Depden Open Gardens

Saturday June 6th 11 am – 4 pm

Open farm with a wide variety of animals together with several interesting and beautiful gardens to visit around the village.

Beautiful gardens open around the village
Open Farm
Children’s activity
Lunch, teas, coffees and homemade cakes
Plant Stall

Open Farm

Come and meet our animals at Depden Care Farm

Ponies,
Donkeys
Alpacas
Goats,
Sheep
Pigs
Rabbits
Tortoises
Geese, ducks, chickens
Aviary
Doves

Open Gardens

Gardens around the village

Beech Hall
Michaelmas Cottage
Rookery Farm
Depden Care Farm
Popes Farm
Little Vendas Farm
Rainbow Cottage

When

Saturday June 6 2026
Open 11 am-4 pm

What

Several gardens around the village and open farm at Depden Care Farm
BBQ lunch, Teas and cakes at Depden Care Farm
Toilets at Depden Care Farm
Plant Stall
Children’s activities at the Care Farm
First aiders are present at Depden Care Farm and Beech Hall

Where

Depden is on the A143 between Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill.

Ticket sales at Beech Hall

There is ample parking at Beech Hall – please only park where directed

Disabled parking only at Depden Care Farm

Cost

£5 per person – under 12s free

Our Gardens

Michaelmas Cottage

Michaelmas Cottage has a ¾ acre garden, divided into ‘rooms’ planted in a cottage garden style, designed to take advantage of the extensive views across the adjoining countryside. There is also a small orchard, wildflower area, vegetable garden and tree house.

Most of the garden is wheelchair accessible

Beech Hall

Beech Hall has a large mature garden designed with distinct areas that offer a variety of planting and interest. The meadow (parking area) leads to formal lawns dotted with specimen trees and a pretty pond, all surrounded by shrubs and herbaceous beds. A further pond and woodland stand to the side of a large herbaceous area viewed from meandering paths. Old and new orchards together with many secret corners provide havens for wildlife and lots of spaces to explore. There is a recently completed walled kitchen garden. The majority of the garden is wheelchair accessible and seating is available throughout the garden

Depden Care Farm

The Care Farm adjoins Rookery Farm and provides 6 acres containing vegetable and fruit garden surrounded by a hornbeam hedge, orchard, market garden, greenhouse and polytunnel, raised bed sensory garden with aviary, a pollinator meadow and a wildlife area. The paddocks are home to our ponies, donkeys, alpacas, pigs, goats, sheep, various poultry, doves, rabbits and tortoises. There is a wheelchair accessible level path around the majority of the farm There is a wheelchair accessible level path around the majority of the farm.

Rookery Farm

A large garden around the 16th century farmhouse, with colour-themed borders and beds of perennials and roses surrounding two ponds one of which has been landscaped with a waterfall and scree garden. Don’t forget to admire the thatched summer house. A long pergola with climbing roses and clematis borders the formal lawn. Beyond the shade of the walnut tree, there are new areas of prairie-style planting and ‘jungle’ garden with bananas and tree ferns. A formal box-edged white garden surrounded by pleached lime trees is tucked in front of the farmhouse.

Most areas wheelchair accessible apart from the pond

Popes Farm

The Popes Farm garden is still very much a work in progress. Extensive work has been done over the last five years to sort out the drainage, so there continue to be patches of bare soil after work over the winter - hopefully this will be lovely lush grass soon! The house has a lawn to the back, with a fruit cage and a greenhouse at the side. There is a large expanse to the back of the garden which has been left to grow wild. There is also a small orchard which is mostly left to grow wild with paths mown through. There is a new gravel garden along with a new long bed that has only been planted up this year. Much of the garden is still young, and other parts are very old. The aim is to build a garden that is a mix of cottage garden style along with wild.

Little Vendas Farm

A large garden with wildflower meadow to rear. The areas around the house are arranged with flower beds and lawns. Greenhouses and a polytunnel form part of a kitchen garden to the side. An area of shrubs and woodland separates the main garden from the wildflower meadow and orchard. There is a large pond in the centre of the garden with a boardwalk. Access around the garden and meadow is via mowed grass paths with large areas left to grow wild.