Still short of things to do this summer? Here are some gardens to visit that will keep everyone amused.
1 Erddig, Wrexham, Wales (nationaltrust.org.uk/erddig)
This 1,200-acre landscaped pleasure park, designed by William Emes, features a fully restored 18th century garden with avenues of pleached limes, colourful herbaceous borders, trained fruit trees and formal hedges. It's perfect for riverside picnics, while families can explore the earthworks of a Norman motte-and-bailey castle.
2 Ralph Court Gardens, Bromyard, Herefordshire
(ralphcourtgardens.co.uk)
Adults and children will have plenty to keep them amused within the 12 different gardens set in the grounds of a gothic rectory. Highlights include an African jungle with a tree-top walkway, a pirate garden with a run-around galleon, a dragon squirting out water, an Alice in Wonderland garden and a beautiful Italian piazza.
3 Acorn Bank, Cumbria (nationaltrust.org.uk/acorn-bank)
This impressive 17th century walled garden houses the National Trust's largest collection of medicinal and culinary herbs. Featuring more than 250 varieties of herbs, plus impressive vegetable patches and orchards, the garden is a magnet for foodies and flower fans alike. Children can lose themselves in the enchanted woods, hunting for wildlife, encountering hidden doors and a hollow tree.
4. Crathes Castle and Garden, Banchory, Aberdeenshire (visitscotland.com)
Keep the kids amused with a host of activities around the castle while you take in the glorious gardens featuring massive yew hedges planted as early as 1702, and a walled garden split into eight sections, which boasts sculpted topiary, soft herbaceous borders and modern exotic blooms. Look out for buzzards, kingfishers and herons along the Coy Burn trails.
5 Lydford Gorge, Devon (nationaltrust.org.uk/lydford-gorge)
Explore the waterfalls, woodlands and wildlife of this stunning gorge, including the Whitelady waterfall which, at 90ft, is the highest in the south west of England. Visitors can view it from a new suspension bridge there. Bug hunters can try to catch damselflies and dragonflies, or may spot a brown trout swimming against the current, or a dipper, a brown bird with a white breast that dives under water and uses its wings to swim. Hear the roar of the Devil's Cauldron, a ravine filled with bubbling water, and the Tunnel Falls, a series of swirling whirlpools.
6 The Alnwick Garden, Northumberland (alnwickgarden.com)
These stunning gardens have attractions including a huge treehouse featuring wooden walkways, rope bridges and even a tree-top restaurant, a poison garden housing poisonous plants, a serpent garden with a string of water sculptures which spurt out water at unsuspecting passers by, along with a majestic grand cascade.
7 Longshaw, Derbyshire (nationaltrust.org.uk/longshaw-burbage-and-the-eastern-moors)
Head out for a day of discovery around the ancient woods and tumbling streams of Longshaw, Burbage and the Eastern Moors. There's a stream by the den building area which is just waiting to be played in. Why not try damming the brook with rocks and branches found on the water's edge? It won't be long until you look down and the stream has turned into a pond.
8 Cliveden, Buckinghamshire (nationaltrust.org.uk/cliveden)
This majestic location may have set the scene for scandal between Christine Keeler and politician John Profumo in the 1960s, but the house and gardens have retained their timeless beauty. There is plenty here for all the family including a giant yew tree maze, a storybook play den, a wild wood play trail and a calming water garden where you can have a picnic
9 Picton Castle Gardens, Pembrokeshire (pictoncastle.co.uk)
There are 40 acres of stunning gardens around this castle, featuring one of the largest jungles in the UK, a host of exotic plants, fairy doors in magical trails, a bamboo maze, tadpole-filled ponds and terrific picnic spots.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here