The National Garden Scheme (NGS) provides visitors unique access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, and raises impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake.
The full listings of garden openings will be available on the NGS website from early December, but for those keen to plan ahead, the gardens opening from January to March 2025 can be found here.
The NGS has an extensive list of early garden openers, but here are some of our recommendations:
- The winter garden at St Timothee in Maidenhead in Berkshire which opens on the 18th of January 2025
- Natural snowdrop woodland at Welford Park, Welford in Newbury. Opens on the 5th of February, 2025.
- Naturalised scented crocus tommasinianus at Little Court, Winchester in Hampshire. Several opening dates, starting on the 16th of January, 2025.
- Snowdrops, bantams and C12 Norman keep at Bennington Lordship (pictured), Stevenage in Hertfordshire. Opens on the 4th of February 2025.
- Parkland with lake, river walks, woods and borders carpeted with snowdrops at Lexham Hall in Norfolk. Opens on the 9th and 16th of February 2025.
- Carpets of snowdrops as far as the eye can see at Horstead House in Norfolk. Opens on the 15th of February.
- Quintessential, English cottage garden created by C20 gardening legend Margery Fish at East Lambrook Manor Gardens in Somerset. Open on the 14th of February.
- 1½ acres of long-established naturalised snowdrops (130 named snowdrops) and winter aconites at The Old Rectory, Fawkham in Kent. Opens by arrangement in February.