Stories

The laburnum arch at the National Trust’s world famous Bodnant Garden in Conwy has produced its earliest blooms for a decade, following a record amount of sunshine in April and May. The arch reached full flower on 15 May, almost a week earlier than last year and two weeks earlier than in 2010

In the fall of 2019, Royal Oak sat down with Anne and Johnny Chambers to discuss their garden in the Cotswolds, Kiftsgate Court. As the garden writer Robin Lane Fox wrote about Kiftsgate “there is nowhere else in Britain that has such a family tradition of planting and dedication.

Seeing bluebells scattered along a grassy verge or carpeting a woodland floor has to be a highlight of any spring walk

In this week’s episode we visit Croome in Worcestershire with the NT’s Alan Power, the head gardener of Stourhead in Wiltshire.

Many of the National Trust's gardens that you can admire today were transformed by Victorian plant hunters. These men and women travelled the world bringing back the beautiful plants that continue to make the gardens special to this day.

Royal Oak supporters contributed $250,000 in 2018 to the restoration of the Stowe Landscape Garden

If you’re looking for somewhere special to escape the hustle and bustle this Christmas, look no further than the National Trust. See historic houses decked out for the season in the style of centuries gone by, or stroll through frosty winter gardens covered in sparkling lights.

Although most of us tend to think of gardens in their spring and summer glory, winter gardens can be quite beautiful in their own way. Here are some NT gardens to check out this season

Capability Brown was the most talented and prolific of the artists who created the thousands of English Landscape Gardens—gardens on a scale that seem natural and irregular. Brown’s artistry often goes unnoticed as it blends so subtly into the landscape and its impact has been mostly overlooked. He is associated with more than 250 sites covering 200 square miles in total.

One of the most famous and iconically English gardens in Britain is the famed Arts & Crafts garden, Hidcote located in Gloucestershire. Designed by the American horticulturalist, Major Lawrence Johnston, Hidcote would come to influence countless gardeners both in Britain and around the world. Among its admirers were Graham Stuart Thomas, Vita Sackville-West and Norah Lindsay.