Visiting the garden at Knightshayes

Icy view over the pool garden in winter — Winter pool garden | © National Trust/Trevor Ray Hart

Lose yourself in the garden at Knightshayes, home to one of the most extensive plant collections to be found in the care of the National Trust. With a walled kitchen garden, terraces, Paved Garden and the Garden in the Wood, there is plenty to see all year round. Relax in the south garden, or take a winter walk around the arboretum.

Knightshayes' formal and woodland garden

The formal and woodland garden is divided into eight separate areas. These become less structured and more informal as you move further from the house.

Head to the formal garden for views across the parkland, and look out from the raised terraces in the kitchen garden across the vegetable beds to the trees that surround it.

Add into: The paved garden' (H3)

During the winter, the beds opposite the chasing hounds topiary are full of vibrant violet Muscari. 7

Add into: The garden in the wood (H2)

Winter in the Garden in the Wood

In the winter months, from the paths surrounding the Garden in the Wood, you’ll be able to see the early camellias bushes.

These vivid, plump flowers certainly will not be hard to spot with their bright colours. You’ll also be able to see some early rhododendrons bursting into life.

Snowdrops and crocuses

Remember to keep a look out for dainty snowdrops and sprouting crocus during January and February.

St Michael's Wood

Look out for the vibrant carpet of bluebells in spring and see the dogwood in bloom during winter.

Sir John's Wood

Sir John's Wood in winter

In winter, let your nose lead you around the garden. Daphne, an evergreen shrub with dainty, pink flowers, bears flowers with a strong but delicate and beautiful scent, which is possible to smell long before you see it.

Holly’s Wood

During the winter it's in this area towards the Cedar House that the vivid yellow witch hazel is full of colour among the darker shrubs, also in colour are the vibrant reds of the dog wood plant.

Keep a look out for the hellebores, with their nodding flowers that are scattered all around bringing life into the garden during the winter.

Top trees

Although the trees may be bare, they can still create a striking silhouette. Winter is the perfect time of year to see the wonderful bark of the acers, birch and some pine.

Frozen fountain at Knightshayes — Frozen fountain | © National Trust/Trevor Ray Hart

The terraces

With far-reaching views across the parkland towards Tiverton and the Heathcoat factory, the view is framed by a Cedar of Lebanon, which grows on the site of the earlier house's kitchen garden.

Originally planted as a rose garden, all that remains of this 19th-century scheme is the formal paving and traces of the old beds in the grass.

Now you can see deep herbaceous borders, yew hedges enclosing trefoil-shaped beds and a planting scheme of soft colours, beloved by Lady Heathcoat Amory.

The Paved Garden

The Paved Garden is a more intimate garden, full of soft purples and greys during the spring and summer months. Stop for a while and relax on a bench or enjoy the collection of herbs and colourful bulbs growing in the flower beds during the warmer months.

The Garden in the Wood

A diverse mix of dark and intimate trails, leading to spacious sunlit glades. Take in views over the garden or rest in the Cedar House, built to celebrate the completion of the garden. This area of the garden is at its best in the spring and autumn.

Visitors walking in the grounds at Knightshayes, Devon | © National Trust Images/Trevor Ray Hart

The arboretum

Take a walk around the arboretum, full of impressive mature oak and towering conifers providing height and grandeur. Look out for the sequoia trees which can grow to become some of the tallest in the world. The Arboretum offers spectacular sights all year round.

Knightshayes' South Garden

Relax in the open and sunlit South Garden, full of exotic trees including Japanese cherries. Take in the sweeping views of Knightshayes framed by a lawn full of colourful wild flowers in summer. This part of the garden is best visited during summer and spring.

Knightshayes' kitchen garden

The one-hectare (2.5-acre) walled kitchen garden, complete with fairy-tale turrets, is home to a vast collection of crops. These are now almost extinct, including 102 varieties of heritage tomatoes.

Whichever month you visit the kitchen garden there’s always plenty to see, from an abundance of rhubarb to plentiful pumpkins for Halloween.

Using the garden's produce

Unusually for a restored garden, all the produce grown at Knightshayes is harvested and used. Despite its ornamental presentation, it’s a working kitchen garden.

The fruit and vegetables that are grown supply the local Pannier Market in Tiverton for around seven months of the year, as well as local food charities