General

Opening Times

Please take a look at our Booking Site for all available tickets.

The Secret Garden is open for general admission from Wednesday to Saturday each week Feb-Oct, all visits must be pre-booked online.

In November and December 2024 we will be open Fridays and Saturdays for pre-booked Christmas Events, Craft Workshops and Festive Feasts. Full details can be found on our Events pages.

Full, detailed directions to the garden will be provided with your email booking confirmation. Please drive carefully and respectfully along the lanes to the garden.

If you need further information on the location of the garden before booking please contact us via email.

Click to view our Accessibility Guide

Ticket Prices

Garden Visit Tickets:

Ticket prices are £7.50 for adults and tickets for children aged 5-12 years are £2.75. We welcome under 5’s for free, and they do not need a ticket.

From April 6th 2024, general admission will be increasing to £8.50 for adults and £3.50 for children. Tickets will include admission to the Berlin Wall Exhibit.

All proceeds will go towards the further development of the gardens and keeping our Gardening team full of tea and biscuits!

Please note we only take card payments on-site.

Gift Vouchers are available - give the gift of a garden visit to your loved ones.

We are delighted to offer a discount on admission to Gardening Groups/Organisations with 10 or more members wanting to visit.

Please get in touch to arrange a visit by using the button below.

FREE Garden Tours

Available April - September. Garden Tours run for approximately 1 hour each Friday morning at 11am and are FREE to attend, simply book your general admission and meet outside the coffee shop at 11am.

What to Expect

Enjoy our Arid Garden, Rose Garden, Tea & Herb Garden, traditional orchard and local wildflower meadow, fruit cage and delicious no-dig vegetable beds. Our latest edition is the exciting Stumpery and Foodforest area which were designed in partnership with Permaculture Magazine’s competition winner.

The space to be enjoyed at Careys Secret Garden is primarily outside, and therefore appropriate clothing and footwear should be worn.

Before you visit

Location

Careys Secret Garden can be found within a 3-mile-radius of the market town of Wareham, Dorset. This is 11-mile-radius from Poole & 19-mile-radius from Dorchester, nestled in the heart of the Isle of Purbeck. 

The garden is approx. 5 minutes drive from Wareham Train Station, or a 30-minute walk. We encourage you to walk or cycle to the gardens if you can. There is a bike shed in the car park for you to lock up your bike. For train times, please visit the South Western Railway website.

Due to the sensitive nature of our position for wildlife, and for a bit of fun, we would like our location to be kept secret just a bit longer. The exact location of Careys Secret Garden will be revealed to you only on completing your booking and we ask that you then keep it just between us!

Dogs

Whilst we love dogs, due to the sensitive wildlife surrounding the site, we can only welcome service/assistance dogs on to our grounds.

Accessibility

We advise that visitors are ready for slightly rough terrain with a short walk down an undulating gravel track to reach the gardens, stout footwear is required.

The track back to the car park is uphill.

The distance from the car park along the undulating gravel path to the entrance of the gardens is a total of 239m. 

We can open the overflow car park for your use, which has a cut-through to the path and will reduce this distance to 126m. 

In dry weather (when the track isn't boggy) we can open an extra route for you to drop off/pick up directly from the garden entrance 

For assistance on the day of your visit please call 07927 132 148

Once in the walled garden the majority of the pathways are flat and suitable for wheelchairs. 

Our full accessibility guide can be viewed here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ADW3x1klYoEoQ0dm617PXEpuuNWlx1iM/view

We have disabled parking on-site although this is still a short journey from the walled garden entrance. 

There are two water-less, gender-neutral Eco Toilets on site, suitable for wheelchair use with assistance, and with emergency pull cords.

Those with mobility issues are welcome to contact us in advance and we can tailor your visit to your needs accordingly. 

Please note that if your vehicle is a very large motorhome our driveway will not be suitable due to height restrictions.

Children

Our gardens are for everyone to enjoy and we welcome children to come and explore with under 5’s coming for free and children aged 5-12 years £2.75 each. This will increase to £3.50 from 6th April 2024. You must ensure your children are always supervised.

We have regular Forest School Parent and Toddler groups running on most Friday mornings. Please take a look at the booking site if you’d like join the sessions.

Cafe & retail

Our commitment is to work with the local community, producers, and businesses. We have a working partnership with The Secret Salt Pig who provide hot drinks, refreshments and light bites from our special ‘Tatty Store’ cafe on site. 

Please feel free to bring along your own re-usable cup to help us reduce waste.

We are proud to offer Chococo hot chocolate in our coffee shop, and we’ll have their delicious, ethical and sustainable Easter chocolate treats in stock this March.

We are developing our retail area and will be selling plants grown from seeds and cuttings by our incredible Gardening Team, among other items. We have been working hard to ensure anything you take home will be free from plastic and where possible completely biodegradable.

Please note: Only card payments are taken on site; we do NOT accept cash payments in the café or for retail.

Other

Facilities

One Eco Toilet on site. This is a water-less, gender-neutral composting toilet with hand washing facilities and emergency pull chord.

COVID-19

We kindly ask that you abide by current government guidelines in order to keep all of us safe while visiting Careys Secret Garden. These may include:

• Sanitising your hands regularly at Careys Secret Garden and when using the toilet

• Complying with social distancing throughout your visit

• Wearing a face mask if entering any inside areas i.e. if entering 'The Secret Salt Pig' and toilets

• If you have symptoms, get a test and stay at home

• For more information on how to stop the spread of coronavirus, visit here

What you need to wear

Stout footwear and dressing for the great British weather is required. 

Please check for ticks following visits to the garden in the summer months.

In the event of poor weather 

If the weather is particularly poor and we decide to close the garden, we will contact you to rebook for an alternative date. We do not offer refunds, and rescheduling is at the manager’s discretion.

Chat to the gardeners

Feel free to chat to any of our gardening team during your visit about the walled garden and how it has been brought back to life. They can’t wait to share their gardening tips with you and, of course, hearing yours.