Visiting the garden at Knightshayes

Icy view over the pool garden in winter — Winter pool garden | © National Trust/Trevor Ray Hart

Lose yourself in the garden at Knightshayes, home to one of the most extensive plant collections to be found in the care of the National Trust. With a walled kitchen garden, terraces, Paved Garden and the Garden in the Wood, there is plenty to see all year round.

Knightshayes' formal and woodland garden

The formal and woodland garden is divided into eight separate areas. These become less structured and more informal as you move further from the house.

Head to the formal garden for views across the parkland, and look out from the raised terraces in the kitchen garden across the vegetable beds to the trees that surround it.

Autumn in the garden

The magical misty mornings and crisp, clear days of autumn are an ideal time to enjoy the wonderful succession of changing colours at Knightshayes. In September, the landscape begins to change with the first Acers and Katsura trees starting to turn red and brown. From mid septemer - November, the garden becomes a sea of oranges and reds. Visit throughout these three months to experience all that Autumn has to offer at Knightshayes.

Changing colours

Rustle your way through autumn leaves and enjoy the gorgeous golds and yellows of the trees in the Formal Garden. Head deeper into the garden to find delicate acer trees, their leaves a riot of colour.

Take a seat on the bench overlooking the Pool Garden to see glimpses of the wider landscape in the distance, framed by the golden leaves of the garden trees. Rich ruby and russet creepers clad the walls of the stables, from where you can start your walk into the wider estate.

Autumn wildlife

The ubiquitous grey squirrel will be gorging on and hoarding acorns and hazelnuts, while birds such as goldfinch and bullfinch will be stripping our bulging hedgerows of berries and fruit in preparation for winter.

Other birds are on the move with swallows and martins departing south and thrushes and redwings arriving from the north and east. You might also catch site of the flying v of migrating geese or a mini murmuration of starlings heading to the marshes of the Somerset levels to roost for the night. If you're lucky, you might see the local red deer if they aren’t too distracted with the autumn rut.

Fungi spotting

Take a stroll around Knightshayes this autumn and you are bound to spot some interesting fungi. The best places to spot fungi is in the parkland and several types of trees will have various kinds of fungus.

Waxcaps will begin to show above ground in the grass between the house and stables including the aptly named ballerina waxcap with its pink, tutu like cap.

Out in the parkland you'll see many varieties of fungus that specialise on growing in old trees and deadwood including the cauliflower porcelain and artists fungus.

Something a little different

Keep your nose ready for the scent of candyfloss and cooked toffee as you pass the entrance to the walled garden, especially on a dry day.

View of a garden with stone bench and paved path surrounded by plants in autumnal colours — Autumn colour in the Paved Garden at Knightshayes | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

The terraces

With far-reaching views across the parkland towards Tiverton and the Heathcoat factory, the view is framed by a Cedar of Lebanon, which grows on the site of the earlier house's kitchen garden.

Originally planted as a rose garden, all that remains of this 19th-century scheme is the formal paving and traces of the old beds in the grass.

Now you can see deep herbaceous borders, yew hedges enclosing trefoil-shaped beds and a planting scheme of soft colours, beloved by Lady Heathcoat Amory.

The Paved Garden

The Paved Garden is a more intimate garden, full of soft purples and greys during the spring and summer months. Stop for a while and relax on a bench or enjoy the collection of herbs and colourful bulbs growing in the flower beds during the warmer months.

The Garden in the Wood

A diverse mix of dark and intimate trails, leading to spacious sunlit glades. Take in views over the garden or rest in the Cedar House, built to celebrate the completion of the garden. This area of the garden is at its best in the spring and autumn.

Two people in an arboretum during autumn. — Autumn arboretum | © National Trust/Chris Lacey

The arboretum

Take a walk around the arboretum, full of impressive mature oak and towering conifers providing height and grandeur. Look out for the sequoia trees which can grow to become some of the tallest in the world. The arboretum is also home to the bulb meadow, which flowers between March and June.

Knightshayes' South Garden

Relax in the open and sunlit South Garden, full of exotic trees including Japanese cherries. Take in the sweeping views of Knightshayes framed by a lawn full of colourful wild flowers in summer. This part of the garden is best visited during summer and spring.

Knightshayes' kitchen garden

The one-hectare (2.5-acre) walled kitchen garden, complete with fairy-tale turrets, is home to a vast collection of crops. These are now almost extinct, including 102 varieties of heritage tomatoes.

Whichever month you visit the kitchen garden there’s always plenty to see, from an abundance of rhubarb to plentiful pumpkins for Halloween.

Using the garden's produce

Unusually for a restored garden, all the produce grown at Knightshayes is harvested and used. Despite its ornamental presentation, it’s a working kitchen garden.

The exterior of the house at Knightshayes with the garden in front

Discover more at Knightshayes

Find out when Knightshayes is open, how to get here, the things to see and do and more.

Plan your visit

Woman carrying rainbow chard harvest at Knightshayes

Article

Our work in the garden at Knightshayes

The walled kitchen garden, home to a vast collection of crops, is a gardener’s delight. Find out about the work the team does to care for it, and the other areas of the garden.

The library at Knightshayes with bookshelves wrapping round the walls, gold wallpaper and sofas.

Article

Things to see and do inside Knightshayes house

Discover the ground floor of house at National Trust’s Knightshayes. See the details behind architect William Burges's gothic façade and a portrait that may be by Rembrandt. From Monday 15 April the first floor of the house will also reopen for a peek into the private spaces of the Heathcoat-Amory family.