Leeds Castle Gardens

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By Med | March 19, 2006

The Park was established in the Middle Ages, reflecting Leeds Castle’s importance as a royal residence. There is documented evidence of a vineyard at the castle in a Register of Royal Expenses dated 1291-1293 for Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile. It was re-planted with German vines in 1980 and extended with a wider range of varieties, also from Germany, in 2000. In the 1730s Lord Fairfax sent ginseng and wild olives from Virginia to be grown in the Castle’s hothouses. The Duckery was created in the 1960s for Olive, Lady Baillie by Russell Page who also transformed the castle’s former cut-flower garden into a “cottage garden”, now called the Culpeper Garden. The Lady Baillie Garden was opened by Princess Alexandra in 1999.

Visitors first come to the famous Duckery, which, together with the castle moat, is home to numerous wildfowl. The path then meanders alongside the River Len through the Wood Garden, at its best in Spring with daffodils and anemones, and presided over by the striking statue of a female figure. Numerous summer flowering shrubs and rhododendron and azalea come into bloom as the narcissi fade.

The Culpeper Garden features traditional neat box hedges surrounding colourful perennials and roses, pinks, lupins and poppies. It also contains the National Collection of Monarda - bergamot.

The Mediterranean - style Lady Baillie Garden includes terraces planted with palms, olives, pomegranate, mimosa, vines, hedychium and echiums, all more usually found in warmer climes. It also offers spectacular panoramic views across the castle’s Great Water.

There is also an important vineyard producing more than 8,000 bottles of wine a year under the guidance of Stephen Skelton of Tenterden. The award-winning wines are sold also in the Castle’s restaurant and shops.

Best Times of Year to Visit:
Spring
Early Summer
Late Summer
All year round.