Gardens to visit in UK

My wife and I will be going to the UK in late July or early August. Can someone give me a list of gardens that are a must see? We are staying for two weeks, so there will be plenty of time for excursions.

Whereabouts in the UK are you staying Copperbaron? I live in the North of England. are you visiting anywhere else or just gardens? ie castles, museums etc.
I've been visiting lots of places in the North York Moors this spring. I can recommend lots of beauty spots in this area, though perhaps the gardens may be attached to castles etc.
Helmsley Walled Garden is good. A Victorian walled garden that's in the process of being renovated. Helmsley is an excellent centre for spending a few days on the North York Moors. Lots of ruined abbeys, castles, steam rides and even the coast not too far away.

It depends on where you're going, we may be a small island but it can take hours to get anywhere, especially in summer!

For private gardens see the site below, these are open at various times during the year for charity and there are some real gems hidden away. http://www.ngs.org.uk/

The local papers for the area should have a feature about various gardens open, garden fairs, agric and hortic shows.

Wisley, Kew and Hampton Court are famous and easy to reach from London. The Museum of Garden History http://www.cix.co.uk/~museumgh/ and the Chelsea Physic Garden http://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/ are in those areas too, along with others.

Where ever you go there will be a couple of decent gardens in easy reach. Let us know and we can perhaps be a bit more direct. Take a look at my journal for my visit to Biddulph Grange last August.

And here's a picture of Helmlsley Walled Garden.

Or how about Nature's World, on the outskirts of Middlesbrough, just a mile from where I live? Here's the Hydroponicum.

And here's Shandy Hall, in Coxwold, on the North York Moors. Another charming walled garden.

I will be headquartered in London. I had planned on definitely going to Kew, but was trying to find out of the way places that are not 'touristy'. I'm the type that when I travel in the States, I never get on an Interstate highway. The backroads are where the interesting places are in my experience. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Out of the way, backwaters that aren't touristy and in England?????? Do we have any of those? *G* I live in a backwater with no Ye Olde Gift Shoppes and similar but we still get plenty of visitors to the village, not always sure why they come here but they do.

As for gardens, both the private and year round open gardens receive a reasonable number of visitors. You may be extremely lucky and stumble upon a little known gem. Oxford Botanical Gardens are worth a visit I hear (not been there yet myself) and not too far from London.

You absolutely MUST visit the HDRA's organic gardens at Ryton, near Coventry.

Forget all the rest. They are paramount!

Click on:

www.hdra.org.uk/

They have a new Vegetable Kingdom visitor centre that's like Disneyland. I kid you not.

(Tell 'em I sent you!)

John Yeoman