Today we will visit three private town gardens in the heart of Burford. Our first stop is Sue Ashton’s well established, small country-house garden at The Lodge. Walled on two sides behind an elegant 18th century Cotswold stone house, Sue’s half-acre garden – with a beautiful Victorian glasshouse at its heart – has something new to admire at every turn. From the main lawn, a York stone path climbs past a terraced ornamental kitchen garden and a water feature to a small painted teahouse. Sue’s experience designing larger country gardens has been brought to bear here, with interest provided by her choice of planting. The glasshouse is used as a showcase for succulents and pelargoniums, with vines.

A short walk will bring us to Shirley Russell’s small secluded town garden of Waynes Close, moments from the busy high street. From a paved terrace behind the house – which dates from the late 1600s and was modernised in 1910 in the Arts and Crafts style – the lawn sweeps upwards to join a loggia opening from the first floor. The garden then climbs up the hill via steps and sloping paths, surrounded by flowering climbers and wall shrubs. Beside a raised waterlily pool an arched gateway leads to garden rooms including a wild garden with old fruit trees, a vegetable garden and several sitting places.

After a seasonal lunch in a charming family-run restaurant, we visit Jean Gray’s equally secluded one-acre walled garden at The Old Vicarage, which dates from the 1400s with an elegant Georgian façade. A wooden pergola on the stone terrace supports a magnificent white wisteria and steps lead to a formal lawned garden with yew and box topiary and clipped hornbeam pyramids, surrounded by well-stocked flower beds. An ornamental gate, set in a beech hedge, leads to a large vegetable and soft fruit garden with a highly productive greenhouse. Another gate opens onto to a cobblestoned gravel garden with ornamental pots. The house and garden are delightfully peaceful with wonderful views through to the spire of the town’s famous church.

We finish our day at Burford Garden Company for afternoon tea and a chance to meet some of the team behind the scenes at this well-known emporium of plants.

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.