Bournemouth offers 2,000 acres of glorious gardens and parks just waiting to be explored all year round.
Areas to discover include the town centre’s gardens. Bournemouth’s Gardens are split into three areas of Victorian beauty- starting with the Lower Gardens, adjacent to the sea and leading to the Central Gardens in the town centre, and then the Upper Gardens.
The Upper, Central and Lower Gardens are maybe the most famous and retain much of their Victorian character and are Listed Grade II. You can take a beautiful walk from the seafront through these gardens for 1.5 miles and take in the many trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials from around the world, planted to provide interest throughout the year. The Lower Gardens are renowned for their floral bedding displays throughout the year, which are designed to bring together brilliant colours, subtle textures, height variations and scent.
The Lower Gardens play host to many events and attractions during the summer months including concerts at the Pine Walk Bandstand, the Aviary and the Pinewalk Art Exhibition. Pinewalk in the Lower Gardens was originally referred to as ‘Invalid’s Walk’ by the Victorians, when the aroma from the pine trees was considered beneficial for chest complaints.
Alum Chine boasts an award winning tropical garden which was laid out with paths, borders and dry stonewalls in the 1920s to create a terrace garden overlooking the bay. There are now many unusual exotic plants in the gardens for people to discover and they also offer a viewing point for fabulous views of the Bay.
Take the land train from Bournemouth Pier to Boscombe Chine Gardens featuring children’s water play area, mini golf and café. While you are in the area visit the Italianate Gardens just off Boscombe Cliff Road. Boscombe Gardens has been restored with a £2million project bringing the gardens back to the best of its Victorian past. The Italianate Gardens at Boscombe really are a secret hideaway and a beautiful setting next to the sea.
Just adjacent to these is the rock garden. Constructed in 1930, it is one of the largest Municipal rock gardens in the country. Based upon a series of terraces, planting pockets have been created to enable alpine and rock plants from around the world to be grown.
For wildlife lovers head inland and visit one of Bournemouth’s local nature reserves. Highlights include Stour Valley, Kinson Common and Turbury Common.
