Capability Browns Award-Winning Gardens

Regarded to be one of the best-preserved examples of a ‘Capability’ Brown Parkland. Bowood is also recognised for its award-winning gardens, an Italian-inspired terrace garden, Private Walled Garden, an ever-changing herbaceous border, and the most remarkable of all, The Woodland Gardens.

To view our plant and flowers guide ‘what to see and when’ at Bowood House & Gardens, can be downloaded here.
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Bowood's Terrace Gardens

An Italian-inspired garden, providing visitors with a tranquil experience.

Fountains of trickling water are surrounded by colourful formal beds edged with box hedging. The upper and lower terraces are separated by ornamental stone balustrades decorated with urns overflowing with colourful plants. Spring brings delightful tulips, succeeded in summer by aliums and Corinda geraniums. The summer roses on the upper terrace provide a profusion of fragrant blossoms.

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Herbaceous East Border

A beautiful border bursting with vibrant plants.

The herbaceous border radiates colour from spring through to the first winter frosts, combining a range of plants that will inspire and surprise any garden enthusiast.  Each month the border reveals new colours, shapes and textures. The view from the border across the lake to the Doric Temple is spectacular.

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'Capability' Brown Parkland

Where better to enjoy the work of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, than at Bowood?

Regarded to be one of his finest examples in the country, with a flowing mix of plantations and sweeping lawns leading down to a winding mile-long lake.

Download our Tree and Shrubs guide here.

BOWOODS TREE GUIDE

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Cascade, Doric Temple and The Hermits Cave

Visitors can explore at their leisure, 100 acres of pleasure grounds.

Visit the Arboretum, the Cascade, Doric Temple, Hermits Cave and the lake itself. Unfortunately dogs are not permitted within the grounds of Bowood House & Gardens.

Bowood's Arboretum

A collection of over 700 species of trees.

The Arboretum, located behind the Private Walled Gardens, is full of interesting and unusual trees and shrubs. Designed by ‘Capability’ Brown in 1762, it retains much of his original vision. Walking through the Arboretum an extensive range of trees can be explored, including 23 Champion trees – the tallest or largest of their kind in Britain.

Autumn Colours: During September and October, the Arboretum is awash with vibrant colour.  One of the acers is in fact classified as a ‘champion’ tree: the Acer rubrum October glory. Twenty-two metres high and with a diameter of 69 centimetres, it is to be found on the northern perimeter of the pinetum, among a group of acers. It was planted here in 1977 to mark the Silver Jubilee year.

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Private Walled Garden

On selective dates throughout the season you can join our exclusive guided tours.

Tailored to the season and the flowers in bloom, each month we hold guided tours of Bowood’s Private Walled Garden. Entered through a secret door are the historic four-acre walled gardens, divided into four one-acre squares of distinctly different gardens. Including a formal border, a picking garden, working greenhouses, and a kitchen garden full of fruits and vegetables.

Tours must be pre booked in advance.

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Head Gardener Tours

With only 4 tours each season, you will tour Lord and Lady Lansdowne’s Private Walled Garden with David Glass, Bowood’s Head Gardener.

You will be amazed by the inspiring use of wall space and vertical gardening in Lord and Lady Lansdowne’s Private Walled Gardens. The long border still holds an Osmanthus burkwoodii, planted by Sir Harold Hillier over forty years ago. It must now be a Champion, at over eighteen feet high. There’s plenty of time to ask David questions and following the tour, you will enjoy a delicious lunch.

This tour is aimed towards keen gardeners looking to expand their knowledge and gain some insights into how we at Bowood deal with the many challenges our dedicated team of gardeners faces. Tours must be pre booked in advance.

Tours must be booked in advance.

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Bowood's Woodland Gardens

A spectacular attraction offering breathtaking vistas of colour and beauty. The Woodland Gardens are now closed and will re open in 2024 for the flowering season.

A separate attraction on the Bowood Estate, only open for 6 weeks during the flowering season. Covering over 30 acres, this garden is an oasis of bluebells, azaleas, magnolias, and rhododendrons. Considered to be one of the most exciting gardens of its type in the country with over 30 hardy hybrids, which were thought to be extinct.

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