2022 marks 70 years since Queen Elizabeth II took over the service of the monarchy. The platinum jubilee is a huge occasion and we can be sure there will be thousands of street parties and garden parties all over the country. This had us thinking about what a garden party at the Queen’s residence would look like and how stunning her vast gardens must be.
Sandringham Estate
One of the Queen’s favourite holiday residences is Sandringham Estate. Located in the beautiful countryside of Norfolk, this gargantuan 600-acre estate was purchased by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1863. It has since been passed down through the Monarchs and has been continuously developed over the years.
The 17-acre walled gardens are filled with some of the world’s most exotic plants and flowers. It is planted with a variety of Penstemons, Dahlias and other glorious bedding plants. These flowers are surrounded by pristine lawns and trees that have stood for decades.
The whole gardens are set over 60 acres of gorgeous land with Rhododendron, Camellia and magnolia trees brought to the estate straight from the grounds of Windsor. These rare and unusual trees are underplanted with stunning shade-loving plants.
Magnolia Tree 
Camellia Tree 
Rhododendron Tree
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace Gardens is a huge park attached to the home of the Monarchy in London. It spans over a huge 42 acres in the heart of the country’s capital.
The planting of the gardens are of a huge variety and a lot of them are brilliantly exotic. The garden boasts a phenomenal Mulberry tree that dates back to the time of King James I. There is also a range of different trees such as Indian Chestnut, Silver Maple and a Swamp Cypress.
The landscape was initially designed by Capability Brown but redesigned by William Townsend Alton and John Nash when the palace was being remodelled in 1913.
The garden is constantly maintained by eight full-time gardeners with a further two or three part-timers.
Silver Maple Tree 
Cypress Tree
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world. The preferred destination of the Queens weekends away, Windsor Castle truly is grand.
The Garden grounds have constantly evolved over the years. There are three gardens within the huge grounds. The most recent garden on the grounds is the Jubilee garden. It was established in 2002 to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.
The next garden is the Moat garden, which was carved out of the dried out moat around the historic Round Tower.
The third and final garden is the East Terrace Garden. This beautiful area of the grounds provides one of the most breath-taking views of London you can find.
Windsor Round Tower
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace has vast grounds, the stunning landscape is split into multiple different garden areas.
The main one is ‘The Sunken Garden’, this beautiful garden was designed and constructed in 1908 after previously being occupied by sheds and greenhouses. The garden has beautiful areas of the lawn with beautiful ornamental flower beds and a gorgeous ornamental pond. The garden went through replanting in 2017 to celebrate the life of Princess Diana, using breathtaking white flowers to create a peaceful and pure environment.
Another stunning area of Kensington Gardens is the wildflower meadow. This is located to the southeast of the palace. This meadow boasts beautiful wildflowers such as poppies, campions, daisies and so many more.
Another stunning feature of the gardens is the cradle Walk. This arched arbour of red-twigged lime (Tilia platyphyllos) tunnel provides the perfect place to get away from the blazing sun in the summer months and also provides the best location to view the bright colours of the vast gardens.
Campions 
Red Twigged Lime Tunnel
Palace Of Holyroodhouse
Holyroodhouse became the main royal residence in Scotland when built-in 1503. Their gardens were originally used as a setting for tournaments, hunting, hawking archery and many other things.
The Physic Garden was created at the Palace in 1670 and quickly became the origins of Edinburgh’s Royal Botanical Gardens. In 2020 a brand new public garden was opened with three areas, each area representing a phase in the long 900-year history of the Palace.
The Palace gardens have continued to be improved and updated throughout the years, notably Prince Andrew creating a new carriage approach at the north of the palace. This swept away the once privy Garden and established new planting areas to the north and south of the palace grounds.
The Royal Family have numerous residences that all come accompanied by the most stunning gardens you will ever have the opportunity to see. But we would not expect anything less, after all, they are one of the, if not the most important and powerful families in the world.
Most of the gardens at these Royal residences can be visited, some of them free and some of them ticketed. We would 100% recommend going and experiencing one, if not all, of these phenomenal gardens. You will experience sights you have never seen and come across trees and plants that you are likely to never see again.
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