Things to do in the garden at The Vyne

Autumn in the garden

Hundreds of brightly coloured dahlias, swelling orange pumpkins, and a fruit orchard ready for harvesting are just some of the delights to look out for in the garden this season.

• Walled garden: this part of the garden with its elegant high brick walls is a rainbow of colour in autumn. The 30m dahlia border is a spectacular sight, packed with incredible colours and shapes. Particularly striking is red and yellow dahlia Pooh, known as a ‘collarette’ because it has a ‘collar’ of shorter petals in a contrasting colour at its centre. There are apricot pompons, candy pink cactus blooms, and rich red 'dinnerplates' the size of your hand, to mention just a few. If you time it right, you’ll find bunches of freshly cut dahlias for sale just outside the walled garden.
• Orchard: nothing smells more autumnal than a fruit orchard. At The Vyne, heritage apples, pears, mulberries and plums are reaching their peak in the orchard just outside the walled garden. It’s a peaceful place to stroll and it’s full of butterflies and bees enjoying a late nectar source. The fruit is now being harvested with help from our volunteers, and you can purchase bags of fresh apples at our visitor kiosk. Fancy a juicy Beauty of Hampshire or Coeur de Boeuf?
• Summerhouse garden: a palette of pinks and purples populate the central flowerbeds in the summer months, featuring Echinacea, Phlox and Clematis among others. Each bed forms a Grecian cross to reflect the floorplan of the 17th-century summerhouse.
• Wild garden: marking the transition between garden and countryside, the wild garden is a haven for wildlife with its tall grasses.

The walled garden

Dating back to the 18th century, the walled garden houses a variety of fruit and vegetables as well as a dahlia border. An ambitious restoration programme restored the glasshouse and the fruit and vegetable beds to their former glory.

The summerhouse

Possibly the earliest domed garden building in England, the summerhouse dates from around 1635 and has been used as a banqueting house and a dovecote. Designed by John Webb and built in the shape of a Greek cross, it is one of two originally built.

Today, the remaining summerhouse is the focus of the formal garden with beds which reflect the shape of the structure itself. The bedding plants are chosen to complement the shades of the summerhouse during the seasons and the garden is enclosed by a yew hedge.

Hundred Guinea Oak

Frail but still standing, the Hundred Guinea Oak is now over 600 years old. William John Chute, who owned The Vyne in the late Georgian period, was offered £100 and later 100 guineas for the timber.

He flatly refused to sell the oak, which you can see for yourself at the top of the Lime Avenue.

Wild garden

Here, the informal layout gives the impression of a natural landscape that has emerged all by itself. Laden with seasonal colour, trees gently arc over the main path at intervals while the paths mown through the long grass bring you to the lakeside where you can spot waterfowl gliding across the lake.

Family activities in the garden

There are plenty of self-led trails around the estate for families to enjoy. Unfortunately ball games, frisbees, bikes, scooters and drones are not allowed on the estate. This is to prevent further damage to the house and grounds.