Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens.
Recently I managed to visit a garden I have wanted to visit for a long time – Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens.
These beautiful gardens are dog friendly, so we were able to take our lovely little dog Brinkley on a new adventure. On our trip out we were accompanied by our respective families.
I have to say we did get a little lost on the way there as our Sat Nav didn’t register where we were for most of the journey, because there are lots of hills and valleys in the area. So if you are planning to visit, I suggest you remember to pack a map, just in case.
A big plus was that you could visit the restaurant, shop and garden centre for free before paying to enter the gardens.
I love visiting the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens is similar in planting and design to Heligan’s Sub-tropical garden. The gunnera in the ‘Upper Pond’ and ‘Bog Garden’ areas in the gardens, are amazing. We saw beautiful fuchsias and hydrangeas dotted around the garden, and we all thought that the ‘Walled garden,’ ‘Victorian walled gardens’ and the ‘Lily pond’ were exquisite. It is a peaceful place to enjoy the plants at their best.
Other areas of interest are the sculpture trail and they hold special events for example plays, falconry events, and enchanted floodlit evenings. You can even have your wedding there!
It is a truly beautiful garden! The design and layout of the plants is cleverly done, as you are able to admire the views and planting schemes from many angles. To catch a glimpse of what you can expect check out their virtual garden tour
At the end of your visit, there is a nice garden shop, to tempt you!
If you are lucky you may catch a view of the extravagant Golden pheasant!
Brinkley thoroughly enjoyed the day out, as there was plenty to sniff and investigate!
As the well known saying says, as quoted on a beautiful wood carving that you see when you enter the gardens –
‘Enjoy the Garden.
Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints.’
So in conclusion
It’s a stunning garden, with a lovely restaurant, and shopping area. Brinkley enjoyed his visit and we will be back! Everyone in our party enjoyed the day it is a great day out for the whole family and I fully recommend a visit!!!
If you would like to visit here are the details –
Directions –
You can find this lovely garden in Abbotsbury near Weymouth in Dorset.
Admission fees –
Adult – £9.50
OAP, Student, Disabled – £9.00
Children 5-15 years – £6.50
Family Ticket – Group of 5 with a maximum of 2 Adults- £26.00
Near by is the famous Abbotsbury Swannery and Abbotsbury children’s farm. If you would like to visit these too, the gardens, swannery and farm run a special passport ticket scheme, so you are able to make the most of your visit to this beautiful area.
If you are an RHS Member check your handbook for when you can use your card for free entry.
If you have the Gardener’s World 2 for 1 garden visit card you can use it here, which is great!
Opening Hours –
Open everyday apart from the 18th December – 1st January
10 am – 5/6pm Winter until 4 pm
Final Note
If you would like to know more about our visit in terms of it being a dog friendly garden and a garden with disabled access, please see our post on Birds on the Blog – A Visit to Abbotsbury Subtropical Garden
What we’re talking about