If you’re heading to the coast this summer, why not enjoy some glorious gardens while you’re there? To tempt you, here are five 2 for 1 Gardens by the sea
A real thriller
Just inland from the Devon coast, Greenway, once home to Agatha Christie, offers idyllic views of the Dart estuary. The house features in many of her novels, in particular Poirot’s Dead Man’s Folly, in which the murder takes place in Greenway’s boathouse. There are many clues to the garden’s real-life history too, including a World War Two air-raid shelter and Napoleonic gun battery. You can also see how the novelist’s personality shaped the garden – with the lawn where she played her game of ‘clock golf’, the family pet cemetery and the many dahlias, which were her favourite flower.
ENTRY OFFER House & garden: 2 for 1 £14, single reduced to £7. For opening details, see national trust.org.uk/greenway Offers not valid on bank hol weekends.
Hot ticket
Many gardens have a warm microclimate, but this one claims to be Britain’s hottest garden. The average temperature at Ventnor Botanic Garden on the Isle of Wight is about five degrees higher than the rest of the UK. Many unusual and tender plants from around the world thrive here – there were even 272 different plants in bloom on New Year’s Day 2020. August stars include the Chilean lantern tree, dripping with exotic crimson flowers, fluffy white myrtle blooms and blue globes of agapanthus swaying gently in the sea breeze.
ENTRY OFFER Garden: 2 for 1 £10.50. Open all year – for full details, go to botanic.co.uk
Be a-mazed
Not far from the resort of Cromer on the North Norfolk coast, Priory Maze and Gardens offers a brilliant family day out. Horticultural highlights include a tranquil grove of Tasmanian tree ferns and the Norfolk riviera garden – a meandering, beach-like path lined with towering verbascums and other drought-resistant plants. The main event, though, is the 2m-tall maze, ideal for explorers of all ages. Little ones can also tire themselves out in the Pine Walk playground, while budding naturalists will enjoy the pond-dipping area.
ENTRY OFFER Garden: 2 for 1 £7, single reduced to £3.50. For opening details, go to priorymazegardens.co.uk
Castle in the Skye
The tall ramparts of Dunvegan Castle, on the Isle of Skye, may seem rather austere, but the gardens tell a different story. They’re a lush, sheltered oasis in a rugged moorland landscape. The walled gardens, which once supplied the castle with food, now shield a lily pond and a series of vibrant borders. The richly planted water garden offers winding paths, bridge
