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With autumn well underway and the leaves turning, a stroll in the sunshine offers the perfect opportunity to take in the season’s rich palette.
With that in mind, here are some of the top gardens you need to visit if you want to admire the vibrant colours of autumn.
1. Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery, South Derbyshire
Fans of Japanese maples should look no further than this RHS partner garden featuring a collection of more than 70 of these beautiful trees, as well as a range of katsura trees, American red oaks and five varieties of Parrotia persica (Persian ironwood) within its arboretum and nine acres of woodland garden.
2. Castle Howard Arboretum, North Yorkshire
This is one of North Yorkshire’s most spectacular spots for autumn colour, with 120 acres of woodland showcasing bronze oaks, golden beeches, and fiery red Japanese maples from October through to early November. Home to more than 7,000 trees from around the world, the arboretum also offers visitors the chance to spot red squirrels as part of one of the UK’s most successful conservation programmes. There’s also a programme of autumn events including fungi foraging walks, a family-friendly fungi festival and an artists and makers fair.
3. Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest, Kent
(Open daily and for the National Garden Scheme on Tueday, October 20)
Enjoy a world-leading collection of conifers and more than 12,000 specimen trees in this hugely impressive pinetum and forest, managed by Forestry England, which spans 350 acres of countryside. You’ll also see giant redwoods and multiple lakes. Among the highlights is Marshal’s Lake, ringed by rusty-red swamp cypress each autumn. Many of its 12,000 specimens form a living gene bank, safeguarding trees for a changing climate.
4. RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford, Greater Manchester
Glorious acers, ginkgos and euonymus are among the autumn highlights of the newly unveiled Yangzhou Scholars’ Garden, the centrepiece of the seven-acre Chinese Streamside Garden, the largest Classical Chinese garden in Europe at RHS Garden Bridgewater. This place of calm and wonder combines authentic classical Chinese architecture, horticulture and culture within a contemporary British garden setting.
5. Coverwood Lakes, Ewhurst, Surrey
(Open for the National Garden Scheme on Sunday, October 18)
This 14-acre landscaped garden in a stunning position high in the Surrey Hills features four lakes and bog garden, and the three-and-a-half-acre arboretum is awash with colour during autumn. Marked trail leads through the 180-acre working farm, where visitors can see Hereford cows and calves, sheep and horses, all with views of the surrounding hills.
6. RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey
In autumn, the Jubilee Arboretum at RHS Garden Wisley is transformed as the russet-red foliage of the magnificent sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), the buttery hues of the tilia and spectacular colours of the acers create a blaze of colour. Mature hornbeams turn a warm, golden yellow and for a few days in October, Nyssa sylvatica ‘Wisley Bonfire’ produces a vibrant and fiery display of leaves.
7. Stourhead, Wiltshire
Often compared to the landscapes of New England in autumn, Stourhead delivers one of the National Trust’s most dramatic autumn spectacles. Flame-red swamp cypresses, golden tulip trees and scarlet dogwoods frame the world-famous lake and classical temples, creating spectacular views from every angle. First Light sessions (October 23, 27 and 31, £12) offer photographers exclusive early-morning access to capture the garden at sunrise.
8. Sheffield Park and Garden, East Sussex
Fantastic colours from katsura trees, whose foliage changes to pale yellow and smoky dark pink, with a deliciously sweet aroma, are among the highlights of this RHS partner garden run by the National Trust, famed for its vast collection of trees and large shrubs. Other autumn showstoppers include Nyssa sylvatica (tupelo) and 25 species of acer.
9. Mount Stewart, County Down, Northern Ireland
Thanks to its remarkable collection of plants gathered from around the world, Mount Stewart offers one of Northern Ireland’s richest and most diverse autumn displays. Japanese maples, American sweetgums and red maples paint the gardens in vivid shades of scarlet, copper and gold, creating a assortment of colour unlike anywhere else in the UK. The combination of rare trees, sweeping vistas and mild climate allows the autumn display to linger well into the season.
10. Bodnant Garden, Conwy, Wales
Autumn at Bodnant Garden offers sweeping collections of maples, liquidambars and other specimen trees that ignite the landscape in shades of crimson, amber and gold, while berries and late-flowering plants extend the season of colour well into November. The dramatic backdrop of the Carneddau mountains adds to the vision.
11. Dawyck Botanic Garden, Stobo, nr Peebles, Scottish Borders
Tree lovers should not miss the seasonal display within the arboretum of this 65-acre garden, one of four regional gardens of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
In autumn, maples, rowans, beech spindle trees, Japanese katsura and North American golden birch provide a rich tapestry of autumnal hues, from rich browns, to golds and reds, while visitors can also enjoy the swathes of autumn crocuses, spectacular fungi and fruits.
12. Lullingstone Castle and The World Garden, Kent
Salvias may still be in flower in The World Garden when you visit this beauty spot in autumn, throwing up spikes of fluffy purple flowers, while the barbed wire bush (Colletia hystrix) from Argentina produces thousands of fragrant white-pink flowers. There are vindaloo shrubs (Escallonia resinosa) giving off a curry scent, while the North American bed offers colourful helianthus, asters and rudbeckias. Don’t miss the glorious eucalyptus collection which looks fantastic in the autumn light.
