What a glorious autumn we are having! Well into October and the sun is still shining which made
the last of the autumn flowering plants even more vibrant in the golden light.
I've ventured out of Sussex this month and taken a road trip to Kent... Sissinghurst is a
world famous garden and I had never been before although it had been on my list
of places to see for quite some time. It was designed and gardened by Vita
Sackville-West, a well renowned poet and writer in the first half of the 20th
century. She purchased the stunningly beautiful remnants of the castle in the
1930’s although the impressive towers you see date from the mid 16th
century.
This garden was
forward thinking at the time as it moved away from the earlier formality of
Victorian planting and the generally ‘open’ style of stately homes and large
properties and instead created a series of more intimate ‘garden rooms,’ a
phrase that remains fashionable to this day. It uses large dark hedges to
create vistas and segment the space into different themes.
There was some lovely
colour on display in the form of late flowering perennials and the autumnal
leaves of some of the trees. I particularly noticed that the Asters and Dahlias
were still shining like large gem stones in the muted russet colourings of the
early flowering plants that were now dying back for their winter hibernation.
An interesting quirk
of this garden are the playful features and interesting use of materials that
create little talking points as you move around the different rooms. A bench
made from clipped box is not just decorative but could actually be sat on too.
An area in the herb garden had been paved using what I presume were old
terracotta roofing tiles reused on their side as flooring; I have seen this
done before but I suspect this was one of the first places to use them in this
fashion. These nuances give the garden a more domestic and romantic feel
compared to larger gardens and you can see the eye of a poet at work.
An apple-laden orchard
was so full of fruit it made me rather hungry but luckily being a National
Trust property one always knows there is a decent restaurant at the end. Through
the tress some water could be spotted; a moat surrounds part of the garden and
provides a transition between the structured area and the wilder parkland
beyond. The water is left over from a time when the castle had a moat all the
way around but it now makes an interesting water feature.
For those of you that
like to walk a little further and get some more exercise there are also some
lovely walks around the estate past some lakes, which offer interesting views
back to the castle. This is also good if like me you have a dog who needs a walk
as they are not allowed in the formal gardens. Luckily they are allowed outside
the café for a warming afternoon tea!
Verdict
Worst bits
This is a very well
maintained and thought out garden that I bet looks even better in full summer
when full of flowers. The moat however was looking rather green and unappealing
and some of the areas such as the Orchard were cordoned off.
Best Bits
This is a fairy tale
garden complete with turrets, flags and the plants and layout of a poet, what
more could you want?
