Garden Museum launches new Garden Visits programme

The Garden Museum is proud to announce a new series of Garden Visits for summer 2011. To complement its new emphasis upon modern garden design, the Museum will be running a total of seven tours to some of the country's most inspiring gardens - many of which are not normally open to the public.

The theme of this year's programme will be the gardens of Tom Stuart-Smith, who is the subject of the Garden Museum's summer exhibition. The visits will take in four of Tom's stunning gardens. Broughton Grange, a walled garden in Oxfordshire (1999), is the designer's first masterpiece; two gardens are new and little-known - including a mystery garden in Berkshire - while Tom and his wife Sue will show people round their own garden in Hertfordshire.

Other gardens featured include Christopher Lloyd's famous garden at Great Dixter, where the tour group will meet head gardener Fergus Garrett; Shute House Gardens, which was designed by Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe and where the group will be able to view some of the great designers original plans for the site; the private gardens at Glyndebourne, where senior gardener Kevin Martin and well known garden writer John Hoyland will be on hand; and writer Mary Keen's own garden in Gloucestershire.

Each visit will include a talk or tour from the garden's owner, designer or head gardener giving the tour group a rare insight into the history, development, planting and design inspiration behind these exceptional gardens.

More information and booking details can be found on the Garden Museum's Events page.