Great country estates to intimate garden rooms
Somerset is a county that knows how to grow. Apple orchards spread across gentle hills, roses climb old stone walls and kitchen gardens fill with the changing colours and flavours of the seasons.
From great country estates to intimate garden rooms, there are many wonderful gardens to visit in Somerset. Here are some of our favourites.
Oudolf Field
A short pootle into Bruton leads you to Hauser & Wirth Somerset, where a world-class gallery and breathtaking gardens occupy the landscape of this former farmstead. Oudolf Field was designed by Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf, and it was his intention to create a garden that was secret from the outside world, only revealing itself once you’ve entered the gallery. It has the feel of a wild meadow, with swathes of grasses, drifts of colour and the pleasingly alien sight of Smiljan Radic’s pavilion perched at the top of the hill. Oudolf Field is perhaps most admired under the glow of the late summer sun, but it’s also magical when bare stems and seedheads cast their shadows against a frosty winter backdrop.
Kilver Court Gardens
Just 20-minutes away, in Shepton Mallet, lies Kilver Court Gardens sitting beneath a dramatic 27-arch Victorian viaduct. This 3.5-acre garden was created more than 150 years ago and offers year-round colour, with a formal parterre, lake and rockery – designed by Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist George Whitelegg – featuring a stream and waterfall. The large herbaceous border has a strong emphasis on foliage colours with acers and Liquidambar painting the gardens spectacular shades of crimson, burnt orange and gold as autumn falls.
Tintinhull Garden
Revered as a gardener’s garden, Tintinhull Garden is also 20-minutes down the road. It was here that our own garden designer in the 1970s, Penelope Hobhouse, continued Phyllis Reiss’s experimental horticultural vision, after leaving Hadspen House. Today, there are seven distinct areas created around the 17th-century manor, planned to bring year-round interest to the landscape. Soak in secluded lawns, sparkling pools and imaginative borders and wander Penelope’s productive Kitchen Garden and a peaceful Arboretum. If you’re a National Trust member, Lytes Cary Manor and Montacute House are all within easy striking distance.
The Bishop’s Palace
Hidden within medieval ramparts and surrounded by a moat in the pretty city of Wells, The Bishop’s Palace and Gardens is a 30-minute drive from The Newt. Its 14 acres of Grade-II listed landscape gardens have evolved as successive Bishops added their legacy, while the springs, from which the city takes it names, can be found within the grounds. Today, the gardens feature specimen trees, flamboyant climbers and bold, luxuriant planting. Early spring sees vibrant displays of snowdrops, primroses and bluebells carpet woodland. Summer is for savouring roses and the vibrant ‘hot border’ in the East Garden and autumn is the time to see the spectacular Bishop Dahlias in bloom.
Hestercombe Gardens
Less than an hour from The Newt by car, Hestercombe Gardens near Taunton showcases three centuries of garden design in its 50-acre landscape. Visitors can take in the restored lakes, dramatic cascades and wooded coombes of the Georgian Landscape Garden designed and shaped by its owner, the artist Coplestone Warre Bampfylde. The main attraction for many is the Edwardian Formal Garden, designed by Edwin Lutyens with colourful, painterly planting from Gertrude Jekyll.
Dunster Castle
High above the Somerset countryside, Dunster Castle is worth the just-under 90-minute drive for the spectacular views and subtropical planting. The garden encompasses four distinct microclimates leading you on a floriferous journey through the Mediterranean micro-climate of the South Terrace to the wild, wooded River Garden and its rare trees. The historic Yew Bank, now coppiced, creates areas of light and shade and a wander around The Keep’s perimeter allows vistas towards Dunkery Beacon – the highest point on Exmoor – on a clear day.
Forde Abbey
The 30-acres of gardens at Grade-I Forde Abbey, can be found on the Somerset-Dorset Border, near Chard, around a 40 minute drive away. The historic gardens have slowly evolved over the last 900 years to include topiary-lined vistas, colourful herbaceous borders, an arboretum, and a bog garden, ensuring all year-round interest. Visitors can see camellias and rhododendrons followed by swathes of spring bulbs, wild orchids and the highest powered fountain in the country.
The Newt in Somerset
Here at  The Newt, we have acres of superb gardens to explore, developed by successive enthusiasts and renowned designers over hundreds of years. Discover the Cottage Garden celebrating the Arts and Crafts movement, marvel at the kaleidoscope of produce in the Kitchen Garden or take in displays of exotic ferns, succulents and tropical fruit trees in the Winter Garden. At its core lies the Parabola, a walled maze of trained apple trees sheltering hundreds of varieties. Ancient woodland features 70ft hornbeams, veteran oaks and a 300-year-old Druid Tree, making the garden’s rugged edges extra special.  Truly a garden for all seasons, RHS members enjoy free entry on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Plus, a Newt Garden Membership gives you access to 20 partner gardens here in the UK and further afield.
Plan Your Visit
The Newt makes the ideal base in Somerset and starting point from which to explore before setting out to see more of the county’s horticultural riches.
Be sure to check visitor information for each of these Somerset gardens you plan to visit, particularly during autumn and winter.