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Major Gardens
The following gardens, shown in green on the map, are open all, or most, of the season. Many are owned by the National Trust (NT). The furthest away, Rosemoor, is about one and a quarter hours drive from Knoll Cottage. More information can be found on the link for the individual garden, or on one of the general gardens websites, such as RHS Garden Finder, Great British Gardens, Garden Visit, or Gardens Guide.
Map of Major Gardens to visit

Code Garden 2006 opening Notes
AC Arlington Court (NT) 26 Mar to 29 Oct (not Sats except Jul-Aug). See link for details. Mature parkland on a level site in front of a fine Georgian house. It has a pretty Victorian formal garden: herbaceous borders and basket beds with bedding plants on three grass terraces around a handsome conservatory. In the walled garden, recently part-restored, 19th-century fruit and vegetables grow alongside local cultivars. Fine walks take in historic parkland grazed by Jacob sheep and Shetland ponies, leafy woodlands, a tranquil lake with heronry and bird hide, deep forests and stream-fed valleys.
BC Barrington Court (NT) 2 Mar to 31 Oct (not Weds). See link for details. An enchanting formal garden, influenced by Gertrude Jekyll and laid out in a series of walled rooms, including the White Garden, the Rose and Iris Garden and the Lily Garden. The working kitchen garden has espaliered apple, pear and plum trees trained along high stone walls.
CM Cothay Manor 1 May - 30 Sept, Weds, Thurs, Sun and Bank Holidays 2 - 6. Cothay is an old/new garden on either side of the River Tone. It is now a plantsman's paradise surrounding a small classic medieval manor. The seven acres of formal gardens designed in the 1920s by Reggie Cooper have now been completely replanted, room by room, since the Robbs came here in 1993. The avenue of mop-headed Robinia pseudoacacia, nearly 100m long, looks stunning underplanted with nepeta and a thousand white tulips. New for 2004 were a Mount, planted with wild flowers and bulbs, and a lake.
DC Dunster Castle (NT) All year (castle not open Fri or Sat or winter). See link for details. The fortified storybook Dunster Castle was the home of the Luttrell family for 600 years. Victorian woodland on a steep slope, terraced in places and planted with tender exotica. 150-year-old lemon tree in an unheated conservatory. A fine border of rare shrubs surrounds a lawn near the keep. Along the river thrive a variety of sub-tropical plants.
EL East lambrook Manor 1 Feb to 31 Oct. See link for details. East Lambrook is the archetypal cottage garden around a small fifteenth century manor house. It is densely planted, with low clipped hedges forming compartments for herbaceous plants. It was created made by Margery Fish, the popular gardening writer in the 1950s and 1960s, and has been charmingly restored in recent years. The new owners are continuing the work of restoration begun in the 1980s, and have updated the plantings while respecting the original spirit. They have returned Margery Fish's nursery to its original site, made a special bed for the National Collection of hardy geraniums and restored the malthouse.
FA Forde Abbey All Year. House only open Apr-Oct. "One of the greatest gardens in the West Country" Alan Titchmarsh.
The 30 acre gardens of Forde Abbey surround the 12th-century Cistercian Monastery, a rambling private home since 1650, part Jacobean and part Gothic. Trees survive from 1700, although much has been planted in recent years: rhododendrons, azaleas, acers, magnolias, irises, meconopsis and candelabra primulas. But there are also mature Victorian conifers, lakes, ponds, streams, cascades, bogs and such oddities as a Beech House. When the monastic Great Pond was linked to a chain of ponds and cascades in 1700 it was one of the earliest examples of landscape gardening. Not to be missed are the millions of spring bulbs, bog garden, rockery, arboretum, herbaceous borders and working walled kitchen garden.
GC Greencombe April to July, Sats to Weds, 2pm-6pm Greencombe is a 3.5 acre organic showpiece, started in 1946. The garden stretches across a sheltered hillside which looks up to the tree-covered slopes of Exmoor behind and down across ancient fields to Porlock Bay and an uninterrupted view of the sea. It is a woodland garden, long and narrow, with a rich underplanting of ornamental plants beneath an outstanding canopy of oaks, hollies, conifers and sweet chestnuts. Camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas, maples, lilies, roses, clematis, and hydrangeas are in turn underplanted with many ferns and the garden's four National Collections: Erythronium, Vaccinium, Gaultheria, and Polystichum.
HC Hestercombe All year, 10-6 Ignore the house - a Victorian mansion now used as Council offices - and look at the famously restored garden. Lutyens's hallmarks are everywhere: iris-choked rills, pergolas, seats, relieved staircases and pools where reflections twinkle on recessed apses. Gertrude Jekyll's planting is bold and simple, which adds to the vigour. The secret landscape garden which Coplestone Warre Bampfylde laid out in the late 18th century re-opened in 1997: 40 acres of lakes, temples, combes and woodlands which have not been seen for over 100 years.
KH Knightshayes Court (NT) Mar-Oct (House not open Fri). See link for details. Knightshayes is a garden in a wood - one of the best of its kind in the world. Much of the original canopy is there - notably some very fine oaks - but it is now supplemented by magnolias, birches, nothofagus and sorbus. The garden unveils as a series of walks and glades, with beautiful rhododendrons, camellias and rare shrubs underplanted by hellebores, erythroniums, foxgloves, cyclamen and bluebells. Closer to the house are the stately formal gardens, enclosed by immaculately clipped yew hedges. Here alpine treasures and small bulbs grow in raised beds. The old bowling lawn is filled by a vast circular pool and a single weeping pear, Pyrus salicifolia 'Pendula'. The walled garden, near the stables, is being restored and run organically. In the surrounding park is a very fine collection of trees, including several record breakers. The Douglas firs are particularly impressive.
KL Killerton (NT) All year (house not open Tues, except Aug, Dec) See link for details. A beautiful hillside garden for all seasons, early spring flowering bulbs, magnolias, azaleas, herbaceous borders and great autumn colours. Killerton is a plantsman's paradise with rare trees and shrubs from all around the world collected by the Veitch family. Early 19th century summer house, the Bears Hut, ice house and rock garden. It also has a large rock garden in an old quarry, and a parterre designed by William Robinson, with Coade stone urns.
LC Lytes Cary Manor (NT) 22 Mar to 31 Oct, Wed, Fri-Sun. See link for details. Lytes Cary was once the home of medieval herbalist Henry Lyte. It has a 3 acre neo-Elizabethan garden to go with the prettiest of manor houses: yew hedges, hornbeam walks, alleys and lawns, medlars, quinces and a simple Elizabethan flower border. A gate leads to a long mixed border designed by Graham Stuart Thomas planted with mixed shrubs, perennials and roses.
LS Lower Severalls Mid-Mar to 30 Sep; Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat. See link for details. Both the garden and nursery started in 1985. At first, the nursery specialised in herbs, of which it still has a wide range. However, there are also good selections of hardy geraniums, salvias and lots more besides. The 2 acre garden is set in front of an 18th-century Ham-stone farmhouse: it has fine herbaceous borders, island beds, a living 'dogwood basket' and an area for bog plants known as 'the Wadi'.
MH Montacute House (NT) All year; not Tue or Mon in winter (not house). See link for details. The sunken gardens at Montacute are a perfect foil for the amazing Elizabethan mansion. They cannot be beaten for the sense of English renaissance grandeur they impart. The National Trust has recently had the courage to replant the borders not as they were originally planned by Vita Sackville-West, nor as subsequently laid out by Graham Thomas in pretty pastel shades, but using the brilliant colours devised by Phyllis Reiss of nearby Tintinhull in the 1950s. The vivid colours of 'Frensham' roses, purple berberis and late-summer dahlias are the ideal complement to the Ham-stone house.
MW Marwood Hill All year A 20 acre woodland garden along a sheltered valley with 3 small lakes, a bog garden and a scree garden. It has many plant collections and year round interest created by Dr Jimmy Smart MBE VMH when he moved there in 1949, and developed until his death in 2002. Even now, there are additions and improvements every year: 2004 sees the start of a three-year project to plant up the hilltop with four acres of prairie garden - grasses, perennials and flower meadows among the eucalyptus. Numerous Camellias, Rhododendrons, Magnolias, and Hydrangeas, Birches and Eucalyptus, a pergola draped with 12 different wisterias, 3 borders of herbaceous peonies, drifts of candelabra primulas, and a superb National collection of Astilbes.
RM Rosemoor All year The Royal Horticultural Society's 40 acre garden at Rosemoor was originally given to the RHS by Lady Anne Palmer in 1988. It has been continuously developed since then. It was awarded the accolade "Large Visitor Attraction of the Year 2003" for the South-West. Rosemoor is now an all-year garden, with a great variety of designs, styles, plants and plantings in both its formal 'rooms' and in the more natural parts. The Winter Garden is designed to show what can be done fill a garden with colour and interest during the colder months. The alpine display house provides colour and interest all the year round. Two major features for the summer and autumn months are the Queen Mother's Rose Garden, for modern roses, and its companion Shrub Rose Garden containing 130 cultivars. The two colour-themed formal gardens provide strong contrasts: the Spiral Garden has cool, soft, pastel colours while the Square Garden contains 'hot' plantings. The cottage and herb gardens are more informal, but separated by the potager with its decorative vegetable planting. Leaf form and colour dominate in the foliage garden while the model gardens demonstrate three contrasting design solutions for the average domestic plot. Other attractions include the stream and bog garden; the lake; large areas of parkland and the arboretum.
TT Tintinhull Garden (NT) 22 Mar to 29 Oct; not Mon or Tue. See link for details. This small garden - less than two acres - is the most famous example of a Jekyll-style garden on a small scale. It is divided into 7 rooms by clipped yew hedges and walls. Each room has its own character but together they form a complete harmony. Features include pool garden, fountain garden, traditional garden, inspirational mixed borders, and a stylish kitchen garden with orchard beyond. Perhaps the most famous part is the largest, around a formal rectangular pool in front of a pillared summerhouse. The borders on either side are in complete contrast to each other: one is made in the bright bold colours of scarlet, yellow, orange and white, while the other is dominated by pastel pinks, mauves, blues and pale yellows. Yet they are also mirror images of each other because each uses grey-leaved plants and striking leaf shapes as well as colour.


Other Gardens
These gardens, shown in blue on the map, are only open, at most, a few times a year, for charity. They are all within about 30 minutes drive from Knoll Cottage.

More information can be found on the website for the individual garden, or on the National Gardens Scheme website, or the Red Cross Open Gardens website
 Map of Other Gardens to visit
Code Garden 2005 opening Notes
AH Aller Farmhouse, Williton 8 May Cliff garden made from old south-facing quarry, a haven for drought-loving and tender plants. Four other "compartments".
BP Barford Park, Spaxton 19 Jun 10 acres surrounding a Queen Anne House. Formal garden, wild garden, water garden.
BR Boweys and Rose Cottage, Kingston-St-Mary 9, 10, 11 Jul 2 interconnecting gardens. Mature cottage style and garden in the making.
BV 4 Brendon View, Crowcombe 22 May, 5 Jun, 21 Aug Modest-sized plantsman's garden. Subtropical garden, mixed borders and cacti in 2 grenhouses.
CC Cannington College 2 May Five individual walled gardens, each planted with its own botanical theme
CH Court House, East Quantoxhead 10 Jul 5 acre garden with views to the sea and the Quantocks
CR Crowcombe and Crowcombe Heathfield Gardens 22 May 3 large and varied gardens in a lovely setting.
EL Elworthy Cottage, Elworthy See link 1 acre garden with many unusual herbaceous plants, including over 200 varieties of Geranium.
FF Fairfield, nr Stogursey 20 Mar, 17 Apr Woodland garden with bulbs and shrubs; paved maze.
FH Fernhill, nr Wellington 3, 6 Jul; 7, 10 Aug 2 acre mature wooded garden with rose, herbaceous, shrub and mixed borders. Alpine and bog garden with waterfalls and pools.
FP Flaxpool House, Crowcombe 15 May Spring garden with azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias.
GM Gaulden Manor, Tolland Sun and Thu Jun-Aug; for NGS on 8, 9 Jun Herb, bog, scent and butterfly gardens. The stream garden - very pretty - is below the monks' pond, its sides planted with candelabra primulas, ferns and gunneras.
HL Hartford Lodge, Hartford 24 Apr, 2 Jun, 24 Jul, 4 Sep Plantsman's garden - trilliums, pulmonarias, asters, tritonias, plus many varieties of Cornus, Acer and Salix
LY Little Yarford Farmhouse, Kingston St Mary 12-14 Aug Creative landscaping round 17th C farmhouse. 3 waterlily ponds, interesting and specimen trees.
MC Montys Court, Norton Fitzwarren 17 Apr 4 acre garden set in parkland with many features, including formal rose garden in shape of Maltese cross containing 400 roses.
OC Olive Cottage, Langley Marsh 26 Jun, 21 Aug 2/3 acre informal cottage garden created by the owner over 26 years.
OR Old Rectory, Wootton Courtenay 16, 17 Jul Many areas, colour-themed, and with outstanding views.
SH Smocombe House, Enmore 5 Jun 5-acre garden, mature arboretum, Victorian cottage-type walled garden, stream and water garden
ST Stogumber Gardens 11-12 Jun, 19 Jun see Stogumber village website
TH Thurloxton Gardens 1 May 4 gardens. 2 acres round a mill with water garden. Cottage garden with quarry walk, roses and other shrubs, vegetables and animals. Another Cottage garden with stream and pond. 1 1/2 acres of informal mixed borders.
TM The Mill, Cannington 17, 18 Jul 1/4 acre cottage-type plantsman's garden. Over 130 clematis. National collection of Clematis texensis hybrids. NB. This is the correct date (the Yellow Book is wrong).
UP Uplands, Minehead 19, 20 Mar; 23, 24 Apr 1/4 acre garden with fine views
VC Vellacott, Crowcombe 19, 21 May; 16-19 Jun; 8, 10 Sep; 1, 2 Oct Profusely stocked 1/2 acre garden created over last decade on S-facing slope.
WH Weacombe House, West Quantoxhead 15 May Large informal garden with over 150 species of Rhododendron and many other unusual trees and shrubs. Lakeside walk, walled garden, herb and rose garden. Fine views.