Ness Botanic Gardens are truly one of the crown jewels of British horticulture. It will not take long at all for visitors to the University of Liverpool’s Ness Gardens to realize what a special place these gardens are. With a range of facilities and sights to see: from the growing sedum covered roof of the new eco-friendly Visitor’s centre to the completely free loan of wheelchairs and power scooters, and even free car parking
The Gardens were originally set up in 1898 by Arthur Kilpin Bulley who believed that plants from Asia could thrive in Britain’s climate. Bulley is widely recognized for having fundamentally changed just about everything about gardening in the UK.
In a career that spanned more than fifty years Bulley funded and engaged George Forrest and Frank Kingdon Ward, launching the careers of these two widely renowned plant collectors who brought back specimens from the Himalayas in China and Tibet.
Bulley was responsible for introducing to Britain beautiful flowering plants such as the camellia and the rhododendron, flowers that we continue to enjoy and admire even today. Bulley later started a seed company based at the gardens which contributed greatly to the popularity of these plant species from China all over the world.
During the years of World War II the gardens were sadly neglected and fell into disrepair, this was further compounded by the death of Arthur Bulley in 1942. Six years later Bulley’s daughter, Lois, donated the Ness Botanic Gardens to the University of Liverpool.
It took the Liverpool University some time to begin the long process of restoring the Botanical Gardens, and in 1957 the University hired Ken Hulme as Director of the Gardens. Where Bulley had been very interested in exotic plants, he showed relatively little appreciation for garden design.
Visiting the Ness Botanic Gardens – Opening Times and Admission Prices
Present day visitors to the gardens can enjoy the fact that Ness Gardens is open every day of the year from 10am to 5pm, excepting only Christmas and Boxing Day.
Admission for adults (age17 and over) is £5.75, children aged 5 – 16 pay £2.75 and there are also special family and group rates.
It is also possible to hire a guide for £35 and up to thirty people may tour the gardens with the guide who can point out some of the rarer and hard to miss attractions as well as ensure that your group gets to see all of the highlights.
Address:
Ness Botanic Gardens
Ness
Neston
South Wirral
CH64 4AY
Tel: 0151 353 0123
Fax: 0151 353 1004
What’s On at Ness Botanical Gardens
Many events are held throughout the year the Botanical Gardens.
You can see the list of forthcoming events here