Just over the Sussex border, in the adjacent county of Kent, lies the world-famous garden at Sissinghurst Castle, created by Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West from the 1930′s onwards. A series of different gardens enclosed by old brick walls or yew hedges will surprise and delight the visitor at every turn. Of these, the White Garden (at its peak in early July) has become, arguably, the most famous, with the Rose Garden (whose season lasts for the month of June and a little into July) being also much loved by visitors.
In addition to her success as a poet and novelist, Vita Sackville-West inspired a whole generation of amateur gardeners with her weekly gardening column in the Observer newspaper from 1947 to 1961 (she died just a year later in 1962). Having created not only Sissinghurst Castle Garden but also her former garden at Long Barn near Sevenoaks, completely from scratch, she did not consider herself a professional gardener but one who was eager to share the wisdom gleaned from her mistakes and successes in both gardens.
A visit to Sissinghurst could be combined quite easily, in a full day’s outing, with visiting the gardens at Great Dixter created by the great plantsman, Christopher Lloyd.
