Hanbury's Garden

Make the most of those extra hours of sunshine this summer with a stroll around our beautiful gardens at Hanbury Hall. Our gardens are at their peak during the warmer months, with striking colours and scents to take in.

The Great Garden

The Great Garden is made up of our Parterre and Formal Fruit and Vegetable Gardens. Planning inspiration for this restored garden was taken from lists used by royal gardener Henry Wise, who ran the celebrated Brompton Nursery alongside fellow royal gardener, George London. Be sure to stop and take a look at our collection of citrus and exotic plants on display, including pomegranates, oleanders and agaves.

The Parterre

Nowadays, just keeping the Parterre looking weed free and flowering takes many hours of work by the gardening team. Throughout the summer, our gardeners are kept busy pruning the topiary and box hedging in the formal gardens. Grown from Buxus sempervirens, they need to be pruned back into shape twice a year, usually in June and then again in September.

You’ll find bursts of bright colour within the hedging - these are carefully planned and are achieved by planting hundreds of bulbs and bedding plants every year. In summer you’ll find Sweet Williams, Calendulas, Carnations, French Marigolds, African Marigolds, Alyssum and Snapdragons filling the parterre with vibrant colours and infusing the air with their glorious scents.

Walled Garden

Enjoy a little seclusion among the flowers, fruits and vegetables of the peaceful Walled Garden. The Vernon family would have used the seasonal produce grown here to supply their kitchen and we continue this tradition by using the fruits and vegetables in our tearooms.

Spread over one and a half acres, our productive Walled Garden is certified organic by the Soil Association. The summer months are some of the most productive here with a bountiful harvest of cucumbers, tomatoes, French beans and potatoes as well as soft fruits including blackberries and gooseberries. Top of our gardeners’ list in summer is to harvest this produce for use in our tearooms and for sale at the produce stall in the garden for you to enjoy at home.

Our Walled Garden has also been home to our chickens since 2010. We currently have Bantams, Pekin and Dutch Gold as well as White Leghorn chickens and four Cheshire Blues.  We usually feed our chickens between 1.30-2pm each day, so stop by and say hello.

You’ll also find our bee hives in the garden too which are looked after and cared for by our volunteer beekeepers, Tim and Lucy.

Summer Highlights

There’s so much to see in our gardens this summer, we’ve rounded up a few of our favourites:

• You can’t miss the beautiful display of wild flowers surrounding our Visitor Reception building. They attract an abundance of wildlife throughout the summer months, including bees and butterflies.
• Apples are already starting to appear on the trees in the formal fruit garden and orchard. These will be picked in mid-late September, ready for our Apple Weekend in early October.
• Challenge your friends to a game of bowls on Hanbury’s very own Bowling Green (open May-October)
• And don’t forget to look out for our friendly ducklings, they’re growing up fast but they’re still happy to meet our visitors.

Find out more...

Most days you’ll find our gardening team at work, whatever the weather. They’ll be happy to tell you more about the gardens and share a few of their tips, or you can just take a seat and enjoy the results of all their hard work.

Garden Tours

Look out for guided walks with our knowledgeable garden volunteers, where you will learn more about the history of the garden and estate, the plants that make the garden so unique, as well as gardening hints and tips.

All of our garden tours are run by our volunteer team and as such may not be available every day. Please check at Visitor Reception when you arrive, for availability or find one of our blackboards around the garden.