Hampton Court Castle Gardens- An Enchanted Spring Visit

 Hampton Court Castle Gardens

A Spring Visit

The last time I visited this beautiful garden was quite a few years ago and in the height of summer when the deep borders that wrap their way around every part of the garden are over-flowing with perennial plant beauty. Filled to the brim with colour in the walled gardens, a plentiful display of glorious blooms which are a joy to see.

My family and I decided to make a spring visit to see how the garden looks in the build-up to it's summer time beauty. We were not disappointed, the spring time formal gardens and surrounding open parkland were just as charming as the summer displays we had enjoyed previously.

I'll walk you through our sunny, spring time visit

 Ornamental Kitchen Gardens

 Lottie Newitt ©

The kitchen garden is the entrance to the rest of the beautiful gardens here, and why not indeed, lets start with our tastebuds! A great start to any garden I think!

Beautiful collection of well looked after glass houses in full working order, filled with ornamentals and tender edibles, tucked away in the top corner against the walls but with plenty of light flooding in. One glasshouse had mature vines growing which I love to see.

Moving from the entrance, the beautiful walls of the kitchen garden guide you around the perimeter, passing borders filled with herbs, the last of the winter edibles, a few new veggie plantings and some lovely seasonal colour in tulips.

There are almost aisle-like walkways which guide you to the middle and around the garden, running along the vegetable beds. The 'aisles' are made up of espalier fruit trees which at the moment are bursting into pretty blossom where the honey bees were very much enjoying some nectar foraging.

 Lottie Newitt ©

I loved how jam-packed the beds were considering the time of year and the size of the place! I know how difficult it can be to keep on top of these large gardens, especially kitchen gardens however they were emaculate and looked so lush. We met a couple of the gardening team members during our journey around, they were really lovely and I could tell that they loved every minute of it.

Beautiful clumps of Golden Marjoram, lush chives and all different types of Artichoke were planted in clumps, repeatedly around the edible beds which gave consistency.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Walking around each bed is a joy, the aromas from herbs as you walk past, the pretty blossoms buzzing with pollinators and the mix of edible beds surrounded and mixed with ornamentals grown for cutting was just lovely and surprising. The aisles as I mentioned earlier not only guide and entice you, but they also open up vistas and invitations to see what's on the other side of these walls. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

The tulips in the more ornamental borders, again most likely for cutting, were an absolute stunning mix of jewel colours that popped right across from the other side of the garden. The bees were very much enjoying these beauties and so were we. Back-planted by grasses, which later became an obvious repeater plant to tie all the gardens together, and also surrounded by elephant garlic which was in the edible beds too, opposite this grand display of tulips. The combination of super wafty leafy greens and deep colour tones was striking.

 Lottie Newitt ©

There were old, large terracotta pots dotted around the top end wall, with more tender varieties planted obviously making them more mobile when the winter comes, no doubt being moved to the glasshouses before the cold sets in. These pots add interest but also provide more cut flower and fragrant foliage options to the garden. The pelargonium were flowering away as if it were mid-summer, their lovely foliage releasing it's distinctive fragrance when brushed against and pretty powder pink blooms looking elegant and feminine.

 Lottie Newitt ©

I found this beauty hidden in a corner under a lovely Cornus tree, the beautiful violet-blue popping blooms took my eye. I love Anemone, a wonderful spring bloomer which always has the most perfect petals & flower formation, another ideal cutting flower for spring too.

A clever design for a practical gardening space with lots of hidden intrigue including a lovely section where a stone pebble spiral had been artistically placed, highlighting more herb planting that works around and with the spiralling design.

 Lottie Newitt ©

 As we almost finish the full circuit of the glorious Kitchen Garden we stumble across a little meadow & mini orchard currently filled with sunshine yellow Cowslip and lots of emerging wild flowers. Beautiful blossom trees of apple and cherry add height. The cherry is in full swing, attracting lots of pollinators and dangling her pretty blooms just low enough for us to look closely and enjoy the very subtle and sweet scent.

 Lottie Newitt ©

There was an interesting sculpture at the beginning of the mini orchard & meadow, surrounded with woven willow. Very interesting contrast for the Ornamental Kitchen Garden

 Lottie Newitt ©

The South Gardens

We are taken through the walls of the Ornamental Kitchen Garden and lead, by the pathways, in to the South Gardens which are made up of a myriad of various sections. We take a veer to the right which brings us through pleached limes leading us into an asymmetric design of triangular lawns, each with a blossom tree planted in the centre of each triangle. The four triangles make up a box surrounded by deep herbaceous flower beds that follow the same wall of the Ornamental Kitchen Garden. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

Mini vistas are created with pathways running by each triangle, creating focal points to one of the island pavilions and then another focal point to the repeated asymmetric lawn & blossom tree design the next pathway along. A fun and again intriguing design which just makes you want to explore in all sorts of different directions.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Even though the blooms aren't in full flow, the growth of the herbaceous flower borders are certainly in full swing. Huge clumps of Allium varieties which are repeated all the way through the South Gardens add a lush green and interesting strappy foliage. I also notice the use of dark leaf shrub varieties throughout the South Gardens which adds a depth and back tone, superbly offsetting all the fresh greens emerging and popping in the spring right now. Fagus sylvatica purpurea is used for height and depth and further around the other side I notice the use of Sambucas 'Black Lace' and 'Black Beauty'. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

Spring flowering shrubs that tower over the clumps of herbaceous planting add depth and height while some giving a little colour now including Ribes with it's dangly-earing-like pink blooms covering it's mature growth and the pure white blooms of Exhocondra 'The Bride' with tall yet weeping growth and spring-green foliage. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

We see ornamental grasses, Miscanthus being a common variety, again dotted throughout the South Gardens and remembering that we saw them earlier in the Ornamental Kitchen Garden too which somehow makes you feel safe. A weird description, but when plants are carried through a whole garden, especially a design with many areas and sections, it provides a flow, a reassurance that everything is all linked together and you can happily wonder around relaxed, knowing there is something familiar and comfortable about the journey that is taken through this garden design as well as the exciting intrigue it provides in other ways such as the many vista's and hidden gems it holds.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Now, a little sneaky access here... not lead by a focal point or vista but as we walk from the asymmetric blossom area and past the deep herbaceous flower borders, hidden behind the mature, blooming spring shrubs is a sort of tucked away entrance into the next area of the South Gardens. Well it feels like another area, but in fact we have circled around the the other side of the island pavilion we saw through the first vista of the triangular lawn designs earlier.

This sneaky entrance brings us to a lovely bubbling water feature that then runs down a staged rill leading your eye clearly towards the first pavilion. Neatly clipped yew hedges and gravel pathways run either side of this water along with large pots of Agapanthus which will look stunning in the summer.

 Lottie Newitt ©

This layout is repeated on the other side of the garden too and in both areas there are sculptures tucked next to the Yew hedge, allowing for a focal point from another perspective. Again this garden is full of surprise, with not just one main focal piece but many of all sizes and details thoughtfully designed or placed throughout the gardens constantly feeding the eye with new exciting things to see. 

As we head out of the right side of the South Gardens, we look back up towards the direction of the walls that separate the Ornamental Kitchen Garden and the South Gardens to enjoy a beautiful main walkway lined with pleached lime trees. We turn back on ourselves to then head through the gate leading under the Wisteria Arch.

We visit the second half of the South Gardens later...

 Lottie Newitt ©

The Wisteria Arch

Just before we carry on through, I have to say I absolutely adore the signage the team have made here, it's beautifully artistic and a joy to follow! You can see one of the beautiful signs in the background of my photo below. 

We pass gorgeous Whitebells as we head through the gate and towards the Wisteria arch, elegant and striking especially against all the arising foliage of herbaceous plants behind them.

 Lottie Newitt ©

The Wisteria is just beginning to pop, in a week or so it will look glorious! (note to self, come a little later next year to see it!)

The archway, which is a mass of interlocking stems and budded flower heads, leads through to the long, deep herbaceous borders. The Wisteria arch runs through the middle of the long borders, splitting this part of the garden into two and again creating different view points up each way of the borders.

 Lottie Newitt ©

I love the colour scheme in this part of the South Gardens, I remember in the summer seeing the mass of blue, yellow and white blooms and this is carried through in the spring planting too. Bright sunshine yellow tulips are the main hit of colour here, keeping the planting scheme alive through the spring providing a taster of what's to come later in the summer. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

 Lottie Newitt ©

One side is walled from the South Gardens, the other is lined with another Yew hedge, again providing consistency to match and flow with what we saw earlier and I think this helps soften the design of the long herbaceous borders as this then guides us out of the formal gardens and towards the vast South Lawns.

 Lottie Newitt ©

The view is glorious as we walk out into the more open part of the estate, meadows filled with buttercups, dandelions and grazing cattle with woodlands in the distance wrap themselves around the South Lawns creating a calming countryside duvet that the Castle and it's grounds sink into from this view.

The Sunken Garden, Maze & Gothic Tower

 Lottie Newitt ©

I am a real sucker for water in the garden, especially naturalised designs surrounded by serenne greens, depth & thick foliages that create calm and quiet so that all that's left to hear are the natural soft tones of water falling and lapping.

The playful design of these stepping-stone steps that bring you down into the sunken garden are very special, making me feel like a giant wondering in a fairyland. 

Moss & algae have pulled the stone work into the ground and the water rides down and around each playful step.

The sunken garden drops right down compared to the rest of the grounds, as you walk further down to the pond, trees cover you and plants such as ferns and fatsia swallow you down into the depths.

 Lottie Newitt ©

The gorgeous trees allow dappled light through to the Sunken Garden, underplanted with various ferns, Pulmonaria varieties and very mature Skimmia which smell divine at the moment. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

As we walk towards the pond we are greeted by more sounds of water, this time a little more forceful in a fast flowing, sharp dropping water fall surrounded by moss-clad built up large stone. Water buttercups grace the pond and crevices of these rocky stones adding flashes of bright yellow amongst all the natural tones along with super tall Iris foliage swords in the corners of the pond.

 Lottie Newitt ©

I really love how the pathway brings you full circle around the pond, providing so many different views of the Sunken Garden always finding something new to look whether an interesting plant, scent or playful water element.

 Lottie Newitt ©

As we continue the full circuit of the Sunken Garden, we walk up a slight incline which leads to a timber structure, elegant and tall crowning the top of the pond, framing the view of the large expanse of water and tree canopy from one angle, framing the beautiful sharp water fall from another and acting as an entrance into the dark, secret tunnel leading to the Gothic Tower.

 Lottie Newitt ©

The waterfall really is stunning, gorgeous rush of water flowing and cascading a contrast to the gentle bubble and fall of water from where we entered the Sunken Garden.

 Lottie Newitt ©

I just love the continual hidden gems and fun with this garden, if you look closely you can carefully creep through a passage to be able to stand behind the water fall. It is very slippy so I would suggest not to do this, however of it's time, what fun this would be!

 Lottie Newitt ©

And from here, we put our phone torches on and take a walk through the dark & cold secret tunnel that takes us up into the Gothic Tower also leading to the Maze. There are two levels above, one brings you directly out into the Maze, the top provides a wonderful full view of the grounds.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Lovely to see the Ornamental Kitchen Garden from this height, really showing off all the huge espalier fruit trees and different beds from a birds eye view.

 Lottie Newitt ©

The South Lawns & The Castle

Heading back through the dark tunnel and out behind the hidden waterfall passage, we find ourselves back to the South Lawns taking in the breadth and beauty of the surrounding countryside.

 Lottie Newitt ©

We turn back into the main formal gardens to take a look at The Dutch Garden. Tucked behind Yew hedging, the clear & reflective water draws us in.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Beautifully formal planting with low topiary of Buxus hedge creating knot-garden like designs running up each side of the garden with large Portugal laurel lollipops planted in the centre of each piece, large column of Yew towers between each knotted Buxus section and brightly coloured tulips provide spring blooms in each knot. Hard landscaped paving provides a level and clean cut surface that surrounds a long, rectangular pond.

 Lottie Newitt ©

More pots of Agapanthus are placed lining the edge of the water, pulling the eye down to the little Art's and Craft's building at the end of the garden, a lovely shelter to stop and stare into the bright ocean tones of the still water. In the late 1800's it is presumed that this was a pavilion for a tennis court which existed prior to the Dutch Garden- this is mentioned in the guide book we purchased.

 Lottie Newitt ©

 Lottie Newitt ©

After a nice quiet reflection in this calming garden, we head back out again towards the South Lawns turning left to fully view the Castle in all it's glory.

 Lottie Newitt ©

A gorgeous building, full of architectural interest and intricate details, a powerful and impressive building. A home to be shown off in it's day no doubt, now used for weddings and functions, what a place for such special occasions.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Many climbing plants adorn the sides of this glorious building, Parthenocissus adds a softening tone with its wide leaves and super green foliage while the scent of Wisteria entices the nose from another corner and adds beauty in the spring as it begins to open. Further around the castle we find a Clematis Montana fully loaded with pink blooms standing bright against it's deep purple-green leaves. A Creeping Rose is starting to come to life too, in fact some of it's tiny sunshine yellow, pom-pom like mini blooms have started to open already. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

 Lottie Newitt ©

There is a lovely Orangery adjoining the castle too, the design and structure is breathtaking. Currently serving as a cafe which of course we had to make a pit stop! Very yummy gluten free rolls available and a good Cappuccino too.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Running in front of the Orangery cafe and also to the far side of the Castle are Acer trees which have been trimmed and shaped into balls. I love the way the Acer trees look as topiary, something different and seasonally interesting most of the year too.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Following our very tasty sustenance break, we finish up our visit by going back to the South Gardens to complete the full loop that we started earlier and to see the second island pavilion and all that surrounds it.

 Lottie Newitt ©

The pavilions match and add symmetry to the garden, however the spaces that surround them at the far sides of each one are very different. Remembering that the first we walked through earlier had triangular lawns with blossom trees in the centre of each corner, surrounded by walled deep herbaceous flower borders and seasonal shrubs. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

This time we walked up the pleached lime tree lined central walkway and came through the neatly clipped box parterre to then enter the second pavilion. The view from one pavilion to the other is above, showing the symmetry here and how the water connects each to one another in style. 

The pavilions are both moated.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Once in the pavilions there is something to see whichever side you are standing, particularly from this second island pavilion as there is a larger, stepped canal-like feature which runs through and to the building.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Also looking back towards the yew hedge and gravel path lined water rill which mirrors the first pavilion we walked around earlier, it provides a different perspective to this element. Looking up the rill  and the topiary with seating rather than focusing on the bubble of water at the top.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Inside the pavilion the materials used and design itself is beautiful to look at, the ceiling creates a very interesting pattern as all the timers meet in the centre.

 Lottie Newitt ©

Walking back on ourselves we then make our way to the Rose Garden corner of the South Gardens, the last little piece of the puzzle to complete.

Lovely Archways create romantic walkways through the again, asymmetric layout and design of the rose garden (which ties in with the other side of the garden, to the far wall of the other pavilion). Neatly clipped low box hedging frames each triangular bed, making a formal base for an informal planting scheme.

I know I am constantly reminding us of what we saw earlier and how it all links however I just love the way this garden ties itself together in mystery, fun and playfulness yet adding consistency which carries you through your complete journey of the whole garden, that familiarity brings a welcoming feel.

 Lottie Newitt ©

The beauty of just finishing Magnolia and new bloom scents of lilacs can be found in the corners of the Rose Garden, providing a spring warm-up act for the glorious stars of the show to follow in the summer.

 Lottie Newitt ©

 Lottie Newitt ©

Coming out from under the climbing rose covered walkways, towards the centre and facing the vista that opens up to the pavilion, framed with more Yew in column form to focus the eye is another water feature, this time high up in an urn style pot bubbling away. I can imagine in a few weeks once the roses start to bloom and the underplanting of more alliums, Heuchera and other lovely summer flowering perennials pop how wonderful it would be to sit here, taking in all the scents and the beauty during a sunny summer's day with the cooling and relaxing sounds of all the water surrounding you, starting with the bubble of the urn. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

As we round up back to the entrance of the gardens we pass more lovely, jewel-like Tulips that complete our tour. 

 Lottie Newitt ©

I noticed throughout our walk around the gardens that there are multiple leaf mould and composting stations setup. I love this idea for ease and that clearly no opportunity to recycle waste material into compost is clearly not missed.

 Lottie Newitt ©

And this concludes our visit to the most wonderful and one of my very favourite gardens to visit.

Hampton Court Castle and Gardens is a joy, as shown even at this time of the year when really the growing and blooming season have only just about kicked off. 

A wonderful day out in the middle of the idyllic Herefordshire countryside. 

There are a couple of walks that run along the river too if time allows.

I hope you enjoyed my virtual summary & tour, please take a look at my other garden visits which can be found by clicking on the tabs at the left of this blog.

Happy Gardening

Lottie x