Arley Hall plant fair

Sunday 24 March 2024 – 10am – 4pm

Entry includes full access to the gardens and the plant fair for the special offer reduced price of just £5.00 (Normally £12.00). Children under 16 free.

Free parking for this event (normally £3.00). The Gardener’s Kitchen café will be open

The fair is wheelchair accessible. The stables courtyard (cafe and toilets) is cobbled and the hall terrace is gravel.

Dogs on leads welcome in the fair and gardens

For the first admission includes access to the beautiful gardens at Arley Hall.

Amongst the finest in Europe the Gardens have been created over the last 270 years by successive generations of the same family. With two distinct areas which include 8 acres of formal gardens, and 7 acres of Woodland Garden and children’s play area there is always something for everyone to enjoy. 

The entrance to Arley is down an avenue of pleached lime trees leading to the clock tower. Planted in the mid 1800’s the lime trees receive an annual clipping which can take up to 2 weeks to complete. However once done, maintenance is quite low impact for such an impressive entranceway. 

The formal gardens are planted with bulbs and flowering shrubs giving a fine display in spring.

The Vinery was built in 1872-1873 and the fig trees within were probably planted shortly afterwards. The end section is always used to produce tomatoes which are used in The Gardeners Kitchen Cafe. The remaining 3 sections are decorative. Highlights to look out for are the tender Rhododendrons in early spring.

The Ilex Avenue features 14 holm oaks (Quercus Ilex). The unusual shapes and sizes of these clipped trees are partly due to chance. They were originally pyramidal but during the First World War they were left unclipped for several years and then reshaped as giant cylinders.

The Rootery is a rock garden which is in complete contrast to the rest of the garden. Here winding paths, roughly hewn steps, a fern-fringed pool and a domed cave combine in a romantic concept of an alpine dell. It is so named because of the use of tree stumps and their roots in the design of the garden. It is especially spectacular in spring with the magnificent display of Azaleas and Rhododendrons.

The Grove, a well established arboretum and a Woodland Walk of about 7 acres. This is an informal part of the garden in a woodland setting and has been a passion for Lord Ashbrook for 50 years. It contains spring bulbs, a very large collection of rhododendrons, azaleas and a wide range of other flowering shrubs and exotic trees, including varieties of oak, birch, magnolia, prunus, sorbus, malus, kalmia and hydrangea. Particularly colourful in spring.