This week Dixter is hosting a touring garden symposium group
from North America. Fergus is very keen for the students of Dixter to
experience many different educational opportunities. As it happens there was space
in the group and gave permission for us to visit Sissinghurst for a private
tour before the gates opened to the public. What an exciting rare opportunity,
I skipped on the bus grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Sissinghurst is and will always be Harold Nicolson and Vita
Sackville-West’s creation. It began in the 1930s through the acquisition of an
Elizabethan ruin and is now under the management of the National Trust.
Sissinghurst is held dear in the hearts of millions worldwide as the template
of the 20th-century romantic English country garden.
Sissinghurst has recently appointed a new Head gardener
after the retirement of Alexis Datta. We were to meet Troy Scott Smith. I had
seen Troy visiting Dixter and knew of his reputation from Bodnant gardens, so
this was equally exciting for me as a young gardener. Troy spoke openly and honestly
about problems in managing a large garden with a high annual footfall.
Many puritans argue that Sissinghurst has lost Vita’s
‘amateur’ charm and the spirit is extinguished through over gardening, the
grounds are too tidy. Great advice I will take from Troy is be critical in your
work, question everything and base your actions accordingly.
Sissinghurst
employs the equivalent of 6 full time gardeners and on average expects to
receive 170,000 visitors each year.
As this was my first visit to Sissinghurst I was captivated
by the beauty of the backdrop the garden resides in. The historic architecture
the mature pristine yew hedges dividing the garden rooms and focusing the eye
to key focal points. The flow of the garden just feels right and sits within
the surrounding farmland, woodland, countryside beautifully. I would love to
experience working in this environment one day.
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