The west London venue has announced its highlights for 2026, including a new space designed to increase the number of schools that can visit.
The leaning hub will feature a new building, revitalised courtyard and planting space and is expected to open in June 2026.
Five times the number of pupils will be able to visit the 350-year-old house and gardens as a result of the development, providing more young people with the opportunity to learn about nature, gardening and where their food comes from.
The Learning Hub will allow Chiswick House & Gardens to host more than 7,000 horticultural and creative learning activities annually.
Links to science and geography
Chiswick House & Gardens welcomes school groups year-round for facilitated workshops and self-led days in the Kitchen Garden.
Workshops take pupils through how food goes from ‘seed to spoon’ in a multi-sensory learning experience. Groups take part in activities including seasonal tasting direct from the garden. Sessions are available for early years, primary and secondary school groups.
Visits have links to science and geography, exploring topics including identification of edible fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers, plants throughout the seasons and the importance of the water cycle & rain for humans and plants.
Other highlights for school groups
The Grade I listed gardens date back 350 years and have been open to the public since 1929. With more than 65 acres, the gardens are home to over 1,600 trees and are said to be the birthplace of the English Landscape movement.
Along with the opening of the learning hub, 2026 will see new features including a spring bulb display in the grass meadow, shady seating in ‘Mulberry corner’ and a living demonstration of the ‘three sisters’ planting method, with sweetcorn, climbing French beans and squashes.
Other highlights include more than 150,000 bulbs planted in the gardens which will begin to flower from January, with the best time to visit being February and March for crocus and daffodils, and March and April for tulips.
From the end of March, hundreds of trees will begin to blossom including apple trees, quinces, an avenue of 44 pear trees in the Kitchen Garden and nearly 400-year-old mulberries.
The walled Kitchen Garden is free to visit and opens to the public for the year on 5th March. There are 175 fruit trees in the gardens and more than three tonnes of fruit and vegetables were grown in the gardens in 2025.
For more information about school visits to Chiswick House & Gardens, go to chiswickhouseandgardens.org.uk.
