The garden at Polesden Lacey

A view along the Rose Garden looking towards the Well Head at Polesden Lacey, Surrey — A view along the Rose Garden looking towards the Well Head at Polesden Lacey | © National Trust Images/Nick Meers

The garden at Polesden Lacey has something to offer in every season. Take in the views over Ranmore Common from the South Lawn, indulge in the peace and quiet in the Old Kitchen Garden and Upper Sunken Garden, or soak up the colour and scent around the Rose Garden and double herbaceous borders. There's always something beautiful to enjoy.

Summer highlights in the garden

The Rose Garden in full bloom

The Rose Garden will be filled with the incredible scent of our 2,000 roses throughout the summer and into the autumn with splashes of red, white, yellow and pink surrounding you as you stroll along the pathways. Look out for the 'Graham Stuart Thomas', a bright yellow flower named after the famed horticulturalist who redesigned the Rose Garden in the mid-20th century.

This year come along and join us for A Celebration of Roses, meet the gardeners every Friday lunch time at 12pm for some top tips and tricks on how to care for your roses. Find out more here.

We also sell David Austin roses and the Maggie Greville rose in our courtyard shop, it's definitely worth stopping by and taking a look for some garden inspiration this summer.

Child smelling roses in the Rose Garden at Polesden Lacey | © Trevor Ray Hart

An ode to Margaret Greville in the Ladies Garden

Margaret Greville's resting place in the Ladies Garden is bordered with Rosa 'Margaret Greville', specially cultivated by Peter Beales Roses in 2017 to celebrate 75 years since Polesden Lacey was bequeathed to the National Trust. This flower has a peach-pink bloom with a golden centre and is underplanted with herbaceous perennials and flowering bulbs.

Double herbaceous borders

Wander in the sun along the vibrant double herbaceous borders. Hot summer colours like red and orange are dominant, with varieties such as red-hot pokers, day lilies and verbascum. Lush purple nepeta plants offer a contrast as well as a beautiful scent for you to take in as you stroll past.

The delicate pink clematis creeping up the walls provides a beautiful backdrop to this stunning visual display. The bold mauve hydrangea at the west end of the borders is a highlight from late August.

The bees' favourite spot

The air in the Lavender Garden will be heavy with the familiar and calming aroma of 'Imperial Gem' lavender amongst other varieties later on this summer. The garden team are currently working on replanting the Lavender Garden this summer with an exciting new planting scheme that has been funded from events many visitors enjoyed last year. The bees won't be able to resist it, and will be buzzing around from June to August.

A garden to enjoy in every season

Rose Garden: The Edwardian walled Rose Garden boasts well over 2,000 roses, including over 100 rambling roses on the pergola. The rest of the roses in the centre beds are made up of around 35 different varieties of hybrid tea, floribunda and hybrid musk types, all in bloom from June to late August and beyond.
Cut Flower Garden: The Cut Flower Garden provides blooms for arrangements in the house and other visitor areas throughout the year. It's always full of an eclectic and colourful mix of blooms like dahlias, zinnias, gladioli and phlox.
Herbaceous borders: Polesden Lacey's garden is home to one of the finest double herbaceous borders in England, and throughout summer and autumn it's full of bright colours and stunning scents. These borders feature perennials such as helenium, day lilies, rudbeckia and red-hot pokers.
Vegetable Garden: The veg garden provides produce to the kitchens all year round, from peas to potatoes. Our veg team also tends to the cold frames, herb bed and the fruit cage in this part of the garden too.
Preserve Copse: The Preserve Copse is a a piece of ancient woodland set within our gardens and is also home to plantings of rhododendron, magnolia and Japanese maple. In the south-east corner you'll also find our bird hide and the resident peahen.
Formal garden rooms: To the west of the Rose Garden, you’ll find three seasonal garden rooms: The Iris Garden, Peony Borders and Lavender Garden, between them providing stunning displays from April through to the end of summer.
House borders: There are borders on all sides of the house, each planted with masses of bulbs for display every spring and then herbaceous perennials such as salvias to delight during summer. The walls of the house are also clothed in a variety of climbers and wall shrubs, from wisteria and the orange berries of Pyracantha on the east side to the abundant yellow Banksia rose on the west.
The Long Walk: The only formal element of the garden to the east of the house, and probably the most historic part of the garden, this 450m-long terrace has views across the estate. It's flanked by the atmospheric, shaded Nun’s Walk to the north and connects with the pinetum to the west.
Croquet Lawns: Polesden Lacey has always been a place for recreation and play. Tennis and golf during the Edwardian heyday have now been replaced with four croquet pitches. You can hire them from time to time – check at the visitor reception.
The Ladies Garden: The resting place for Margaret Greville, this area was her favourite place to sit during her time here. Fittingly, we've planted a curtain of Rosa ‘Margaret Greville’ in front of her grave, alongside a collection of complementary plants such as penstemon, nepeta and geranium as well as some purple asters. Together with pink rose petals, these flowers were used to line her grave when she was buried. In 2022 a horde of staff and volunteers planted 70,000 autumn and spring flowering crocuses, which are a sight to behold.
Dog Graves: Although she had no children, Margaret Greville certainly had plenty of dogs whilst at Polesden Lacey and they are all buried here, surrounded by a calming white planting scheme. A wheelchair- and buggy-accessible path runs past this contemplative spot, linking Lime Walk with the West Lawn.

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