Gilbert White’s House & Gardens

About the garden

Owned by

Trustees of Gilbert White and the Oates Collections

New for 2024: This stunning garden is located at the home of the 18th-century naturalist Gilbert White, the author of the nature writing classic The Natural History of Selborne. The Gilbert White’s House & Gardens is 30 acres overall with a mix of formal garden, orchards, kitchen garden, herb garden, naturalist's garden with wildlife pond and wildflower meadow. The Six Quarters beds provide changing seasonal interest through the spring and summer, several areas of the garden are planted with snowdrops for an early display, and tulip beds provide spring colour.
 
During his time, Gilbert created his garden in the style of the English Landscape Movement, featuring a statue of Hercules (1758) and Haha (1761), which have since been reconstructed or preserved. The planting is based on his gardening journals of the time, the Garden Kalendar, including 18th-century perennials and annuals, old-fashioned roses, heritage vegetable crops for use in the now café kitchen and heritage apple and pear trees. Gilbert’s love of growing melons and cucumbers in hotbeds fuelled by fresh horse manure has also been well preserved.
 
The Naturalist’s Garden represents the flora of the surrounding area and has recently been redesigned and replanted using his Flora Selborniensis of 1766. The wildflower meadows are being developed to create a greater range of habitats and give visitors a better insight into Gilbert White’s phrase of ‘watching narrowly’– to observe nature in your backyard. Beehives have also been introduced to aid wildflower pollination and produce honey for sale in the shop.
 
The team strive to manage the garden in the most sustainable way possible, using no pesticides or herbicides and switching to cordless machinery wherever possible. Traditional methods are also used such as scything to maintain wildflower areas and preserve old techniques.