SISSINGHURST

On June 16th, our U3A Garden Group visited Sissinghurst Castle Gardens. Once again our luck held and we were blessed with a perfect sunny June day. Well done Mary!

The seat of an old Elizabethan Manor House, the restoration work and complete transformation of the gardens by Vita Sackville-West and her husband Sir Harold Nicholson was in many ways a love story.  Purchased in 1930 in a very ruinous state, only the Tower, South Cottage and the Priest’s House were habitable.  Together over the next 7 – 8 years they redesigned the garden into rooms or compartments using existing walls already on the property and by growing a series of hedges.

Entrance to the gardens is through the oldest part of the buildings to the Tower where one can climb up the 78 steps to view the remarkable landscaping of the gardens and surrounding woodland.  As a respite en route, one can stop, view the library, and explore Vita’s rooms and see her gallery of wild flowers together with other works of art.

Back on ground level the white garden excelled itself at this time of the year with excellent displays of white roses, delphiniums, foxgloves together with numerous other varieties of white blooming flowers. Moving on along the Moat Walk to the Herb Garden I was surprised to see the unique way the herbs were grown, mainly planted on stones surfaces, some resembling ungainly seats and round tables having ornate legs in the form of lions, making the gardens attractive in their own right. The Cottage Garden, Harold’s favourite garden, was a profusion of colour. The Rose Garden too, at this time of the year, was at its best.

Sissinghurst is a remarkable garden to visit, not one to be missed and very therapeutic. After a most enjoyable day we all savoured the delights of the Granary Restaurant, or the Coffee Shop together with a most delicious “Ice Cream”.

 Kate Harrison July 14th 2009

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