Dulwich and its neighbourhood is a green oasis bejewelled by its gardens - many magnificent, all inspirational, and all backed by astonishing depths of gardening knowledge. Each Spring the Gardens group publishes a comprehensive “Dulwich Gardens open for charity” booklet, with details of the local gardens that are open to the public during the year.
The group also organises an annual garden talk and an annual coach tour to one or more gardens of national importance, as well as occasional local visits. Details of these events, which are open to all members of the Dulwich Society and their friends, are included in the Society’s quarterly Journal and its monthly eNewsletter.
We contribute articles to the Society’s Journal, and generally we support gardening and related activities in our area. The Dulwich Society is an affiliated society of the Royal Horticultural Society. The Gardens group normally meets four times a year. If you are interested in joining the group, please contact Celia Randell.
Gardens Group terms of reference (PDF)
Contact: Celia Randell,
11am, Tuesday 21 May 2024 - 136, Kingsland Road, E2 8EA
We have arranged a visit to this interesting garden, a series of 'garden rooms' illustrating the evolution of the English urban garden through the centuries. The gardens complement the Museum (formerly known as the Geffrye Museum) perfectly, and the planting choices are historically accurate.
We will be given a guided tour of the garden by the head gardener, Heather Stevens. The 'rooms' range from a 16th Century knot garden, through Elizabethan, Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian and later gardens, and include a well-labelled herb garden. After our visit, there is the option to spend time in the Museum itself, or to visit the nearby St Mary's Secret Garden, a long-established community garden and urban haven.
Transport: the Museum and its gardens are directly next to Hoxton Station (Overground) and therefore very accessible from Forest Hill, Sydenham and Crystal Palace rail stations (c.25 minute journey times).
Tickets for the visit are £10 through Ticket Tailor with the proceeds going to the Museum. Enquiries to
Photo credit Museum of the Home
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Illustrated talk by Geoff Hodge
7.30pm, Wednesday 3 July 2024
at Bell House, 27 College Road, SE21 7BG
The Dulwich Society’s rearranged Gardens talk will be given by Geoff Hodge, a freelance garden writer and broadcaster, formerly Gardening Editor of Garden Answers and Garden News magazines and the author of nine gardening books.
His illustrated talk will introduce a palette of shrubs, perennials, bulbs and annuals from which to select, with tips on how to get the best from them to provide a colourful garden throughout the year. After the talk, there will be an opportunity to meet Geoff over a glass of wine.
The talk is being given in association with Bell House Dulwich, with any surplus going towards its garden activities. Tickets, including a glass of wine, are £10 each. Book via the Bell House website. Please note that spaces are limited.
Photo credit Geoff Hodge.
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Our brochure, Dulwich Gardens Open for Charity 2024, has been distributed to all members of the Dulwich Society and to local garden centres and other outlets. Do visit and support the gardens, a lovely garden (or group of two, three or even more), teas and the chance to buy plants that you may just have seen, all at excellent value and for good causes, makes for a great outing.
Download the Dulwich Gardens Open for Charity brochure for more information.
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Thursday 27 June 2024
Our annual coach trip this year is to Great Comp Garden and Chartwell.
Great Comp Garden featured on BBC Gardeners’ World in September 2023 and is famous for its salvias, magnolias, hellebores, azaleas and rhododendrons. The RHS award winning curator, William Dyson, runs his own nursery specialising in salvias within the garden and will lead a tour simultaneously with one led by the head gardener, Kate Harrison. We will also visit Chartwell, famously the family home of Sir Winston Churchill, with its gardens and house.
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Wednesday 5 July 2023
Sussex Prairie Garden is an attractive, eight-acre prairie garden, featured in The English Garden magazine. Wakehurst, “Kew’s wild botanic garden”, has 500 acres of designed gardens and landscapes. Managed by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, it is also home to the Millennium Seedbank, the UK’s largest conservation project.
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Read more: Visit to Sussex Prairie Garden & Wakehurst, West Sussex
Illustrated talk with Head Gardener Martin Duncan
7.30pm, Wednesday 29 March 2023
at Bell House, 27 College Road, SE21 7BG
The Dulwich Society’s Spring Gardens talk will be given by Martin Duncan, Head Gardener and Landscape Designer at Arundel Castle. Martin’s career as a celebrated professional gardener has taken him across the world, including Africa, Jordan, Bermuda and France. He was awarded the Kew Guild Medal in 2018. The gardens at Arundel Castle, the seat of the Duke of Norfolk, are some of the finest in Britain. Martin’s talk will describe them and their recent development, with advice and tips for gardeners along the way. After the talk there will be an opportunity to meet Martin over a glass of wine.
The talk is being given in association with Bell House Dulwich, with any surplus going towards its garden activities. Tickets, including a glass of wine, are £10 each – to book, visit Eventbrite. Please note that spaces are limited.
Photo credit Arundel Castle
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Our brochure, Dulwich Gardens Open for Charity 2023, has been distributed to all members of the Dulwich Society and to local garden centres and other outlets. Do visit and support the gardens, a lovely garden (or group of two, three or even more), teas and the chance to buy plants that you may just have seen, all at excellent value and for good causes, makes for a great outing.
Download the Dulwich Gardens Open for Charity brochure for more information.
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7.30pm, Tuesday 28 February 2023
Changing weather patterns – in 2022, a warmer wetter winter, a hot dry summer, a mild autumn – could be a taste of the future. In her illustrated talk, Sue Fisher will look at the major impacts of climate change on gardens and how to mitigate the effects, with a wealth of tips and practical advice.
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Read more: Gardening in a Changing Climate – online talk by Sue Fisher
Walking around Dulwich it is easy to miss the many allotment sites. Hidden from view from the main thoroughfares, lie over 920 of the UK’s 330,000 allotment plots, providing fresh fruit and vegetables - and a lot of enjoyment - to many local families, as well as valuable wildlife habitats and community resources.
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Our brochure, Dulwich Gardens Open for Charity 2022, has been distributed to all members of the Dulwich Society and to local garden centres and other outlets. Do visit and support the gardens, a lovely garden (or group of two, three or even more), fine teas, home-made cakes and the chance to buy plants that you may just have seen, all at excellent value and for a good cause, makes for a great outing. The brochure can be downloaded by clicking here.
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Wednesday 15th June 2022
RHS Garden Wisley is the flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society, home to some of the largest plant collections in the world and to its research activities. The site has been transformed over the last few years, with new gardens and trial gardens, a new library and research building, and greatly enhanced plant centre and visitor facilities, with lots to see and enjoy. Extensive plant sales are available at Wisley, and plant sales are also available at Polesden Lacey - please bring bags.
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11am, Friday 22nd April 2022, 51 The Chase, Clapham, SW4 0NP
We have arranged a visit to 51 The Chase, the home of Rupert Tyler, Chairman of the National Garden Scheme, and Charles Rutherfoord, a member and past Chairman of the Society of Garden Designers. The Spring display is spectacular, with over 2,000 tulips creating carpets of colour enhanced by camellias, tree peonies, irises and lilacs, all in a sheltered setting. Our visit will include an introduction to the garden and a tour of the house designed by Mr Rutherfoord and light refreshments.
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