The garden at Polesden Lacey

Published:: 09 December 2024

A path lined with yellow flowers and bare trees. — Winter garden at Polesden Lacey | © Hannah Simion Malmcrona

The garden at Polesden Lacey has something to offer in every season. Take in the views over Ranmore Common from the South Lawn, indulge in the peace and quiet in the Old Kitchen Garden and Upper Sunken Garden. Or admire the seasonal colour of the Winter Garden and follow the Christmas children's trail through the garden and grounds.

Winter highlights in the garden

Polesden Lacey is a beautiful place to be during the winter months. Wrap up warm and enjoy the changing landscapes as the trees display intricate patterns in their bare branches, and crisp winter mornings reveal beautiful swathes of frost across the landscape and lawns. Winter flowering species can also be seen around the garden and grounds, including hellebores starting to reveal their blooms in early December and snowdrops showing their pretty faces from January. The wider estate takes in 200 acres of ancient woodland, offering breathtaking views and invigorating walking routes.

Winter Garden

One of Polesden Lacey’s hidden gems at this time of year is the Winter Garden. Created by renowned plantsman and garden designer, Graham Stuart Thomas; it is focussed around three magnificent Persian ironwoods (Parrotica persica). A golden carpet of winter aconites sits below them, with other seasonal colour provided by snowdrops, hellebores, viburnum and Mahonia Japonica.

Snowdrops with the house in the distance at Polesden Lacey, Surrey — Snowdrops at Polesden Lacey | © National Trust Images/Mark Wigmore

A garden to enjoy in every season

Rose Garden: The branches of the many rose plants in the Edwardian walled Rose Garden are still attractive set against a wintery backdrop, while woody salvias put on a beautiful display into the winter months. We have been working to improve the soil health in this area and have replaced aging and struggling rose plants in some of the beds as we strive to turn Polesden Lacey’s Rose Garden into a true showstopper for 2025 and beyond. There are plans to replace the pergola, which is starting to show its age. We will do this in phases across several years to protect the roses and ensure the pergola continues to support its glorious display for visitors to enjoy.
Formal garden rooms: To the west of the Rose Garden, you’ll find three seasonal garden rooms. These are currently hooped off and closed to visitors until the spring to protect the grass, but you can still stand and have a peek inside. The Iris Garden, Peony Borders and Lavender Garden provide stunning displays from April through to the beginning of autumn. We have worked hard to restore the condition of these key areas of the garden, including forking grit into the soil to try and improve drainage.
Vegetable Garden: The Vegetable Garden provides produce for the Polesden Café kitchens all year round, from peas to potatoes and raspberries to rhubarb. Our veg team also tends to the cold frames, herb bed and recently introduced fruit cage, which was designed to mirror the outline of the nearby Gardener’s Cottage. Over the winter, you can see fine examples of rosemary, oregano and broad-leaved thyme growing in this area. We have some exciting plans to renovate this area in the coming years with fencing, cold frames and paths all due for replacement.
Herbaceous borders: Polesden Lacey's garden is home to one of the finest double herbaceous borders in England, featuring perennials, such as helenium, day lilies, rudbeckia and red-hot pokers. Although these plants do not flower in the winter months, their expansive foliage and tall stems still look striking along the long dual borders next to the path. We don’t use herbicides or pesticides in our gardening, as we look to support nature. We do our best to keep out the weeds, smothering them with mulch as much as possible. We also water only new or tender plants and will continue to adjust the herbaceous border planting scheme to support this.
Preserve Copse: Preserve Copse is a rare piece of ancient woodland set within our gardens and is also home to plantings of rhododendron, magnolia and Japanese maple. In the south-east corner, you'll also find our bird hide and the resident peahen. It won’t be long until early spring, when the woodland becomes the go-to place for swathes of bluebells and wild garlic as you follow the winding path to the north of the Copse.
House borders: There are borders on all sides of the house. Due to a recent major house render renovation project, we had to remove some of the plants from the borders at the front of the house. The original climbing wires were failing in a number of places and some of the climbers were overgrown and not in the best health. The delicate wisteria and vibrant orange pyracantha remain, as these were both planted during Margaret Greville’s time. You can expect to see them return to their full glory in a couple of years’ time. In the meantime, our garden team are working on a new planting scheme to incorporate a variety of striking plants that will be in bloom throughout the year no matter what month you visit Polesden Lacey. There are also plans to start restoring the South Terrace house border in 2025 to return the bed to the original colour scheme. You’ll have to pay us a visit to find out which, but by incorporating a mixture of shrubs, climbers, perennials and bulbs it is bound to be a dazzling display, of which Margaret Greville would be proud.
The Long Walk: The only formal element of the garden to the east of the house, and probably the most historic part of the garden, this 450m-long terrace has stunning views across swathes of SSSI chalk grassland and on to Ranmore Common and the estate. It is flanked by the atmospheric, shaded Nun’s Walk to the north and connects with the Pinetum to the west. This area is closed to visitors until the spring, which is enabling our gardening teams to work on restoring the ancient yew hedges on either side, removing bindweed and brambles and creating accessible viewpoints for everyone to enjoy.
Croquet Lawns: Polesden Lacey has always been a place for recreation and play. The tennis court and golf course of its Edwardian heyday have now been replaced with four neatly manicured croquet lawn pitches. Mostly used by local clubs, they are available to hire at certain times of the year – please ask about upcoming availability at visitor reception.
The Ladies Garden: The final resting place for Margaret Greville, this area was her favourite place to sit during her time here. Fittingly, we've planted a curtain of Rosa ‘Margaret Greville’ in front of her grave, alongside a collection of complementary plants such as penstemon, nepeta, geranium and purple asters. Together with pink rose petals, these flowers were used to line her grave when she was buried. A couple of years ago, a large group of staff and volunteers planted 70,000 autumn and spring flowering crocuses, which will be a remarkable sight, come the spring.
Dog Graves: Although she had no children, Margaret Greville had plenty of dogs while at Polesden Lacey and all 17 are buried here, surrounded by a calming white planting scheme. A wheelchair- and buggy-accessible path runs past this contemplative spot, linking Lime Walk with the West Lawn.

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