Alby Crafts Gardens Cromer Road, Erpingham, Norwich, Norfolk.

Photo © 2007 Alby Crafts

A plantsman's garden of four and a half acres of island beds and borders are separated by wide expanses of grass in which are set specimen trees. The beds contain a wide variety of unusual plants and shrubs of special interest to the knowledgeable gardener. At different times of the year there are profusions of primroses, fritillarias, wild orchids, iris and many others. Four ponds, a wild area, a small wood, a stream and an island add to the interest as does a fallen poplar - a casualty of the 1987 hurricane - whose branches now grow straight up forming an unusual hedge. The visitor can walk everywhere on the wide areas of grass. The lack of defined paths makes for informality in this calm and quiet garden.

In 1987 half the area was grazing meadow and the other half was a poplar plantation. The planning and planting is down to the inspiration and hard work of Valerie Alston and as with all gardens it is still developing.

Anglesey Abbey (NT) Quy Road, Lode, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

Photo © NTPL / Nick Meers

The Abbey is surrounded by 98 acres of outstanding landscaped and wildlife gardens plus arboretum, with wonderful statues, a display of hyacinths in spring, and magnificent herbaceous borders and dahlia garden in summer. A watermill in the grounds is in full working order (flour on sale) and may be seen working on the first Saturday of each month. Stunning snowdrop woods and winter walk.

Audley End House and Park (EH) (V) Saffron Walden, Essex.

Photo © English Heritage/Pat Payne

Idyllic 18th century 'Capability' Brown parkland surrounds Audley End House. It includes Robert Adam's neo-classical Teahouse Bridge, the Temple of Concord built to celebrate George III's recovery from insanity, and the early Victorian garden, which recently underwent restoration. Wander round the beautiful 19th-century parterre with its magnificent floral displays and imagine yourself back in Victorian times as you take a turn around the organic walled Kitchen Garden growing original fruit and vegetable varieties.

Beth Chatto's Garden Elmstead Market, nr. Colchester, Essex.

Photo © www.bethchatto.co.uk

The Beth Chatto Gardens began in 1960. From an overgrown wasteland with poor gravel soil and boggy hollows it has been transformed into an informal garden harmonising with the surrounding countryside. Beth's special expertise is in her familiarity with plants' suitability to varying soils and conditions, her own garden being a transformation of several acres of swampland from her husband's fruit farm. Here she has divided the garden in its natural variations to suit widely differing plants from a water-garden to a dry gravely Mediterranean-type garden. She adheres to her one strict rule of planting - 'Pick the plants that naturally thrive in the conditions you have in your garden'.

This garden presents a very harmonious picture throughout the seasons with carefully placed foliage and texture, this being as important as colour to Beth. In the garden a series of pools runs along a shallow hollow, edged with moisture loving plants. Further up the slopes are sweeping beds containing a rich abundance of bulbs and herbaceous perennials backed with shrubs and trees.

Blickling Hall (NT) Blickling, Norwich, Norfolk.

Photo © NTPL / Nick Meers

The gardens are renowned for massive yew hedges and magnificent herbaceous borders and contain a late 18th century orangery; the parkland has a lake, sunken garden and good walks.

Cambridge University Botanic Gardens Cambridge, Cambridgshire.

Photo © 2005 Cambridge University Botanic Garden

The Garden was founded in 1762 in the centre of Cambridge, but moved to its present 40 acre (16 hectares) site in 1846. Many of the Garden's fine trees date from this early period. Half of the site remained undeveloped until the 1950s, and this '20th century garden' provides a contrast with the original 19th century part. Whilst still part of Cambridge University's Department of Plant Sciences, the Garden also acts as a training ground for students of horticulture, and is of course a valuable amenity to the City of Cambridge. The Garden is on chalky soil, and in an area of remarkably low rainfall (c. 563mm/annum), with less in recent years.

Features include the finest collection of trees in the East of England, a winter garden, scented garden, the renowned Winter Garden, a stream and lake, a rock garden, the systematic beds, and a glasshouse range. One of the newest features is a 'dry garden' where it is intended to demonstrate what can be grown in our area without the need to water. National Collections of Alchemilla, Bergenia (spp. & primary hybrids), Fritillaria (European spp.), Geranium (spp. & primary hybrids), Lonicera (spp. & primary hybrids), Ribes (spp. & primary hybrids), Ruscus, Saxifraga (European spp.) and Tulipa (spp. & primary hybrids).

East Bergholt Place Garden East Bergholt, nr. Colchester, Suffolk.

East Bergholt Place Garden covers 20 acres and was laid out at the turn of the century by Charles Eley, great grandfather of the present owner. A fine collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are rarely seen in East Anglia and originate from the great plant hunters such as George Forest. It is the home of {Malus} × {purpurea} 'Eleyi' and has been called a 'Cornish Garden in Suffolk'. Of greatest interest is a collection of trees known as the 'Swale', around a gentle valley with a small brook running down the middle.The Garden is particularly beautiful in spring when the many mature rhododendrons, magnolias and camellias are in full flower. There are also topiary hedges, ornamental ponds and a camellia walk. A large range of plants can now be bought from within the walled garden. Restoration and replanting continue.

Easton Lodge Gardens Great Dunmow, Essex.

These gardens have been created since 1971 on the foundations of the kitchen and stable block at Easton Lodge, the home of 'Darling Daisy', Countess of Warwick. Features include a cobbled and herringbone courtyard with fountain designed by Harold Peto, a fishpond, mosaic walk, dovecote and pergolas. Additionally, there are more than 20 acres of Harold Peto's gardens, designed in 1903 and abandoned in 1950. Features include a balustraded pool in a sunken garden, a tree house and Japanese garden. Restoration has commenced with an exhibition of history in the dovecote.

Elton Hall nr. Peterborough, Cambridgshire.

Photo © 2004-05 Elton Hall

The garden you see today was laid out in 1913 with the construction of the paths, the lawns, the lily pond, the well-head and the rose garden wall. By 1980 a large part of the Edwardian garden had fallen into disrepair and since the early 1980s there has been a major restoration programme. The rose garden has been replanted and a new sunken garden, a shrub garden and an arboretum created. In recent years the gardens have been extensively restored and include; the Victorian rose garden which was replanted with nearly a thousand roses, the Knott Garden and the Sunken Garden, along with herbaceous borders and also a newly planted arboretum. The overwhelming scent of the many old fashioned roses on a warm summer afternoon is quite memorable.

Fairhaven Garden Trust South Walsham, Norwich, Norfolk.

Photo © 2006 Fairhaven of Anglesey Abbey

These delightful woodland and water gardens with a private inner broad covering 131 acres, have something of interest for everyone who loves natural beauty. There is a sense of peace and tranquility; the combination of cultivated and wild flowers makes this garden quite unique. In spring, there are masses of primroses, bluebells, azaleas and rhododendrons in several areas. Candelabra primulas and some unusual plants grow near the waterways which are spanned by small bridges. In summer, the wild flowers come into their own. There is also a separate bird sanctuary for bird-watchers. The garden is home to a large number of birds, 95 recorded species throughout the season, and some of Norfolk’s rarer residents such as the Otter, the Swallowtail butterfly and the Norfolk Hawker Dragonfly, their presence being testament to our style of gardening.

Feeringbury Manor Feering, Colchester, Essex.

Feeringbury Manor is a 6 acre garden with a stream, ponds and the River Blackwater at the bottom of the garden. There are many rare and interesting plants and also two intriguing modern steel gates made by Ben Coode-Adams. There are usually some sculptures in the garden which are set in a beautiful and very peaceful situation. There is a new arboretum but also many old-fashioned roses, lilies, clematis, primulas and many surprises. This is a garden for people who are seriously interested in gardening.

Harlaxton Manor Gardens Grantham, Lincolnshire.

The formal gardens at Harlaxton Manor were created as an integral feature of the stately home built by Gregory Gregory. A magnificent 'fairytale' chateau in 110 acres of gardens and grounds. The formal gardens, which were built to rival anything in Europe and comprise French-style terraces, an Italian garden, a Dutch-style ornamental canal and a Victorian conservatory, are being restored to their former glory. The ornate walled garden (6.5 acres) comprises ornamental plantsmen's and theme gardens.

Helmingham Hall Gardens Stowmarket, Suffolk.

Photo © Helmingham Hall 2007

The gardens extend to nearly 5 hectares and are set in more than 150 hectares of parkland, which is stocked with Red and Fallow deer and Highland cattle. The house (which is not open to the public) was built in 1510, and has been the home of the Tollemache family ever since. Of the two gardens, the larger is surrounded by its own moat and a wall built in 1740, and access is by drawbridges which are raised every night. Here are herbaceous borders and planted tunnels and a kitchen garden so tidy and productive as to be a spur to every visitor. The other grounds include a herb and Knot garden containing only plants in cultivation in England before 1750, and a special rose garden within high yew hedges. The whole is graded Grade I by English Heritage.

Hoveton Hall Gardens Wroxham, Norwich, Norfolk.

Photo © www.hovetonhallgardens.co.uk

Approximately 10 acres of gardens featuring principally daffodils, azaleas, rhododendrons and hydrangeas in a woodland setting with a large walled herbaceous garden and a Victorian kitchen garden. There are also woodland and lakeside walks. Also features Knot Garden, Walled Garden, Clematis Walk.

Hyde Hall Garden (RHS) Rettendon nr. Chelmsford, Essex.

Photo © Royal Horticultural Society 2006

Nearly 40 years of work by the RHS has brought it from a windswept hill with just six mature trees, to the present day Garden of 24 acres. The Garden contains the National Collection of Viburnum and an attractive plantsman's garden of eight acres containing a woodland area, spring bulbs, ornamental ponds with lilies and fish, together with a large collection of modern roses and a rope walk of climbing and pillar roses.

The Dry Garden, supported by Essex and Suffolk Water, has been designed and planted to demonstrate how a garden can be created without the need for artificial irrigation. The garden has been constructed on a sloping site of approximately 1,600sq m using large gabbro (an igneous rock related to basalt) boulders and stone mulch to give the impression of a natural rocky outcrop, similar to the environment in which many of the plants would occur in nature.

The plants themselves have been carefully selected to combine the essential characteristics required for the site - tolerance to drought, exposure and high light levels - along with garden worthiness. Many carry the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM). More than 4,000 plants representing 730 different species and cultivars from five continents have been used in the Dry Garden. Good drainage is essential for drought tolerant plants and so gritty topsoil has been used, mounded up into bunds over rubble filled subsoil. The garden's south-facing aspect means that the plants get plenty of sun, and individual rocks help to create microclimates for more tender plants.

Ickworth House (NT) Horringer, Bury St Edmunds Suffolk.

Photo © NTPL / Rupert Truman

The house is surrounded by an Italianate garden and set in a 'Capability' Brown park with several waymarked woodland and walks. National Collection of Buxus.

Mannington Hall Norwich, Norfolk.

Photo © Woltteron & Mannington Estate 2007

Gardens with a lake, moat, woodland and an outstanding rose collection with heritage rose exhibitions. Throughout the gardens are thousands of roses especially classic varieties. The Heritage Rose and Twentieth Century Rose Gardens have designs reflecting their date of origin (from the fifteenth century to the present day.)

Mark Hall Gardens Harlow, Essex.

Three walled gardens developed as an ornamental fruit garden, a 17th century style garden with a parterre, and a large walled garden demonstrating a number of gardening styles and techniques. The gardens form part of the Mark Hall Cycle Museum.

Plantation Garden Norwich, Norfolk.

Photo © plantationgarden.co.uk

A rare surviving example of a private Victorian town garden, created between 1856-1897 in a former medieval chalk quarry and undergoing restoration by volunteers. Architectural features include a 30ft Gothic fountain, an Italianate terrace, woodland paths and mature trees.

Rookery Gardens Eyke, Woodbridge, Suffolk.

A ten acre garden and vineyard with grass walks inviting exploration. Bog garden with roses and rhododendrons. Fishpond with waterfall. Many rare trees and shrubs.

Saling Hall Garden and Arboretum Great Saling, Braintree, Essex.

A 12 acre garden with old walls, fish ponds, water gardens and a well-known landscaped arboretum including many rare trees.