UK’s ‘deadliest’ garden where you are banned from touching the plants

25 June 2024 , 11:04

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The Poison Garden in Alnwick is the deadliest garden in the UK (Image: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Alnwick Gardens is home to the largest collection of European plants in the UK and the largest Japanese Cherry Orchard in the world, but while this complex of gardens is certainly beautiful, there's one section you shouldn't enter without a guide.

The Poison Garden was added to the venue in 2005 and has proved increasingly popular ever since. The garden was thought up by the Duchess of Northumberland, who began the restoration of Alnwick Gardens in 1997.

The Poison Garden is home to around 100 species of dangerous, toxic and harmful plants, including hemlock, deadly nightshade, and opium poppies, which visitors are banned from touching, tasting, or smelling.

The garden is home to around 100 breeds of dangerous plants (Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The garden can only be accessed when with a tour guide, with tours taking place throughout the day. Guides will teach visitors about the plants themselves and some of the world's most high-profile poisoning cases.

Alnwick Gardens has a four star score on TripAdvisor, with the majority of reviewers naming the Poison Garden as one of the highlights of their trip.

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One wrote: "The garden was fabulous with something for everyone, the water features and fountains were breathtaking and a visit to the Poison Garden is a must."

While another added: "Seven of us had a fantastic time. The gardens were not so big as to be overwhelming. Beautifully laid out and immaculately maintained.

The Poison Garden can only be access when with a guide (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

"The highlight of our trip was the guided tour of the Poisoned Garden. Our lady guide was funny, informative, knowledgeable, and incredibly entertaining. Good standard of food and drink in the restaurant and prices were reasonable.Excellent day out."

And a third penned: "We spent a lovely morning in the Gardens. Arrived early as our daughter particularly wanted to do the Poison Garden Tour. This was very good, with just the right amount of information about the plants in the garden, peppered with humorous anecdotes.

"We thoroughly enjoyed it. The main gardens are stunning and even though some areas have now 'gone over' (I imagine they are stunning in the Summer or, in the case of the huge Cherry Orchard, beautiful in April/May) there was still plenty to interest us: magnificent beech hedges/structures, pathways and lovely water features throughout."

Isobel Pankhurst