This morning we visit the beautiful three-acre country garden of landscape designer and passionate plantsman Alasdair Cameron and his wife Tor on the edge of the Blackdown Hills, which has featured in several magazines including House & Garden and Country Living. Ranged around a beautifully restored Georgian farmhouse and characterful outbuildings, this has been designed as a space in which to experiment with plant combinations and also as a relaxed family garden where nothing is out of bounds for children. After morning coffee, we will explore with Alasdair. Behind the house, on what used to be a cow paddock, he has installed drainage and created generous borders with narrow grass paths running through them. There is rich plant interest here and Alasdair has made good use of domed beech, clipped yew balls and multi-stemmed trees to define the space. A new terrace provides an intimate area for entertaining. An increasingly important factor in the garden’s evolvement over the past 11 years has been an emphasis on encouraging wildlife and Alasdair will tell us about the marked increase in biodiversity that he and Tor have noted.

We then drive the short distance to South Wood Farm, a very special five-acre country garden designed by Arne Maynard, where we will be hosted by the owner, Professor Clive Potter. Wrapped around an ancient thatched yeoman’s farmhouse, this is a garden of great atmosphere, bringing together ingenious herbaceous planting with topiary, wildflower meadows, orchard and kitchen garden. The result is an unforgettable sense of place. After a seasonal lunch, head gardener Lewis O’Brien will be our guide on a tour that will begin in the courtyard at the front of the house, which creates impact with its cubes of clipped yew, pleached crab apple trees and roses. Behind the house is a cobbled rear courtyard and a yew and osmanthus knot garden. Brick steps lead up to the highly productive kitchen garden, with its series of oak-framed raised beds and fruit cages and sunken greenhouse. Beyond the main garden are wilder areas, including a small nuttery, wildflower meadows and orchards. Taken together, these contribute, in Arne’s words, to ensuring that the garden “slowly melts into the landscape beyond”.  We will also hear about future projects: Clive’s plans for a new wildlife pond and reed bed system and the planting of new native woodland. Our day in these magical gardens will conclude with afternoon tea.

This event has been organised by the Garden Museum’s Garden Visits committee. We recommend you read our Garden Visits Attendee Charter and Refund/exchange policy before booking your place on any of our Garden Visits.