Woodland Garden, Compton Acres — Attraction in Great Britain

I hadn't visited these gardens for 40 years and we finally returned for my wife's birthday. We arrived early and parked in the on site car park before having breakfast in the cafe. This was a good start to the day and very pleasant. The staff in the ticket office were fabulous, friendly and chatty and really helpful. We walked around the gardens in the rain (bad because it was dull and wet, good because almost no one else was there!) and spent nearly two hours outside. There was a clear route and a great variety of plants on display as well as an adventure playground and several seating areas. The gardens were clean and well tended. For me the star was the heathers garden, a real burst of colour in April. The Japanese garden bought back fond memories of people falling off the stepping stones but sadly not today! We were going to finish with a coffee but the cafe was full so we did a quick bit of shopping in the other onsite shops and then left. A lovely morning out and certainly somewhere we will be back to sooner...

We were quite disappointed TBH. Visited mainly to see the water gardens & the koi ponds, but the water wasn’t flowing through most of the features, probably to save money, and the few koi we did see were in quite shallow water & didn’t seem overly happy with their lot. The water feature in large formal garden was beautifully planted, but again water quality was poor, looked like a green dirty pond. Staff seemed very nice & the few gardeners we saw were clearly informed & hardworking. Rest of the staff appeared to be centred around cafe and gift shop, probably where most money is made. A visit isn’t cheap, but would have been more acceptable if the water features had been flowing as expected. We’d missed the Azaleas & Rhododendrons, which I believe are spectacular, I hope to visit again, but hope the owners decide to bring some life back...

Beautiful gardens with a variety of plants and statues. Lots to see. Enjoyable for all the family with a play area for the children. Tea rooms are lovely with good quality food. Definitely worth a visit if you like plants, gardens, or walks. Staff were really friendly, and welcoming, especially the lady in the ticket...