The Isle of Wight has long been referred to as the Garden Isle in recognition of its stunning landscape and quintessentially English countryside.
It’s not quite ‘the land that time forgot’ but time has been kind here, preserving the rolling fields, downlands, forests and coasts from too much urbanisation. Landscapes have been weaved by the wand of celebrated landscape architect, Capability Brown and remain almost untouched.
There is a true feeling of wide open space and, thanks to our warmer-than-average temperatures (the Island has been crowned the sunniest place in the UK several times), a wide variety of flora and tropical plants thrive here when they wouldn’t survive elsewhere in the UK.
Make the most of the warm, sunny days here on the Island and explore the best that the Garden Isle has to offer…
No trip to the Island is complete without a visit to Ventnor Botanic Garden. Lying in the remarkable microclimate at the heart of the famous Undercliff, the garden is uniquely protected from the cold northerly winds by chalk downs and holds the warmth from its southerly aspect. Coupled with an average rainfall of just 28 inches, its climate is more akin to the Mediterranean, therefore it is unrivalled in its collections of subtropical plants grown outdoors.
The garden is split into geographical locations creating an immersive experience where you can be transported to landscapes from around the world including the New Zealand Garden, South African Terrace and Japanese Gardens. Species are planted in communities similar to their native, wild environments and there’s an array of succulents and cacti, sun-loving herbs, giant echiums, vibrant bedding plants and mature palm trees to see. You will also find a large play area, a popular restaurant serving produce grown in the garden, a café offering up delicious cakes and a piazza selling plants and seeds from the garden including echiums, colourful lampranthus, new canna cultivars and the garden’s very own sky blue hybrid agapanthus.
Farringford, the former home of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, has undergone a well-documented restoration project which has, very recently, extended to the grounds. The garden is now almost returned to its Tennyson-era appearance which he once described as “a careless-ordered garden, close to the ridge of a noble down”.
As well as flowers, fruit and vegetables are grown in keeping with the practical use of the garden which would have provided food for family meals. Apple and quince trees have been planted, accompanied by a working greenhouse cultivating traditional shrubs and flowers. The colourful planting scheme is based on the many descriptions of the garden provided in Emily Tennyson’s journal and on the striking watercolours painted by family friend Helen Allingham. In the garden, you will also find a sundial crafted for the Tennyson family by the sculptress Mary Seton Watts, wife of the celebrated Victorian painter and close family friend, George Frederic Watts.
You can also enjoy a walk around the extensive grounds taking in beautiful views of both the house and Freshwater Bay, plus the historic parkland which is grazed by cattle and sheep.
Perhaps the most famous landscape architect, Capability Brown, played an instrumental role in shaping the grounds at Appuldurcombe House. This masterpiece of English baroque architecture began life in the early 18th century as the seat of the Worsley family and was once the grandest property on the Isle of Wight. There are 11 acres of grounds to explore, created by the pre-eminent English landscape designer and devised to stand within a bowl formed by the downs to emphasise the grandeur of the house. In 1779, Brown added new parkland plantations, designed views, a serpentine drive and planting which exploited the dramatic topography of the downland setting.
The house and grounds are now managed by English Heritage and are free to enter – it’s the perfect place for a picnic.
Run by the National Trust, Mottistone Gardens are set in a sheltered valley with shrub-filled banks, hidden pathways and colourful herbaceous borders. Created from an abandoned farmyard and surrounding an attractive Elizabethan manor house, these 20th century gardens experiment with a Mediterranean-style planting scheme to take advantage of its warm, southerly location. You will find an organic kitchen garden full of seasonal fruit and veg, a traditional tea garden, rose garden and a young olive grove establishing on the higher banks.
The wider Mottistone Estate is a landscape shaped over thousands of years. Follow the network of footpaths that criss-cross the area and you’ll travel back in time past Bronze Age barrows along to the Neolithic Longstone.
Both Osborne and Carisbrooke Castle are well worth a visit during the summer months when the gardens are in full bloom. The Princess Beatrice Garden at Carisbrooke Castle, by award-winning Chris Beardshaw, was created in 2009 within the former ‘privy’ gardens of Queen Victoria’s daughter. The garden is full of charming period features, from the formal hedges surrounding the fountain to the colourful herbaceous borders, chosen to echo Princess Beatrice’s blue, red and gold heraldic crest.
Osborne’s gardens were where the royal couple, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert spent much of their private time. Here they took walks together, grew vegetables with their children, and planted hundreds of trees. Visit the walled garden with its acre of flowers for cutting and training fruit using various historical methods.
For a garden with an oriental touch, Robin Hill Country Park is the ideal spot. The park has 88 acres of beautiful English woodland that has grown at Combley for hundreds of years. Here you will find a range of specimen trees, streams, ponds and sculptures. Over 100 years ago, the woodland had been planted with an array of unusual plants and trees and was used as a private woodland garden.
Today, you will see species from that era that would never normally be seen growing in an English woodland, such as giant redwood from North America or eucalyptus from the Southern hemisphere. Explore the beautiful woodland ponds with Chinese-style bridges and tumbling waterfalls. An interesting selection of sculptures and woodland features can be seen along the paths, which showcase different works from some of the Island’s most talented artists. One of the most stunning features is the record-breaking tree sculpture standing at a whopping 57ft.
For a true ‘England in miniature’ The Model Village in Godshill is a must-visit. An RHS Partner Garden, it is set in two acres of artistically landscaped gardens, home to a number of unusual ornamental trees and shrubs. The conifer and shrub collection totals over 3,000 specimens, many of which have been carefully pruned using the niwaki (Japanese descriptive word for highly “sculpting trees”) approach. In keeping with the Japanese tradition, The Model Village has concentrated on using a particular range of trees and sculpting them individually to maximum effect. This is all created by just one full-time gardener and creates a totally unexpected atmosphere to this popular attraction.
