Every year the 27,000 or so Friends of the Historic Houses Association pick a garden to celebrate, and this time the winner of their prestigious Garden of the Year Award is Blenheim Palace. Daily Info sent along two intrepid reporters to find out more and see the award being unveiled.

It takes a team of 12 gardeners to keep the 90 acres of formal gardens in order. Their tasks include looking after the soft fruit and veg in the kitchen garden, which still feeds the palace today, and cleaning out the fountains, not to mention trimming all those box hedges.

Video

Here, in our exclusive footage, you can see the Award ceremony, hear from the Duke himself, and joint Head Gardener Hilary Wood, and see from the comfort of your armchair the Italian Garden and Water Terraces with their formal statuary and fountains, and the Secret Garden with its cool, shady fishpool.

Opening Times of Blenheim Palace Gardens

If we've inspired you to see the gardens for yourself you might like to know that...
The gardens are indeed open to the public, and you can buy tickets which include the Palace as well, or just the park and gardens. For 2009 the gardens are open daily until the beginning of November, and from then till mid December they're open Wed - Sun inclusive. The times are different for the Palace and Gardens and for the park, and the The Pleasure Gardens (including the Butterfly House and The Marlborough Maze) are different again. Park & Gardens Tickets cost: Adults £10, Concessions £7.50, Child £5 and Family £25.

There's more info including full opening times on the Blenheim Palace website.

Page last updated May 2009