England: Delightful Summer Gardens of Devon
17th Aug 2026
Key Highlights
- Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens’ collaboration at Hestercombe
- Four National Plant Heritage Collections at Marwood Hill
- The innovative Wildside Garden
Summary
Join us for a jaunt to the English Riviera! En route we visit the renowned gardens of Hestercombe spread across 50 acres and combing a unique combination of Georgian landscape design, Victorian shrubbery and Edwardian formal gardens. From our base in Torquay we explore Mothecombe Gardens, an RHS partner garden perched on a cliff top offering panoramic views over the coast. An afternoon at leisure allows time for some rest and relaxation in Torquay, home to a pretty harbour lined with waterfront cafes, sandy beaches, luxury boutiques and quaint gift shops. We also visit Wildside Garden created over the past 25 years the garden has evolved from a flat, featureless field to a rich and complex landscape that offers ecological niches and vast array of plants. The Garden House which is a true plantsman’s garden delights year-round and in the summer months the herbaceous borders of the walled garden steal the show. The award-winning Marwood Hill Gardens, home to four National Plant Heritage Collections rounds off a superb collection of some of the finest gardens in Devon.
What's included
- Accommodation
- Meals as per itinerary
- Entries to all sites as per the itinerary
- Services of a professional tour manager
- Comfortable coach travel throughout
Meet your tour manager
Trevor Edwards
Trevor Edwards has been a self-employed Horticulturist for almost 50yrs. For the first 25 years, he operated his own small Garden Centre in his hometown of Carrickfergus. Since then, he has worked as a Garden Designer & Consultant. He has featured on TV & Radio programmes. In recent years, he has travelled all over the world as a Garden Tour Manager including Italy, Sicily, Spain, France, USA, Japan, Morocco, Singapore & New Zealand, Grenada, Barbados, Mauritius & Gardens of India’s Golden Triangle. Garden Tours of Ireland feature regularly in his busy schedule, bringing gardeners form all over the world to visit the wonderful Gardens of the Island of Ireland. He has lectured in many countries on the Gardens of Ireland on behalf of Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland to promote Garden Tourism to the Island of Ireland. Trevor is/was a - Director/Trustee of the Northern Ireland Heritage Gardens Trust - Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners - Freeman of the City of London. - President/Trustee of the Northern Ireland Amenity Council organisers of the Best Kept Awards Northern Ireland (Towns & Villages) - Area Organiser of the National Gardens Scheme in Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2024 - Former Director/Trustee of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society. (Now UAH) - Member of the Ulster Tree Committee in the 1980s
Day by Day Itinerary
We depart our designated pick-up point and head for Hestercombe, one of Gertrude Jekyll and Sir Edwin Lutyens’ greatest masterpieces. The garden is home to a round pool in a round walled garden filled with wintersweet and roses, a Dutch garden of lamb’s ears, lavender and the most beautiful orangery of the 20th century. Everywhere there are details of design and planting from which any gardener can learn.
We later continue to our hotel in Torquay.
Meals Included:Dinner
Departure Routes
| Location | Pickup Time | Dropoff Time |
|---|---|---|
| London | 08:00 | 19:00 |
| Reading | 09:30 | 17:30 |
| Swindon | 11:00 | 16:00 |
| Bristol | 12:00 | 15:00 |
** Please note that all timings are approximate and subject to change. Final timings and pick-up points will be confirmed with your joining instructions approximately 10 days prior to departure. **
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