July is peak open-garden season.

Rarely seen private gardens open their gates to reveal all their glories.

Many turn their openings into a day out by serving tea, cake and scones — what could be more Devon?

Fri 3rd and Sat 4th

Idestone Barton | Dunchideock, Exeter | £5

A romantic 6-acre country garden in unspoilt countryside three miles from Exeter, set on 5 levels with several distinct garden rooms.

Sat 4th and Sun 5th

Backswood Farm | Bickleigh, Tiverton | £6

An evolving wildlife garden with a flower meadow, a moon gate, water features and views to Exmoor and Dartmoor.

Bovey Tracey Gardens | a group of 3 village gardens | £6

A cluster of gardens in the Dartmoor foothills, from colourful borders and organic veg to mature trees, a fernery and a leat.

Brendon Gardens | 4 farm and country house gardens near Lynton | £6

4 Exmoor farm gardens near the coast, taking in a 16th century longhouse with lake, a courtyard garden and dramatic agricultural-bygone planting.

Greatcombe | Holne, Ashburton | £6

A tranquil hidden gem tucked into a Dartmoor valley, with a stream running through swathes of colour, acers and unusual hydrangeas.

Wembury Walled Garden — new this year | Wembury | £6

The walled kitchen garden of Wembury House, dating from 1780, about an acre with an attached old orchard now restored.

Willow Glade Farm | Ashwater, Beaworthy | Price £5

An environmentally friendly 5-acre smallholding worked with traditional methods and a no-dig policy, with a formal vegetable plot and wildlife areas.

Sun 5th

Bickham House | Kenn, Exeter | £7

6 acres of mature grounds with a large lawn and colour-themed borders, tucked into a wooded valley.

Kia-Ora Farm & Gardens | Cullompton | £5

A peaceful 10-acre garden of lawns, lakes and ponds with swans and ducks, mature trees, and rhododendrons.

Thu 9th to Sun 12th

Wildside | Buckland Monachorum | £12.50

Keith Wiley's celebrated naturalistic garden, sculpted from a flat field into undulating valleys, canyons and meadows that evoke wild landscapes from around the world.

Fri 10th and Sun 12th

2 Middlewood | Cockwood, Exeter | £6

A former market garden on a north-facing slope, reached through a courtyard with views over the Exe estuary.

Sat 11th

Samlingstead | Woolacombe | £5

A coastal garden minutes from Woolacombe, with 6 distinct areas — cottage garden, patio, swallows garden, meadow, orchard and a hedgerow field walk.

Sat 11th and Sun 12th

Am Brook Meadow | Torbryan, Ipplepen | £7

A 10-acre country garden developed over nearly two decades for wildlife, with wildflower meadows, streams and large ponds where ducks and swans gather

Sun 12th

Sommerswood Lakes in aid of St Luke’s | South Brent | £6

A hidden private garden tucked behind the village of South Brent, with a dramatic Dartmoor backdrop and a peaceful lakeside stroll

Sat 18th and Sun 19th

Rose Ash House | South Molton | £6

Several acres of informal garden around an old manor house beside the village green, with mixed borders, a rose arbour and views to Dartmoor and Exmoor

Musselbrook Cottage Garden | Sheepwash, Beaworthy | £6

A one-acre naturalistic wildlife garden on a sloping site, with year-round interest from rare and unusual plants

Larcombe Farmhouse | Diptford, Totnes | £6

An undulating 1-acre garden with a stream running through it, full of cottage florals, roses and hydrangeas, with quiet seating areas

Sun 19th

Upper Gorwell House | Barnstaple | £7.50

A 4-acre garden overlooking the Taw estuary, where a mild microclimate lets rare and tender plants thrive in the open and the walled garden

Lower Combe Royal in aid of St Luke’s | Kingsbridge | £6

An eight-acre historic garden above Kingsbridge, developed from 1840, with water gardens, tree ferns, towering beeches and fine camellias, magnolias and rhododendrons

Thu 23rd to Sun 26th

Wildside | Buckland Monachorum | £12.50

Keith Wiley's celebrated naturalistic garden, sculpted from a flat field into undulating valleys, canyons and meadows that evoke wild landscapes from around the world

Sat 25th

1 Pilton Lawn | Barnstaple | £5

A deceptively spacious town garden with a relaxed feel, Cornish slab pathways, year-round planting and refreshments from a hand-built shack bar

Sat 25th and Sun 26th

Greatcombe | Holne, Ashburton | £6

A tranquil hidden gem tucked into a Dartmoor valley, with a stream running through swathes of colour, acers and unusual hydrangeas

Sun 26th

Avenue Cottage | Ashprington, Totnes | £5

A peaceful eleven-acre woodland valley garden, once part of the historic Sharpham estate, with rare trees, azaleas, hydrangeas and River Dart views

Bickham House | Kenn, Exeter | £7

Six acres of mature grounds with a large lawn and colour-themed borders, tucked into a wooded valley

Flete Gardens in aid of St Luke’s | Ivybridge | £6

The landscaped grounds of Grade I-listed Flete House, with Italianate gardens, water gardens, fine specimen trees and panoramic South Hams views.

🌹 National Garden Scheme gardens can be browsed and booked via the NGS Devon listings. The full St Luke's Open Gardens programme is available on their website.