Bressingham Gardens
Bressingham, near Diss, Norfolk
Nurseryman Alan Bloom's Norfolk gardens, home of the Dell Garden's island beds of perennials and Adrian Bloom's Foggy Bottom, a source of practical planting ideas for every season.
Visit information checked 22 October 2026
Garden UK guide
Why visit Bressingham Gardens?
Bressingham is a place to see how hardy perennials can be grown in a way that suits ordinary gardens. The gardens grew out of the work of nurseryman Alan Bloom, who championed the island bed, a free-standing border you can walk all the way round. Instead of a long border backed by a wall or hedge, plants are grouped in beds set into grass, so they get light from every side. Walking among them is the clearest way to understand the idea.
The Dell Garden is the heart of Alan Bloom's planting, with island beds packed with perennials. Next to it, Foggy Bottom is the garden made by his son, Adrian Bloom, and it shows a different approach, with conifers, heathers, grasses and shrubs chosen for colour and shape through the year. Between them they cover both summer flower and winter structure, which is useful if you are planning a garden that needs to look good beyond June and July.
Bressingham is also known for its steam museum, which Alan Bloom developed alongside the gardens, with narrow gauge railway lines and a collection of engines. Check the official website to see which parts are open and what each ticket covers before you set off. Take a notebook: the plant groupings here, set out by height and season, are the kind of thing many visitors go home and try.
What to see
- The Dell Garden, Alan Bloom's island beds of hardy perennials.
- Foggy Bottom, Adrian Bloom's garden of conifers, heathers and grasses.
- Island beds you can walk right round, an idea that is easy to copy at home.
- Planting chosen for winter colour and shape as well as summer flower.
- The Bressingham steam museum and narrow gauge railways beside the gardens.
Bressingham Gardens through the year
- spring
- Perennials push through in the island beds, while the conifers and heathers of Foggy Bottom give colour as the borders fill out.
- summer
- The Dell Garden's island beds are in full flower, the best time to see Alan Bloom's perennial planting.
- autumn
- Grasses and late perennials take over, and foliage colour starts to show in Foggy Bottom.
- winter
- Foggy Bottom was planted with winter interest in mind; check the official website to see whether the gardens are open.
The story behind the garden
Alan Bloom established the gardens at Bressingham, a village just north-west of Diss in south Norfolk, in the 1940s. A nurseryman by trade, he became known for the island bed, a way of planting hardy perennials in free-standing beds set in grass, and the Dell Garden is where that approach can be seen at its fullest.
Over the following decades the site grew. Alan Bloom developed several narrow gauge railway lines with a range of steam engines and vehicles, and the steam museum became an attraction in its own right, later joined by a Dad's Army exhibition. His son Adrian Bloom created the neighbouring Foggy Bottom garden, using conifers, heathers and other plants for interest in every season. Together the two gardens show two generations of one family's ideas about how to plant a garden.
Plan your visit
- Best for
- Gardeners who grow hardy perennials and want practical ideas for island beds and year-round colour.
- Getting there
- Bressingham is about two miles north-west of Diss in south Norfolk, on the A1066 between Thetford and Diss.
- Before you go
- The gardens and the steam attractions may have different opening arrangements, so check before you go. The official website has current opening times and tickets.
Source: Wikipedia: Bressingham
Questions about visiting Bressingham Gardens
Who created Bressingham Gardens?
The gardens were started by nurseryman Alan Bloom in the 1940s. He made the Dell Garden with its island beds of perennials, and his son Adrian Bloom later created the Foggy Bottom garden alongside it.
What is an island bed?
An island bed is a free-standing border set into lawn, so it can be seen and reached from all sides. Alan Bloom made the idea popular at Bressingham, and the Dell Garden is a good place to see how plants are grouped by height within it.
Is Bressingham Gardens the same as Bressingham Steam Museum?
They share the same origins, since Alan Bloom developed both the gardens and the steam railways at Bressingham. Check the official website to see which parts are open on the day you plan to visit and what your ticket includes.
When is the best time to visit Bressingham Gardens?
Summer is best for the perennial island beds in the Dell Garden, while Foggy Bottom was planted to give colour from conifers and heathers in the colder months, so there is something to see across much of the year.
Garden features
Location
Bressingham, near Diss, Norfolk
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