West Green House Gardens

About

West Green House Gardens is an historic garden with a contemporary twist. Leased and operated separately from the National Trust since 1993 by the acclaimed garden designer Marylyn Abbott, she has stamped her own personality and wit on a garden which dates back over 200 years.

Renowned for its theatricality and colour for all seasons, the surprises range from a chinoiserie chicken pavilion to a restored 18th century walled garden with a striking moongate. This is the gateway to a staircase framed by rills which rises to an unusual folly - the Nymphaeum - designed by the neoclassical architect Quinlan Terry.

Within the walled garden, topiary, elegant fruit cages and arched focal points abound; then a potager bursts with seasonal produce for the tea room. Thousands of bulbs, hundreds of roses, dahlias and scented lilies add seasonal floral highlights.

Elsewhere the garden’s 8 acres provides more follies to discover, woodland walks, and a seasonal meadow in the Lakefield. The Garden of Five Bridges crosses a winterbourne stream, whose waters are echoed by a prolific ribbon of Iris sibirica ‘Papillon’ in late May and early June.

Topiary is a key feature in a number of places from the many shapes and sizes found in the Alice Garden, and a new garden taking shape using the plants from the West Green House show garden which won silver-gilt at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2014.

A Persian-style water garden provides a change of mood and sound, as does a notable opera season which runs from 23rd to 31st July 2016.

Please see the website for more details.