Add a little colour to to wintry days with a visit to beautifully bejewelled privately owned gardens courtesy of The National Garden Scheme. This scheme, which sees inspirational gardens open their gates in aid of charity, offers you the chance to explore gardens studded with swathes of snowy white blooms, colourful mixtures of aconites and stunning hellebores, followed, as we head towards spring, by striking iris and crocus under early blossom.
National Garden Scheme: see beautiful winter and spring gardens
The National Garden Scheme openings mark the beginning garden visiting for 2026, which will feature an enormous 81 fabulous West Sussex gardens waiting to welcome you over the next 9 months. You can start making your garden visiting plans by visiting ngs.org.uk, download the National Garden Scheme app or pick up a free copy of The Sussex National Garden Scheme Booklet available from February in many local stores, garden centres and libraries.
Where can you see snowdrops
The Old Vicarage Washington
The 3½ acres gardens at The Old Vicarage are set around a 1832 Regency house (not open). The front is formally laid out with topiary, wide lawn, mixed border and contemporary water sculpture. The rear features new and mature trees from C19, herbaceous borders, water garden and stunning uninterrupted views of the North Downs. The Japanese garden with waterfall and pond leads to a large copse, stream, treehouse and stumpery. Each year 2000 tulips are planted for spring as well as another 2000 snowdrops and mixed bulbs throughout the garden.
Pre-booking essential, please visit the NGS website. Self-service light refreshments on Thursday (cash only) & picnics welcome.
Sandhill Farm House Rogate
Sandhill Farm House is the home of author and principal of The English Gardening School. The stunning front and rear gardens at Sandhill Farm House are broken up into garden rooms including a small kitchen garden. Front garden with small woodland area, planted with early spring flowering shrubs, ferns and bulbs. White and green garden, large leaf border and terraced area. The rear garden has rose borders, small decorative vegetable garden, red border and grasses border. Snowdrop day on Sun 9 Feb.
The Manor of Dean Petworth
The Manor of Dean garden is a 3 acres traditional English garden with extensive views of the South Downs. There are herbaceous borders, early spring bulbs, a bluebell woodland walk, a walled kitchen garden with fruit, vegetables and cutting flowers. NB under long term programme of restoration, some parts of the garden may be affected.
Book in advance on the NGS website or pay on the day. Teas available.
More spring flowers: daffodils, crocus and tulips (and more)
National Garden Scheme gardens opening during March and April include Rymans in Apuldram near Chichester, Down Place in Harting and Fittleworth House near Petworth. At most National Garden scheme gardens, you'll find refreshments including teas and coffees and homemade cakes and treats. What better way for a garden lover to spend a fabulous couple of hours?
About the National Garden Scheme
The National Garden Scheme was founded in 1927 by The Queen’s Nursing Institute to raise money for district nurses. Ever since then it has given annual donations to nursing and health charities totalling over £67 million. It gives visitors unique, affordable access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands and raises impressive amounts through admission charges and the sale of tea and cake.
Thanks to the generosity of garden owners, volunteers and visitors we are now the most significant charitable funder of nursing in the UK. As well as the Queen’s Nursing Institute, our beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK and Parkinson’s UK.
The National Garden Scheme doesn’t just open beautiful gardens for charity – we are passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens too. We fund projects which promote gardens and gardening as therapy, and in 2016 commissioned The Kings Fund report Gardens and Health Our Gardens and Coronavirus 2020: The importance of gardens and outdoor spaces during lockdown report was published in September 2020.
Visit https://ngs.org.uk for more information about the work of the National Garden Scheme, to search for gardens opening in your area, to find out how to open your own garden and and for more details about the gardens listed above.
By Kate Harrison West Sussex National Garden Scheme Publicity Officer