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Hampton Court Gardens and Bushy Park
April 22, 2024 : 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
£15.00
Book Online or by cheque made payable to the Professional Gardeners’ Guild to Gareth Manning, 79 Boscobel Drive, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 3DU.
PGG visit to Hampton Court Gardens
The world-famous gardens of Hampton Court Palace include 60 acres of spectacular formal gardens and 750 acres (304 hectares) of parkland, all set within a loop of the River Thames. The gardens are home to the world’s oldest puzzle maze, a record-breaking grape vine, and a huge variety of wildlife, including the descendants of Henry VIII’s deer herd. The kitchen garden grows fruit and vegetable crops all year round and the gardens come to life in spring with over one million flowering bulbs in the Wilderness and a riot of colour in the formal gardens.
We will be visiting during the annual Tulip Festival and will also get a tour of the glasshouse nursery. Hampton Court Palace is also the holder of three important National Plant Collections – Heliotropium, Lantana and Queen Mary II’s Exoticks which is designated a Heritage Collection.
Please note that as we will be visiting on a day when the property is closed to the public, the café will not be open and as such you should either bring a picnic or find your lunch in Bushy Park.
Bushy Park
Bushy Park has been settled since the Bronze Age. In the 1500’s hundreds of acres were enclosed to form a parkland to the newly constructed Hampton Court. Henry VIII took ownership in the 1520’s and the estate has been gradually altered and improved since then. Among the highlights, the Waterhouse woodland gardens and Upper Lodge water gardens in Bushy Park are perfect places to relax and unwind. The Waterhouse Woodland Gardens are a shady oasis of glades, criss-crossed by streams and little bridges. It’s said that the Park Superintendent, Joseph Fisher created the winding pathways by trailing a stick through the woods.
The gardens were designed in the late 1940s around the remains of the gardens of an 18th century manor house and a 19th century woodland walk and plantation, and are good examples of 20th century garden design. We will be taken on a tour of the seasonal highlights of the park with an explanation of its history and development.
Programme
10.00am. Arrival at Hampton Court for tea/coffee and cake.
10.15am (approx.) Private garden tour with Head Gardener, Graham Dillamore.
1.00pm (approx.) End of tour of Hampton Court – walk over to Bushy Park.
1.30-2.30pm. Lunch: Make your own arrangements or meet at The Pheasantry Café in Bushy Park (pay for your own food).
2.30pm: Meet up for tour of Bushy Park.
Address
Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 9AU.
Bushy Park, Park Rd, Hampton, Teddington TW11 0EW.
Cost
£15.00 per person to cover the cost of both venues. Lunch at own expense/bring your own.
Booking
Book Online or by cheque made payable to the Professional Gardeners’ Guild to Gareth Manning, 79 Boscobel Drive, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 3DU.
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