Gardens of Kent and Sussex

We depart from our pick-up points in London and Gatwick and head towards Kent and our first visit, Great Comp Garden – a beautiful seven-acre garden with many beautiful and rare shrubs, perennials and other hardy plants. This Kent garden is a plantsman’s haven. The year starts with hellebores, followed by magnolias, rhododendrons and azaleas, then the remainder of the year follows with rare and exotic shrubs and perennial plants such as the huge collection of salvias. There are areas of formal and informal plantings linked with meandering grass paths and ruins homing in on an Italian Garden.      
From here we continue to the magnificent Lullingstone Castle. A historic family mansion dating back to the time of Domesday, frequented by Henry VIII and Queen Anne, the manor house and garden are set in the beautiful Darent Valley. The garden was designed by horticulturist Tom Hart Dyke, a modern day plant hunter who follows in the traditions of plant hunters who used to risk their lives and limbs in pursuit of fantastic blooms and plants. He was held captive for nine months by Colombian guerrillas in 2000 and on his release he created the World Garden of Plants, which continues to grow and build each year adding rare and important botanical plants to its collection.
We continue to our hotel, the 4-star Donnington Manor Hotel, Sevenoaks. Dinner will be served in the evening.

This morning, after breakfast, we will set off for the Sussex Prairie Garden at Henfield. Surrounded by mature oak trees, this eight-acre garden consists of a series of interlocking arcs of large planted borders in a naturalistic style, reminiscent of the work of the great Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf. The plantings consist of generous drifts of herbaceous perennials, planted in a free flowing style, which contrasts leaf forms, stems, stalks, flower shapes and textures. Colours are soft and muted and complement the natural landscape.
We continue to Nymans Garden, an outstanding plant collection in an inspirational setting. This theatrical garden design, created by the Messel family, is one of the finest gardens in Sussex and still retains much of the personality of the family who created it. There are many rare and exotic plants combined with a pinetum, walled garden, Italian garden and woodland walks. Lunch is available here (not included).
We return to the hotel in time for dinner.

This morning after breakfast, we are privileged to have an ‘early-bird visit’ to the magnificently manicured gardens of Sissinghurst. This famous garden was created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson from 1930 onwards and became the most admired English Garden of its time. Few great gardens live up to their reputations so effortlessly as this.  Sissinghurst is a large connoisseurs’ garden consisting of a series of small romantic areas enclosed by the surviving parts of an Elizabethan mansion. It never disappoints its visitors, it has the power of enchantment, but it is also an unending source of inspiration for all gardeners. Sissinghurst is surely as close to gardening perfection as you can get, and it continues to be one of the most-copied flower gardens in the world. 
We continue to another classic English Country Garden – Great Dixter. The distinguished garden writer Christopher Lloyd (who died in January 2006 at the aged of 84) was the genius behind Great Dixter, with its timbered 15th century house.  Restored by Edwin Lutyens who also planned the garden, Mr Lloyd has firmly put his lively stamp on it. A recent experiment involved installing a summer tropical garden rich in bold shapes and brilliant colours. No gardener could come to Great Dixter without making discoveries and rekindling a zest for gardening.
We return to the hotel in time for dinner.

This morning after breakfast we will leave the hotel and head for Wakehurst Place Gardens, near Haywards Heath, which was the most visited NT property in 2009-10. The gardens, set in 180 acres, are now managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. Wakehurst Place boasts a walled garden with cottage style garden plantings, a water garden with a mixture of plants growing in and around the water and the Himalayan Glade with a collection of azaleas and rhododendrons, however the main feature is the collection of trees and shrubs. In the summer months we can expect to see many delightful brightly coloured plants.
We depart for Perch Hill, the garden of writer and broadcaster Sarah Raven, where we will enjoy lunch followed by an exclusive guided tour with the Head Gardener. Once a rather ramshackle ex-dairy farm with a lot of concrete, corrugated iron and not much else; the land has been converted to an organic 90 acres of new seed and plant varieties. The constant supply of favourite flowers comes from the large cutting garden where the central four beds are filled with hardy and half-hardy annuals and biennials. There are also two purely ornamental gardens at Perch Hill, not dedicated to harvesting – the Oast garden with an extravagant mix of colour and structure and the front farmhouse garden, which is designed to have a calmer feel.
We will return to your original pick-up points late afternoon.