Gardens and parks in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Our gardens are at their very peak in summer. At Mottisfont and Hinton Ampner fragrant rose displays burst into bloom. Magnificent herbaceous borders, kitchen gardens and cut flower gardens become jewel-boxes of floral colour, but there are more intimate spaces full too – a mini flower meadow tucked inside a walled garden at The Vyne, and at Sandham Memorial Chapel, a cottage garden and apple orchard that’s perfect for picnics.

Visitors walking through a garden in spring

Latest visiting update 

Our gardens, parks, cafés, shops and countryside locations are open. Many houses are also open to visit. Advance booking for visits helps us keep everyone safe and socially distanced. At quieter times such as weekdays, booking shouldn't be necessary, but to guarantee entry we recommend booking in advance, especially at weekends and bank holidays.

More details on what's open
A colourful summer border at Mottisfont

Mottisfont 

The stars of the show at Mottisfont in early summer are undoubtedly the roses. There are simply thousands of them, and many varieties are for sale too. But you’ll also find borders packed with colour, from geraniums and peonies to sweet phlox, nepata and agapanthus. Fruit, veg and colourful flowers fill the sunny kitchen garden – the perfect place to take a seat and relax with coffee and cake. A stroll alongside the crystal-clear river takes you to meadows beyond.

Fragrant and colour
Pretty flower border and mushroom yew topiary at Hinton Ampner

Hinton Ampner 

Meandering paths, flower-filled avenues and hidden dells make this the ideal place to while away a summer’s afternoon. The walled kitchen garden is a real highlight; head gardener John Wood describes its cut flower border as a ‘jewel box of colour’. Flowers mingle with leafy green produce too. Views from the terrace take in the historic parkland, and beautiful displays of roses.

A jewel box of colour
Colourful sweetpeas on a frame in foreground, with brick garden wall in background

The Vyne 

These formal gardens are a delight to wander through, full of colourful borders and panoramic views. In the walled garden you’ll find a mini wildflower meadow – a rippling sea of red, blue and orange flowerheads, created to help our pollinators. In high summer there are fragrant sweetpeas too; you can pick up a bunch to take home, cut daily by the gardeners.

Summer delights at The Vyne
Sandham Garden of Reflection - Summer 2019

Sandham Memorial Chapel 

You'll find two very different little gardens here, tucked away in a tranquil Hampshire village. A meadow orchard reveals soft grasses, wildflowers and seating beneath its fruit trees; it’s a wonderful place to picnic, in the shade of an old oak. Behind the chapel, the Garden of Reflection offers pretty cottage garden planting, from foxgloves and ladies mantle, alliums and gerberas. Native hedging creates a feeling of intimacy and peace.

Discover the peace of summer at Sandham
Flower-filled garden meadow at Uppark

Uppark 

Perched high above the South Downs, Uppark’s landscaped gardens make a wonderful picnic spot. In early summer, the beautiful wildflower meadow is full of flowers and nectar-hungry bees and butterflies. Mown paths allow you to walk into the centre of the meadow, where you can sit and take in stunning views over the countryside. There’s a little scented garden to explore too, filled with lilies, and later phlox and sweetpeas.

Soak up summer views
A gravel path between two borders filled with purple and orange flowers with Mottistone Manor at the end of the path

Mottistone Gardens 

Mottistone’s sheltered valley gardens feature eye-catching Mediterranean planting, from exotic red spider flowers to giant ginger lilies and African grasses. Its ‘jewel’ though, are the huge herbaceous borders full of vibrant floral planting in reds, pinks, purples and blues. Soft meadow planting through the orchard has created wide avenues of wildflowers – a patchwork of pastel flowers through which to wander. If you walk further up the garden you’ll find seating that takes in a view of the gardens and the sea beyond.

Discover an oasis of colour