At play in Eden

11 April 2012

Visit London's finest natural habitat: a vast, wild reserve of lakes, ponds, pools and marshes that attracts more than 140 bird species each year, as well as 300 moth and butterfly species, a breeding population of water voles and half of all the UK's dragonfly species.

The Wildlife and Wetlands Trust took five years to convert four disused concrete reservoirs into a haven of wetland habitats and the resulting wildlife, which you can view through hides, including the three-storey Peacock Tower and another with a roof of planted succulents, more than justifies its labours. The World Wetlands area recreates global habitats, which have attracted endangered wildfowl from around the world, while its Peter Scott visitors' centre includes a cinema, restaurant and discovery centre. As if all this wasn't enough, three cutting-edge garden designers have each created terrific contemporary gardens with a common theme of conservation and sustainability.

Opening hours: the Wetland Centre is open daily from 9.30am to 6pm. Admission: £6.75, concessions £5.50, children £4, family £17.50. Information: 020 8409 4400.

Ham House, Ham, Richmond

The 17th century-style grounds at Ham House, the National Trust property on the banks of the Thames, are always a delight to visit in summer, and are a good source of inspiration if you fancy giving your garden a formal edge; think parterres of lavender and santolina, clipped severely into silver cushions and edged in box, as well as standard hibiscus and pomegranate trees.

On Friday 26 July, they will also make an ideal landscape for an evening outdoor concert, A Tribute To the Movies, presented by Ham House and The Royal Star and Garter Home. Bands of the Royal Air Force, the Army Air Corps and the Parachute Regiment will play music from films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Austin Powers and The Dambusters.

And just when you think it's all over, the Royal Artillery Display team will recreate a James Bond chase, which includes abseiling from the roof of Ham House amid a light and laser display. Phew. The evening is hosted by Falklands veteran Simon Weston OBE.

Tickets cost £20 each and are available from Ticketmaster on 08701 555585; take picnic, cushions and ground sheet.

Opening hours: the house and garden are open Saturday to Wednesday, with the garden open from 11am to 6pm or dusk, and the house 1pm to 5pm. Admission to both: £6, children £3, family £15. Information: 020 8940 1950.

RHS Garden, Wisley, Woking, Surrey

If it's eye-smacking colour you're after, head for Wisley and follow the route on the Tropical Thrills free map to boggle at sub-tropical borders, blue potato bush and scarlet cannas, and monocot borders of red-hot pokers and sky-blue agapanthus.

The Walled Garden West, with model gardens, mixed borders and an alpine meadow among others, is planted with palms, cordylines and bananas, and the Walled Garden East supplies bright bedding which includes apple-green tobacco flowers and fuzzy blue Ageratum. By the time you get to the trial fields of dahlias, chrysanthemums and Rudbeckia, you'll need to lie down with a cold compress.

Go this weekend and, in the Wisley Plant Centre, Fergus Garrett, the outstanding head gardener at Great Dixter, will show you how to create a little tropical sizzle in your own borders with demonstrations at noon, 2pm and 4pm Saturday and Sunday. Tropical-type plants will also be for sale.

Wisley is also holding a Family Fortnight from 27 July to 11 August, which includes story telling, garland making, music workshops, building a thyme turtle and, best of all, handling creepy-crawlies. For more details, ring 01483 224234, or visit the RHS website www.rhs.org.uk.

Opening hours: garden, Saturday to Sunday, 9am to 6pm; Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm. Admission: £6, children £2; under sixes free. No charge for RHS members.

Port Lympne, Hythe, Kent

The 300-acre wild animal park with views across the Channel is the main attraction, but the 15-acre garden, originally landscaped in 1911 and improved on by Russell Page in the 1950s, has its own thrills as well.

Approach it via a dead-straight 100m-long walk flanked with hydrangeas and, you have been warned, a long, steep stone staircase lined with clipped yews with nought but the howling of wolves to keep you moving. It's worth the hike, though, to view the terraced levels with highlights of vineyard, "fig yardî, Long Borders and dahlia terrace. Enjoy the striking checkerboard or striped gardens of grass, gravel and flowers, but don't even think of attempting them at home.

Throughout the school holidays, children can chat with the animal keepers in daily "The Keeper Talksî sessions, and there are treasure hunts and facepainting workshops.

Ring before you go if you want to see the stylish, highly decorative Lutyens-style mansion, complete with Moorish patio and exotic animal murals by Rex Whistler, as it is occasionally closed for functions.

Opening hours: the garden and zoo are open from 10am to 6pm. Admission to garden, house and zoo: £11.95, concessions and children £8.95. Information: 01303 264647.

Hever Castle, Edenbridge, Kent

The childhood home of Anne Boleyn has much to offer in the summer months. The double-moated castle sits in splendid isolation on one side of the vast lake, which makes a tranquil contrast to the many formal areas.

One of the finest is the four-acre Italian garden, with all the classical trappings of Pompeiian wall, colonnades, loggia and statuary. You'll also find Anne Boleyn's orchard and walk, which extends along the full length of the grounds, a Tudor herb garden and a water maze with walks to the castle's millennium fountain.

More conventional highlights include a dazzling dahlia border, outstanding topiary and a herbaceous border more than 100m long. But if you want a sighting of Anne Boleyn and sometime husband Henry VIII, visit on Saturday 27 July, or weekends through August, and you'll see them outside the castle at 2pm, when they stroll to the meadow to watch the jousting tournaments performed by the Knights of Royal England. Tudor archery, however, is on 21 and 28 July.

Opening hours: the garden is open daily from 11am to 6pm, the castle, noon to 6pm.

Admission to both: £8.20, concessions £7, children £4.40, under fives free, family £20.90. Admission for garden only: £6.30, concessions £5.60, children £4.30 and family £17.30. Information: 01732 865224 or visit website www.hevercastle.co.uk.

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