Book your tickets now to visit eighteen enchanting private gardens in Sway, in aid of Oakhaven Hospice.
The Sway Gardening Club and the Villagers of Sway look forward to welcoming you to Sway Open Gardens, from 11am to 5pm on Sunday, 7th June 2026.
Eighteen beautiful village gardens of different shapes and sizes will be open to visitors at this popular biennial event in the heart of the New Forest National Park.
A free park-and-ride bus will operate on the day, leaving the car park in Jubilee Field every half hour from 11 am and stopping near the open gardens. The last bus will leave Jubilee Field at 4.30 pm.
At Sway Youth Centre, you will find a plant stall offering a huge variety of plants, with a plant ‘crèche’ where you can safely leave your plants while visiting the gardens. In addition, Oakhaven Hospice will be holding a Grand Raffle with lovely prizes to be won, all kindly donated by local businesses.
Visit the village Church Rooms for refreshments, including delicious homemade food as well as hot and cold drinks, and musical entertainment. There will also be refreshments, entertainment and activities in some of the open gardens.
Tickets cost £10 on the day, or £8 in advance; accompanied children go free. All proceeds will go to Oakhaven Hospice. Booking in advance is highly recommended; ticket programmes can be purchased at Sway Post Office and online at: oakhavenhospice.co.uk/sway-open-gardens.
On the day, tickets will be available at the Jubilee Field car park and the Church Rooms. Your ticket for the event will be a detailed event programme, which must be shown by each person to enter each of the open gardens.
Elizabeth Marsh, Chair of Sway Open Gardens, said: “Sway Open Gardens is a wonderful day of celebration in the village. We are grateful to the villagers who open their beautiful gardens in support of Oakhaven Hospice. This joyful event represents the spirit of hospitality, generosity, and the beauty of Sway.”
Oakhaven Hospice currently supports over 600 patients and their families at any time, in the Hospice and in homes throughout the New Forest, Totton and Waterside community. Oakhaven’s specialist hospice care is provided free of charge, yet just 11% of its annual costs are covered by the government. For the remainder, Oakhaven relies on the generosity of its community’s kind donations, fundraising and gifts in wills, along with income from charity shops and its home care provider, Oakhaven Care.
For more information, please visit oakhavenhospice.co.uk/sway-open-gardens, call the Oakhaven fundraising team on 01590 677773 or email fundraising@oakhavenhospice.co.uk.
