East Ruston Old Vicarage Garden — Attraction in North Norfolk

Our first visit here. Absolutely brilliant. The planting is beautiful. So many layers of different textures, colours,and scent. The eye wonders from the high trees down to the rambling plants and every pathway teasing you to walk down to find out whats around the next corner or through that little gap you spied into the next section. The buildings and structures nestle into the planting seamlessly unlike the fountain that unashamedly stands out high and proud making noise pretending to be a waterfall to steal your eye away from the plants. There are ponds and pools filled with plants and fish. There is a dry river bed desert themed garden. There's an orchard. Long high hedged grass areas with focal points of statues or arch ways to draw you in. Woodland walks. Alpaca and guineafowl. You will definitely be ready for a piece of cake and a pot of tea at the tea room after exploring ready to recharge for more exploring of all the things you've missed first time round. The gardens are accessible to all there are wheelchair and mobility scooter pathways and ramps to help you enjoy the gardens. There are toilets on site too. Plenty of parking too. No dogs are allowed here and no picnics are allowed in the grounds either. When I read the no picnics bit I though that was a negative then after walking around the gardens I could see that there are few places you could sit to have a picnic and also it would attract litter and mess and require litter bins ect that would ruin the views so do as we did and enjoy a sit down in the tea room or on the outside tables and chairs. The public loos are basic and there was a wait as there aren't many, something to keep in mind. They are fit for purpose though And your not here to look at the toilets are you? This is a place we'd definitely visit again and I'll be encouraging people I know that are in to this to definitely...

Pros - beautiful space with lots of interesting plants and planting, including rare varieties. I loved the woodland section, the corn and squashes in the veg area, and the tropical palms and gum trees. Some magnificent vistas - church, wheatfield, lighthouse - were cleverly framed by hedge planting and cutting.

Cons - map and signage would have been nice and especially with £13 entry. Toilets a little cramped and even men had to queue. Caged birds in main house’s yard.

Next onto my personal taste. The garden is cut into sections by extensive hedgerows etc., but too often I wondered why. One section might contain a lot of hydrangeas but then I would see the same plants all over the place in the other sections too. Similarly most greenhouses seemed to be stuffed with geraniums. There is a lot of repetition where I had expected each section to have a much stronger thematic idea - for example by colour or geographic origin.

Then you come to the vast areas of just hedge and lawn, which were very boring and were screaming out to be rewilded or at least put to a more interesting horticultural use. They give the impression that someone simply ran out of ideas and couldn’t think of a better use for the space. Overall I felt I could have had the same garden experience in a third of the space - less repetition, less hedges, starker differences...

This was quite the surprise. It's only one and a half miles from Happisburgh (pronounced Hazebruh) and, therefore, also the North Sea. I'd long intended to visit but last Sunday the weather was perfect. Blue skies and sunshine after many cold spring days. The car park is lovely. The cars are directed into spaces under the trees of the orchard. It feels very intimate. A nice little ticket office and then the gardens. Nothing really prepares you for how lovely they are. The layout is quite complex so do buy the guide book at the entrance. It's essential I'd say. But the gardens are so well thought out, so many unusual plants, intricate ideas and new in every zone within the garden. It is quite an extraordinary life effort. Two people bought this house in the early seventies and then created these most beautiful garden, or series of gardens. The gardens may have many visitors but you are never really aware of many others because of the many zones within them. The food and drinks are of good quality and all the staff are very lovely. The plant sales contain many good specimens and are well looked after. Do make the effort to visit this site and buy a season ticket because you will visit many times to see how it changes...