Where's the best place to see the turning of the leaves? Ickleton's Caldrees Manor, opening with the National Garden Scheme this month

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Few of nature’s displays are more dramatic than autumn’s turning of the leaves. The grounds of Caldrees Manor, Ickleton, which open this month via the National Garden Scheme, put on an unrivalled show: famed for its trees, the several-acre plot includes a grove dedicated solely to the Japanese Maple, properly Acer Palmatum, with 120 varieties featured.

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Also home to woodland walks, streams, waterfalls and ponds, as well as a wildlife garden, wildflower meadow and unusual statuary, Caldrees opens on October 16, 10.30am to 3pm, with tickets £6 either in advance or on the gate. As always with the NGS - which sees some 3,500 private gardens open their gates across England and Wales annually - proceeds go to nursing and caring charities, notably Macmillan Nurses, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Hospice UK and the Queen’s Nursing Institute.

“Caldrees is a truly beautiful place,” says Jenny Marks, county organiser for the NGS in Cambridgeshire. “Its garden is renowned for its collection of wonderful trees and the autumn foliage colours should be at their peak for the opening.”

To find out more and to book go to ngs.org.uk/view-garden/37772