About the garden
Owned by
Imogen Stephens
Started by a local family back in 1991, Merriments Gardens grew out of a bare clay field to become four remarkable acres of creative design and striking planting. Deep, sweeping borders imaginatively designed with carefully chosen planting combine colour, form and texture to ensure that each area blends seamlessly into the next to create a satisfying and harmonious whole.
Designed to inspire visitors through the seasons, spring starts with a palette of crocus and wood anemones underplanted in the Silver Birch Glade and drifts of Camassia in the Grass Meadow, but the real highlight are the bulbs with early Narcissus giving way to swathes of tulips. Developing through the months, the hotter the weather, the more vibrant the perennials’ colours become, finally peaking in the stunning autumn hues of the many trees planted throughout the garden.
Over the last few years we have developed a productive no-dig Vegetable Garden, growing fresh seasonal ingredients for in our restaurant kitchen throughout the year. Other features include foliage borders, a system of ponds with a waterfall and streams, and an Asian-inspired area with a water feature, pond and bridge. At the bottom of the South-facing site, opening out into the surrounding countryside, is a wildlife area providing habitats and food for many species complete with bird-hide.
Under new ownership since 2017, there has been an ongoing programme of works both to restore the gardens to their former glory and introducing some new features and planting, such as our new palm area, the fernery and our seasonal tropical beds. In 2023 we redeveloped the old Formal Garden into a Herbalist Garden. Specialising in growing unusual perennials in our own nursery, much of the planting seen in the gardens is propagated and grown on site and is available to purchase in the retail plant centre.
