Garden Tour – Sissinghurst Castle Garden

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Edwin Lutyens, Gertrude Jekyll, Great Dixter, Harold Nicolson, Lawrence Johnston, National Trust, Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Vita Sackville-West

Sissinghurst’s tower from the cottage garden

The buildings and ruins of Sissinghurst Castle maybe noteworthy attractions themselves, reminders of Elizabethan Britain but it is the gardens, created in the 1930s by the author, Vita Sackville-West, that people flock to see. Described in my Good Gardens Guide as, ‘one of the outstanding gardens of the world’, we hadn’t initially planned to visit but it seemed to crazy to be so close and not see such a prestigious garden.

Clipped hedges, strong lines and sculpture

Now under the care of the National Trust the 9 acre garden and surrounds are undeniably beautiful, a true evocation of an English garden. Inspired by the gardeners of the day; Edwin Lutyens, Gertrude Jekyll and Lawrence Johnston, Vita and her husband Harold Nicolson set about creating a garden that was, as Vita described, ‘Profusion, even extravagance and exuberance within the confines of the utmost linear severity’. Vita was self-taught but word of her accomplishments spread and, although known as a poet and novelist, she went on to write a gardening column for a national newspaper and produced a series of popular gardening books. Visitors have been coming to Sissinghurst’s gardens since 1937 where they would put a shilling in a tin, often walking around the gardens as Vita and Harold gardened.

The white garden

Famous for its ‘rooms’ in which separate gardens were created, immaculately clipped hedges form the walls and corridors and the backdrop to the romantic planting schemes within. There are roses at every turn and areas with particular colour themes, such as the yellow and orange cottage garden and the most famous area of Sissinghurst, the white garden. The lawns are pristinely striped and vistas have been created to catch the eye, finishing with focal point sculptures and statues that they both collected on their foreign travels.

I loved this old gate and the plants around it.

Paths wend through the garden taking you to different areas such as the shady nuttery and the only herb garden I’ve visited where you can smell the aroma of the herbs without having to touch the plants. There was a meadow area along the lines of Great Dixter but it has yet to achieve the same diversity of species, and thus, the same visual impact. It was still teeming with insects and was probably where the little creatures that took a fancy to my calves were lying in wait. Only now, a week, several antihistamines and steroid cream applications later is my leg returning to normal. I’d be no good on safari in Kenya!

The rose garden

It’s possible to walk alongside the moat, the only remaining part of the original Saxon manor house, the first recorded building on this site and look across the orchard to the medieval tower that forms such an integral part to the garden. Just like at Great Dixter the buildings provide the gardens with a stunning backdrop and add another dimension to the garden by allowing visitors to view the garden from above, if they are prepared to climb the 78 steps of the tower. I loved this aspect, a view rarely available to the garden visitor, which meant you could see the ‘linear severity’ of the hedging and paths that Vita had talked about.

Looking down over the gardens from the tower

Outside the garden, in fields behind the oast houses and barns, is the vegetable garden created in 2008 and awarded Soil Association organic status in 2011. Here a mixture of fruit, vegetables and cut flowers are produced to supply the on-site cafe.

However, unlike Great Dixter and Pashley Manor there is a ‘but’ with Sissinghurst. I can’t quite put my finger on it but for a garden described as one of the best in the world I was a little underwhelmed. Horticulturally, it was frustrating to see so much bare earth in such a garden in the height of the growing season. Most evident in the much-lauded white garden which affected the potential impact the garden could have had. I loved the concept and there were areas that worked so well it was just disppointing other parts were so bare. Maybe we wouldn’t have noticed so much but after the exuberance of Great Dixter it was quite striking. There may have been reasons for this but there was nothing explaining the thinking behind this, if there was any.

Pristine stripey lawns

The National Trust in their role as manager of Sissinghurst have a difficult job to do, protecting the gardens for future generations. Do they try to keep the gardens in the form that Vita created them or do they allow the gardens to evolve? I don’t have too much problem with ‘historical gardens’ as such, as long as the visitors know what they’re getting. You would expect to visit a museum and see objects with information putting them into context and, in the same vein, I feel an historical garden needs the same information. Of course, the dilemma then is how to convey this knowledge in an unobtrusive way. I feel though, that at present Sissinghurst is in a bit of a limbo, not sure how the gardens should be treated.

Gazanias zinging in the sunshine

There are also elements of the National Trust experience that I find increasingly annoying. I love the National Trust; they have saved and protected so many beautiful places for the nation but for those of us that are not members the push to get you to sign up for a year is becoming a bit irritating. And don’t get me started on the food. Yes, I know food again but it was overpriced for what was offered and lacking imagination, which was disappointing for somewhere that had made so much of the organic produce that was being used from the kitchen garden. Haven’t we moved on from a few bits of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber counting as a salad?

Inevitably, the crowds of people have an impact on the enjoyment of such a place. Of course, we were a part of those crowds too but it can feel a little like you’re on some sort of garden tread mill as you shuffle around paths attempting to take photographs and not getting in the way of staff mowing and gardening. The ultimate garden experience for me is somewhere that makes me feel relaxed. Sissinghurst, beautiful and incredibly designed as it is, ended up feeling too much like one of those places on the sightseeing list you cross off. A bit like if you Venice or somewhere similar; you’ll do the touristy bits but then it’s quite a relief to be able to wander off down the little side streets. I’m not sure how this can be addressed at such popular gardens, timed tickets possibly?

The rose garden looking back towards the manor house

Having looked back over the photos I can see why Sissinghurst has such a reputation but it’s a shame other elements of the visit actually spoilt the experience on the day. I’d still recommend a visit, just be prepared for lots of people, even during the week, and take a picnic.

For more information on Sissinghurst visit the National Trust’s website.

Garden Tour – Great Dixter

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Christopher Lloyd, Country Life Magazine, Edwin Lutyens, Fergus Garrett, Gertrude Jekyll, Great Dixter, Perch Hill, Sarah Raven, The Well Tempered Garden

The house at Great Dixter

Great Dixter is a garden both Wellyman and I have wanted to visit for years. It, and visiting Sarah Raven’s Cutting Garden at Perch Hill, were the main reasons for booking this holiday, a sort of garden pilgrimage if you like. The garden of celebrated plantsman Christopher Lloyd, who died in 2006, Great Dixter has long been somewhere lauded by the gardening elite, one of those gardens that should be on on your list to cross off if you want to be seen as a serious garden connoisseur. Sometimes they get it right and you find a real gem, others, you leave wondering what all the fuss was about. I’m pleased to say I found Great Dixter to be the former rather than the latter.

I loved this quirky planting of succulents

The gardens were laid out in the early part of the 20th century by the architect and landscape designer, Edwin Lutyens, who had been employed by Lloyd’s father to renovate the medieval house. Christopher’s mother was a keen plantswoman and introduced her son to one of the most influential gardeners of the 20th century, Gertrude Jekyll. With this sort of background it seems inevitable that Lloyd, himself, would become a gardener but, in fact, he too, became a leading force in the gardening world. For over 40 years he wrote a gardening column in Country Life Magazine and was the author of over 20 books on the subject, most notably The Well Tempered Garden.

The sunken garden surrounded by the barn gardens

After spells away doing National Service and teaching horticulture he returned to Dixter in the 1950s, where he gardened until his death. In the later years of his life Lloyd was aided in the gardens by Fergus Garrett. They formed a strong bond and it is Fergus that continues to manage the garden today. Christopher Lloyd was perhaps most famous for his exuberant planting and his desire to try unconventional colour combinations. He was not afraid to use plants that others would say would clash or be too brash.

I loved this colour combination

I don’t think I’ve ever been to another garden that was so full to bursting with flowers. It was a joy to see so many plants and no bare earth. When you pay to visit gardens like this who wants to see soil in June. His use of colour was at its most evident in the long border with stunning planting designed to provide interest from April to October but with its peak from mid-June to August. His style of gardening is high maintenance to say the least and we were left wondering how anyone could penetrate the borders from summer onwards, such was the density of the planting. To maintain the look of fullness, annuals and bedding are often replaced throughout the summer, sometimes as much as 3 times.

The long border looking towards the house

Meadows play an important part in the gardens at Great Dixter. They are the first part of the garden that greets you as you enter through the gate and walk towards the house. These areas were created by his mother who loved these naturalistic scenes and would spend her time growing wildflowers from seed. To the back of the house are more meadows which are breath-taking in their simple beauty. Meadows better than any I’ve seen in any nature reserve. I don’t think I’ve seen so many orchids in one place. It’s a strange thing to go all this way to a garden and be blown away by the meadows, but we were.

The meadows and topiary

The barn garden and its planting surrounds the sunken garden with its pond and terraces and was beautiful, a sheltered hideaway. This is just one of many areas at Great Dixter where you realise how important the backdrop of the stunning buildings is to the feel of the gardens. The oast houses with their cowls that are such a quintessential part of the Sussex and Kent countryside, the beautiful tiled barns with their oak trusses and the house, itself, all gave the gardens a real sense of place and set about a debate between Wellyman and I as to how important the setting and buildings are to a truly great garden. Would it be possible to create an outstanding garden if the backdrop was a block of flats, or your average housing estate? I’m not so sure.

I love the skeletal form of the dead tree in front of the oast house

There is a well-stocked nursery for those who have been inspired by the planting combinations in the garden. The one downside were the refreshment facilities, which for a garden of such renown were disappointing – a tea/coffee machine and a fridge stocking insipid sandwiches. When Lloyd himself wrote a book entitled the Gardener Cook it was rather a let down and a real sense that the trust that now manages the gardens was missing a great opportunity. Improvements to the visitor facilities are ongoing, so hopefully this element will be addressed, which could bring in much needed revenue.

Mixed borders

This was a minor gripe, though, for such a beautiful place. The most striking feature that I’m left with from my visit to Great Dixter was the sense of the personality of the man who gardened here for most of his life. The quirky, the stubborn, the conventional and the revolutionary were all evident. This element that makes this garden so special, however poses problems for those who are gardening there now and in the future. Is it possible to maintain the sense of a garden’s creator once they have died and for how long? I’m pleased that, although Christopher Lloyd is no longer here, I was still able to experience something of the individual through his lifelong passion, the gardens of Great Dixter.

For more information about Great Dixter.