, restored in 2001 to a design by Arabella Lennox-Boyd. This includes vegetable and herbaceous borders, hop arbours and walls trained with a variety of fruit.
Throwley, Faversham, Kent, ME13 0HH
Open day Sunday, June 4 (12-5)
Bidborough Gardens
Three very different gardens open in the village on Sunday July 2. Boundes End is creatively designed to make the most use of an unusually shaped plot in two sections, with formal areas and a small woodland, Sheerdrop is, as its name suggests, set on a sloping site and set with terraces and fine views. 4 The Crescent is a new garden created over the past two years in a cottage style. Collect your garden list and map from Boundes End, also the venue for home-made teas.
Bidborough Gardens, TN4 0XB
Open through the National Garden Scheme
Sun July 3 (1-5pm), combined adm £6 chd free
Boundes End is also available to visit by arrangement June-Aug - groups up to 20
£6, chd free
Boldshaves
Atmospheric seven-acre partly terraced garden with a wide range of ornamental trees and shrubs. Stretching down a south-facing slope, it offers lovely views over neighbouring fields towards Tenterden. A succession of interest is provided by bulbs, shrubs and herbaceous plants, grouped in broad vistas or more intimate vignettes. Themed areas including a flame bed and camellia dell. Superb carpets of bluebells and anemones in mature woodland make for an invigorating walk.
Boldshaves, Woodchurch, TN26 3RA
Open – Fri, Sat, Sun BHM (2-6pm) March 24 to Oct 8,
tea house
groups by appointment, for details see website
boldshaves.co.uk
1 Brickwall Cottages
Dainty, colourful geums are the stars here in this pretty cottage garden, with a National Collection of over 100 of these vivacious blooms planted through the beds. Although less than a quarter of an acre in size, the garden seems larger as it is cleverly divided and intensively planted with a wide range of hardy perennials, bulbs and shrubs. Climbers jostle softly against weathered pergolas and the whole effect is of charming abundance. Buy some geums to take home for your own garden.
1 Brickwall Cottages, Frittenden, TN17 2DH
NGS: Open Sun May 7 (2-5pm), home-made teas
also by arrangement April – June for groups up to 30
Adm £5, child free, home-made teas
Churchmans Farm NEW for 2023
Opening for the first time through the National Garden Scheme, this dry-valley, wildlife-friendly garden has paths around adjoining lakes and fields. Drought-tolerant plants are needed in the chalk and flint soil, as there is limited shade. Dahlias and salvias feature in abundance and there are large expanses of lawn, with rose beds and an herbaceous border.
Churchmans Farm, Faversham, ME13 0HA
NGS: Fri 8, Sat Sept 9 (11am-4pm), picnics welcome by the lake
Adm £6, chd free
The Copper House NEW for 2023
Another new garden, opening for the first time this year through the National Garden Scheme. Successional planting of annuals, perennials, bulbs and shrubs has created a modern flower garden set out from a contemporary house, with interest and colour on offer through the year. Other features include a small wildflower meadow and orchard, as well as ponds to encourage wildlife.
The Copper House, Benenden, TN17 4LE
NGS: Sat 9, Sun 10 Sept 10 (11am-3pm)
Adm £5, chd free, cream teas
Visits also by arrangement July to Sept for groups 10 – 15
Falconhurst
In the same family for 160 years, this charming four-acre country garden has fabulous views across the surrounding countryside. From the ruin garden with formal parterre the areas extend out from the house, with herbaceous borders, mature trees, roses, peonies, wildflower meadows and a productive garden, complete with chickens in the orchard.
Falconhurst, Markbeech, TN8 5NR
NGS: Mon May 29, Sat June 17 (11am-5pm)
Adm £6, child free, home-made teas
Visitors also welcome by arrangement May to Sept, groups 15 - 40
Frith Old Farmhouse
Plants - many in raised beds - mingle in a riotous, naturalistic way, woodland plants abound and hidden delights wait to be discovered. Set over three-quarters of a acre, the garden has evolved over 40 years from a patch of rough grass, brambles and two apple trees to a broad range of plants that thrive in the dappled shade of now mature trees and shrubs.
Frith Old Farmhouse, Otterden, ME13 0DD
Sun May 14 (11am-4.30pm)
Adm £6, chd free
Visits also by arrangement to July, groups up to 40
Goddards Green
A mix of contemporary and traditional gardens around a historic clothier’s hall over 500 years old. Five acres, laid out in the 1920s, have been re-designed since John and Linde Wotton bought the property in 1992. You'll find a range of planting schemes – from roses and perennials to grasses - an arboretum, water gardens, a mature orchard, kitchen garden and meadows. It all feels delightfully rural despite being very close to the bustle of Cranbrook.
Goddards Green, Cranbrook, TN17 3LR
NGS: 2 July 2 (12– 4pm), home-made teas
Also open by arrangement May to Sept for groups of 10 - 50
Adm £5, chd free
Goodnestone Park
A walled garden, densely planted borders, old-fashioned roses and perennials and parterres filled with lavender, plus connections with Jane Austen, who wrote Pride and Prejudice immediately after staying here in 1796. Come here to soak up a timeless atmosphere and feel part of history.
Goodnestone Park Gardens, Wingham, CT3 1PL
Open daily (10am-4pm)
See website for details
goodnestoneparkgardens.co.uk
NGS: Thurs June 15, Thurs Sept 14 (10am-4pm), Adm £8, chd free
Grove Manor NEW for 2023
Set around a Victorian farmhouse, traditional gardens extend out from fine lawns, with herbaceous beds and a shady fernery, to an orchard and newly established productive and cut flower beds. There is also a moat that's a haven for wildlife, and a recently dredged and replanted farm pond, home for ducks and moorhen. Home to garden designer Deborah Anderson and her husband Philip Whitaker.
Grove Manor, Sandwich, CT13 0NH
NGS: Sat 12, Sun Aug 13 (11am-5pm)
Adm £5, chd free
Haven
A layered and textural garden, with almost a tropical feel. It's planted with wildlife in mind and in a glade style, with towering tree ferns, densely planted layers and foliage combinations. Also home to a collection of bromeliads, a cactus garden, two ponds, a Japanese area, gravel and rock gardens, as well as a fernery.
Haven, Ramsgate, CT12 4BZ
NGS: Mon 1, Sat May 20; Sun June 18; Sun 9, July 9 and 30; Mon Aug 28; Sun Sept 24; Sun Oct 29, Sun Nov 12 (10am-4pm)
Adm £5, chd free
Visit also by arrangement to Nov.
95 High Street NEW for 2023
Opening for the first time through the National Garden Scheme, this small town garden is divided into three ‘rooms’ or areas. Created from a blank canvas by owners Judy and Chris Older since 2021, the garden is now well stocked with summer flowers and perennials, many in containers or scrambling up the fences. The style is colourful and traditional with the aim of providing something of interest throughout the year.
95 High Street, Tenterden, TN30 6LB
NGS: Sat 1, Sun July 2 (12-5pm)
Adm £5, chd free
Hole Park
Spread over 15 acres, these are gardens for strolling in, surrounded by parkland and lovely views. Yew hedges separate and frame areas featuring mixed borders, pools, lawns and specimen trees. Glorious woodland walks. Though always worth a visit, standout seasons are spring with carpets of bluebells and the stunning foliage colour in autumn.
Hole Park, Rolvenden, TN17 4JB
Opening times (11am-6pm)
Daily 1 Apr- 30 June, Wed and Thurs 1 July – end Sept, Oct – Wed, Thurs, Sundays
Adm £10, chd £2.50
www.holepark.com
NGS: Weds May 10, Jun 14, Sun Oct 15
Knowle Hill Farm
Set on a slope with far-reaching views to the Weald of Kent, this beautiful two-acre garden has deep, densely planted borders in orchestrated colour themes, Mediterranean and tender plants, ribbons of lavender buzzing with bees, a walled garden, evolving topiary and a green-themed garden.
Knowle Hill Farm, Ulcombe, ME17 1ES
NGS: Sat 2, Sun Sept 3 (2-5pm)
Adm £6, chd free
Groups also welcome by arrangement Feb to Sept
Nettlestead Place
A plantsman’s garden created around an atmospheric 13th-century manor house, its facade reflected in a lovely pond. Stroll through effervescent herbaceous planting and towering grasses in island beds, a large formal rose garden, a young pinetum, a maze of Thuja and an acer lawn, and enjoy the countryside vistas, too.
Nettlestead Place, Nettlestead, ME18 5HA
NGS: Sun June 4 (1.30-4.30pm),
Adm £7, chd free, home-made teas
Old Bladbean Stud
Romantic interlinking gardens created from scratch by owner Carol Bruce. Old-fashioned roses, colour themed borders, vegetable beds and a striking formal garden with 300-foot long, colour schemed double borders dotted with painted obelisks. Managed as an ornamental eco-system the garden includes an experimental self-sufficiency project with wind turbine and solar panels.
Old Bladbean Stud, Bladbean, CT4 6NA
NGS: Suns May 28; 11, 25 June 11, 25; July 9, 23 (2-6pm)
Adm £6, chd free, cream teas
Pett Place NEW for 2023
Romantically planted walled gardens covering four acres, with secret places to discover, include an idyllic rose garden, herbaceous borders and a range of restored Victorian glasshouses. A unique feature is a ruined medieval chapel beside the manor house, which was re-fronted around 1700 and was described by Pevsner as ‘presenting grandiloquently towards the road’.
Pett Place, Charing, TN27 0DS
NGS: Thurs 8, Fri June 9 (11am-4pm)
Adm £7.50, chd free, home-made teas
Pheasant Barn
Contemporary gardens are set out around award-winning converted farm buildings, inspired by the surrounding landscape that overlook Oare Creek. Formality - but with a twist using clipped forms - is contrasted with vast wildflower meadows and labyrinth, as well as water features, a dry garden and productive areas. Planting is designed to be wildlife friendly. with a succession of flowering plants through the seasons
Pheasant Barn, Oare, ME13 0QB
NGS: Sat 24, Sun 25, Wed 28, Thurs 29 June; Sun 2, Mon 3, Sun 9, Mon July 10 (11am-4pm Pre-booking essential
Adm £7, chd free
Groups also welcome by arrangement May to July
43 The Ridings
Home to keen gardeners, Sylvie and David Buat-Menard, this small garden is a plant person’s delight throughout the seasons, and also has a touch of the Mediterranean with its planting and style. There are different areas to discover, including a dry gravel garden, shady nooks to sit in, raised beds with alpines, perennial borders, unusual shrubs and trees, along with a small lawn to set off the colour. There’s even a water feature planted with carnivorous plants.
43 The Ridings, Chestfield, CT5 3QE
NGS: Sun May 7 (11am-4pm)
Adm £5, chd free
Groups also welcome by arrangement to Dec.
18 Royal Chase
A very pretty town garden owned by florist Eithne Hudson, with a mix of flowers and foliage. Developed on sandy soil that was originally common and woodland, there are now mature rhododendrons and camellias, graceful acers, as well as a wide range of shrubs, roses, perennials and annuals with a palette specifically for flower arranging in mind.
18 Royal Chase, Tunbridge Wells, TN4 8AY
NGS: Visitors welcome by arrangement May – July groups 1 – 15
Adm £5, chd free, home-made teas
3 Stanley Cottages
This small garden is opening for the first time through the National Garden Scheme. There are two parts to enjoy. The studio garden is bordered by bluebell woods and a rose hedge, with a wildlife pond, vegetable beds, lawns, shrubs, perennials and fused glass features. The home garden is a sheltered haven of formal planting structures of climbing roses and water features enclosed by beech hedges.
3 Stanley Cottages, Selling, ME13 9SF
NGS: Sat 1 July (11-5)
Adm £6, chd free, light refreshments
Upper Pryors
Idyllic eight-acre country garden with blowsy peonies, roses, massed geraniums and profuse herbaceous planting. Immaculate lawns, woodland and a densely planted water garden.
Upper Pryors, Cowden, TN8 7HB
NGS: 14 June 14 (11am-5.30pm)
Adm £5, chd free, home-made teas
The Watch House
Two small courtyard gardens out from an old fisherman’s cottage shelter a wide range of plants. The east-facing area has a collection of colourful, jungly exotics planted in raised beds, pots and troughs that thrive in the protected microclimate. Plants are changed and rotated regularly to keep everything looking fresh. The west-facing courtyard is arranged around a small greenhouse and has a casual feel.
The Watch House, Broadstairs, CT10 1LF
NGS: Sat 29, Sun 30 July (12-4)
Adm £5, chd free
All gardens are open as part of the National Garden Scheme initiative unless otherwise stated. Check ngs.org.uk or other given websites before visiting, in case opening times vary and for any pre-booking details.
