Another set of glorious gardens will open for charity this month, as part of the National Garden Scheme, including the grounds of designer Jasper Conran’s Bettiscombe Manor.

Read on for a selection of wonderful West Dorset gardens you can visit across Bridport, Beaminster and Dorchester. Do plan your trips, as booking in advance is advisable in many cases.

National Garden Scheme venues in Bridport

SLAPE MANOR (Netherbury, Bridport, DT6 5LH. 07534 676148, info@slapemanor.com).
Evening opening Thursday, June 4 (4-6.30pm). Admission £50. Booking essential via National Garden Scheme.
Home of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s original River Cottage. The visit will include a glass of local sparkling wine, oysters, charcuterie & cheeses and live music. Visits also by arrangement Feb 1 to Dec 1 for groups of 8 to 20. Head gardener Hannah Gardner will give a talk and guided tour. Mostly flat with some sloping paths and steps.

BETTISCOMBE MANOR (Bettiscombe, Bridport, DT6 5NU, pictured). Thursday, June 11 (10am-5pm). Admission £60, children free. Booking via National Garden Scheme. Light refreshments in the village hall. Salmon and cucumber sandwiches, strawberries, pastries, cakes, tea, coffee, champagne and elderflower pressé. Designer Jasper Conran has given one of England’s loveliest smaller houses, Bettiscombe Manor, a garden to match, with orchards, mellow brick enclosures, and broad beds flanking an unforgettable view of the Vale, looking down to the sea. Magical garden, flower-filled, reflecting the designer’s predilection for constantly evolving and creative planting. Limited tickets.

THE CHANTRY (Chantry Street, Netherbury, Bridport DT6 5NB). Sunday, June 7 (2-6pm). Combined admission with Hingsdon (see below) £8, children free. Teas available at Hingsdon. Set within stone walls and hedges, a 1 acre established traditional garden of lawns, trees, shrubs and colourful mixed borders on a gently sloping site, with a formal pond and some new planting.

HINGSDON (Netherbury, Bridport DT6 5NQ). Sunday, June 7 (2-6pm). Combined admission with The Chantry £8, children free. Home-made teas at Hingsdon only. Hilltop garden of about two acres with spectacular panoramic views. Many unusual shrubs, a mixed border of two halves (cool and hot), rose garden and a large kitchen garden. Accessible, although sloping, arboretum too steep for wheelchair access. The kitchen garden has steps.

CHIDEOCK MANOR (Chideock, Bridport, DT6 6LF) Saturday and Sunday 13 & 14 June (2-5pm). Admission £10, children free. Home-made teas. 12 acres of formal and informal gardens. Bog garden beside stream and series of ponds. Yew hedges and mature trees. Lime and crab apple walks, herbaceous borders, colourful rose and clematis arches, fernery and nuttery. Partial wheelchair access.

National Garden Scheme venues in Beaminster

FARRS (3, Whitcombe Rd, Beaminster, DT8 3NB). Home of John Makepeace, designer and furniture maker. Book via National Garden Scheme. Southern edge of Beaminster. On B3163. Car parking in the Square or Yarn Barton Car Park, or side streets of Beaminster. Thursday June 18, Thursday August 20 (2-4.30pm). Admission £40, children free. Cream teas in the house or garden, weather dependent. Distinctive walled gardens, rolling lawns, sculpture and giant topiary. Grass garden and contrasting garden with an oak fruit cage; a riot of colour. Glasshouse, straw bale studio. Orchard. Remarkable trees. Limited tickets. Talk on John Makepeace’s furniture design before a guided walk and a cream tea. Some gravel paths, alternative wheelchair route through orchard.

WYKE FARM (Chedington, Beaminster, DT8 3HX). Alex & Robert Appleby. Book via National Garden Scheme. Take the turning from the A356, opposite the Winyards Gap Inn, away from Chedington, signed to Halstock. Drive 1m down the lane to the 1st farm entrance on the left. Sunday, June 21 (2.30-4pm). Admission £25, children free. Home-made teas.

THE MANOR HOUSE, BEAMINSTER (North St, Beaminster, DT8 3DZ). Saturday and Sunday 27 & 28 June (11am-5pm). Admission £10, children free. Home-made teas. Sixteen acres of stunning parkland with mature specimen trees, lake and cascade. Ornamental ducks, black swans, pigmy goats, alpaca, chickens. Partial wheelchair access.

National Garden Scheme venues in Dorchester

BROOMHILL (Rampisham, Dorchester, DT2 0PT). 07775 806875, carol.parry2@btopenworld.com. Sunday, June 14 (1-5pm). Combined admission with Pugin Hall (see below). £10, children free. Home-made teas. Visits also by arrangement June 1 to August 7 for groups of 10, with light lunch if required. A former farmyard transformed into a delightful, tranquil garden.

PUGIN HALL (Rampisham, nr Dorchester DT2 0PR). Sunday, June 14 (1-5pm). Combined admission with Broomhill. £10, children free. Home-made teas. Pugin Hall was once Rampisham Rectory, designed in 1847 by Augustus Pugin, who also helped to design the interior of the Houses of Parliament. A Grade I listed building, it is surrounded by 4½ acres of garden, including a large front lawn with rhododendrons, a walled garden filled with topiary.

UTOPIA (Tincleton, Dorchester DT2 8QP). 07970 971983, sharspiller@hotmail.co.uk. Sunday, June 14 (1-5pm). Admission £6, children £4. Light refreshments. Visits also by arrangement until June 13 for groups of up to 20. Approximately ½ acre of secluded, peaceful garden made up of several rooms on different themes. Seating throughout. Parking available within a 10 min walk.

3 PARK FARM CLOSE (Martinstown, Dorchester, DT2 9TW). Sunday, June 14, admission £5, children free. Home-made teas. A quirky, child-friendly one-acre garden with a large scale model canal with operational locks and a 1:20 model village. Visitors may operate boat and locks. Two large ponds surrounded by a ‘beach’. Treasure trail for kids. Parking in driveway for wheelchair access.

LANGEBRIDE HOUSE (Long Bredy, DT2 9HU.Sunday, June 21 (1-5pm). Admission £6, children £3. Home-made teas. A lovely mature garden, designed in the 1960s, surrounds this large old rectory in a secluded spot in the stunning Bride Valley. Layered lawns, dissected by yew hedges, and dominated by some impressive and distinctive trees, giving a tranquil feel to this well spread-out garden. Partial wheelchair access if wet weather.