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Garden holidays in Cumbria
Cumbrian Gardens
5-8 September 2010
Home to the Lake District National Park, one of the most beautiful areas of the United Kingdom, this mountainous yet rural county has provided inspiration to artists, writers, musicians - and gardeners - over the years.
The Beech Hill Hotel sits on the
eastern bank of Lake Windermere and from here we visit the first of our
Lakeland private gardens, Windy Hall, which is a paradise of foliage,
scent and colour, with a strong emphasis on wildlife which can be seen
throughout this 4-acre garden.
Travelling on to Ambleside, the garden at Rydal Mount (pictured left), kept as a memorial to William Wordsworth, harmonises with the countryside and has scarcely changed since he lived here in the 1800s. Lake Windermere and Rydal Water are the backdrop to the gardens, which include fell-sided terraces, herbaceous borders and rock pools. Returning to Windermere, the hillside gardens of Holehird show us how an exposed site with difficult conditions can be managed - with wonderful results. The National Collection of hydrangeas are stunning at this time of year.
With a coastal setting, Lilac Cottage
garden is a 1-acre gem crammed with plants and shrubs, all giving a fine
display of late-summer colour. In contrast, Hutton-in-the-Forest
(pictured left) sits on
the north-eastern edge of the Lake District, a historic house surrounded
by woodland, with a beautiful Walled Garden, terraces with Victorian
topiary, and a lake. To complete our tour, we visit Larch Cottage
Nurseries, a family-run nursery specialising in rare and unusual hardy
perennials, with a tranquil Japanese-style garden in its grounds.
En route we break our journey with a visit to Land Farm in the Yorkshire pennines, a garden with excellent planting and interesting sculpture, and then on to Sizergh Castle, the gateway to the Lake District, with its colourful late- summer borders and remarkable limestone rock garden. On our return journey, we cannot leave Cumbria without spending a few hours in the wonderful topiary gardens of Levens Hall, viewing these enormous specimens and other garden delights, before travelling on to our final visit of the tour to see the varied gardens of RHS Harlow Carr, Harrogate, with colourful borders and the onset of autumn colours.
Cost per person: £425
Single room: £60
Departure points: Saxilby, Lincoln We may pick-up from a limited number of other points if they are en route and easy for coach access.
Your holiday includes:
- Comfortable executive coach throughout the holiday
- 3* hotel with leisure facilities
- Dinner and choice of cooked or continental breakfast
- All garden admissions and some refreshments
- Garden visits on both outward and homeward journeys
- Services of Tour Director throughout the holiday