Government House NGS Open Garden

For this open day you can book your tickets in advance here: NGS Booking System or you can just turn up and pay on the day.

Refreshments Tea.

Admission

Adult: £5.00

Child: Free

Opening times 12:00 - 16:00

Government House is the official residence of the Lieutenant-Governor, who is the personal representative of the Sovereign within the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The House is a fine example of a large Georgian house built in 1783 on the outskirts of St Peter Port and is listed as a protected building. The grounds comprise 10 acres of parkland and landscaped gardens with over 150 mature trees of all varieties, including a Blue Atlas Cedar planted by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to the island in 2001 and a number planted to commemorate other Royal visits, Jubilees and other notable occasions. Within the grounds is an impressive collection of camellia cultivars of national significance. They were planted in 1997 to celebrate ten years of the charity ‘Plant Heritage Guernsey’ who continue to care for the camellias and to source further examples to expand the collection. Camellias unfortunately don’t flower in the summer but visitors to Government House can see them from October through to April.

The highlight for this open garden event is the historic walled garden. At over 1,700 square meters, it is thought to be one of the best examples of a traditional walled garden in the British Isles. It is fully utilised to produce around a hundred different varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs for the kitchen and cut flowers for the house including dahlias and roses. The garden has been extensively remodelled over the past 4 years to restore the paths to their correct alignment and introduce a crop rotation system around the beds. A small paved area was added in 2021 with the addition of an olive tree that gives a lovely Mediterranean feel to the warm summer evenings.

The walled garden also contains a traditional lean-to greenhouse which is unfortunately in a very poor state of repair due to planning regulations recently stalling the plans for replacement. An information board will further explain the current situation with the greenhouse and hopes for the future. Parking is next to the main gateway and guests can gain entrance to the Walled Garden by making their way down the tree-lined driveway and taking a route in front of the house to enter through a gate that goes directly into the walled garden.

Accessibility

Blue badge parking in front of the house. Tarmac, gravel and grass but all flat with no steps and an accessible toilet on site.