From its iconic Dry Garden to exciting new features, our Essex garden goes from strength to strength. From its iconic Dry Garden to exciting new features, our Essex garden goes from strength to strength.

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Wildwood

The Wildwood offers stunning woodland walks through a managed rural landscape, immersing visitors in a thriving naturalistic environment bursting with wildlife

Looking its best in...

Summer Discover the woodland's rich flora and fauna
Autumn Enjoy spectacular autumn colour and crisp, fallen leaves

The wider landscape

Almost the entire perimeter of Hyde Hall is covered with trees. Known as Wildwood, the development of this managed woodland started in 1997 to reinstate trees and hedgerows in an otherwise exposed landscape, while providing habitats for wildlife and creating a more aesthetically pleasing vista.

Wildwood owes its existence to Hyde Hall's generous supporters, who helped fund the purchase of the native trees planted here. To date, 29ha (72 acres) of land have been planted with 64,000 native trees.

Encouraging wildlife

Today, Wildwood is being managed to promote biodiversity. Since the reintroduction of the woodland, badgers, foxes, kestrels and small mammals, including field voles and mice, have all found a home here.

The rare brown-banded carder bee thrives in the woodland, and a colony of marbled white butterflies has moved in, bringing the total number of butterfly species at Hyde Hall to 25.

Rewilding Hyde Hall

On the woodland floor, a diverse range of native wild flowers, including wild strawberry, blue fleabane, four species of orchid, primroses, violets and bluebells, are starting to proliferate.

As Wildwood has developed, it has become an integral part of the visitor experience at Hyde Hall. New signs around the garden invite visitors to discover walks through the woodland and around the estate.

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.