Two Gardens in Peak Summer: The Plant Library & The Barn Garden & (21 July 2026)

Join us as summer peaks to explore two large country gardens within a short walk of each other: The Plant Library of over 2,000 species of perennials and bulbs and Tom and Sue Stuart-Smith’s Barn Garden.

The Plant Library is a living catalogue of perennials and bulbs and this opening at the peak of the season will showcase many of the 2000 species at their best including Echinacea, Phlox, Salvias, Kniphofia, Veronicastrum, Lillium, Thalictrum, Scabious, Phlomis, Nepeta, Lavatera, Agapanthus, Oenothera, Artemisia, Althea, Kitaebela, Helichrysum, Lobelia, Anthericum, Saponaria, Eryngium, Amorpha, a vast range of ornamental grasses and many, many more.

The Barn Garden includes an enclosed courtyard with corten water tanks, the west garden with large areas of herbaceous planting in a formal frame of yew and hornbeam hedges, the vegetable garden, meadow, wildlife pond and prairie. In high summer the garden has a irrepressible abundance of growth with vast range of cultivated plants, including Sanguisorba, Persicaria, Dierama, Hemerocallis Digitalis, Asclepias, Macleaya, Liatris, Veronicastrum, as well as wildflowers and a wide variety of trees and shrubs. The meadow is full of knapweed and scabious.

The Plant Library and The Barn Garden will be open to visit between 10.00am–1.00pm, with refreshments and seasonal site baked cakes available to enjoy within The Apple House (available by pre-order only).

Pop-up plant sales will be hosted by The Plant Library team and Sunnyside Rural Trust’s on-site Orchard Nursery, providing the opportunity to take home distinctive and unusual plants grown from The Plant Library stock.

All profits from ticket and refreshment sales goes directly to support the work of our not-for-profit, The Serge Hill Project for Gardening Creativity and Health, which provides therapeutic and educational programmes to local schools, charities and community groups most in need.

Tickets are limited to only 50 per garden visit, meaning you can enjoy the tranquility of the gardens with only a small number of other visitors.