West Green House Garden

West Green House Garden is a series of walled gardens around an 18th-century house, owned by the National Trust but run privately by the gardener Marylyn Abbott, who has added follies to the Georgian bones, including a grand water staircase leading to a Nymphaeum fountain designed by Quinlan Terry. Beside the house a small topiary garden has water lilies in sunken tanks and an aviary of unusual bantams and chickens; beyond lie a Persian water garden, a restored lake and mass plantings of snowdrops, daffodils and fritillaries. The garden also hosts a summer opera season. Reviewers describe it as small, an hour or so at a gentle pace, but well kept, with a good tea-room, a gift shop and plant sales, and mostly level paths. Tips from regulars: parking is charged even for members, pre-booking is advised at busy times, and dogs are not allowed in the formal gardens.