Gardens and Friends

It’s been an eventful week of covering hundreds of kilometers, starting from Portsmouth and making our way to visit our dear friends Charles and Lissa in St. Andrews.

Believe it or not, it was very well planned and we had a long list of gardens to visit that eventually had to be shortened.  After hurriedly checking out of our less-than-pleasant accommodation in Portsmouth, picking up a rental car and heading east, we embarked on three days filled with spectacular garden visits. We drove through narrow tree lined country lanes , cute villages and rolling countryside and stayed in typical English house accommodation, ate in local pubs, all of which turned out to be amazing.

The garden visits at Knepp Castle, Sissinghurst, and Great Dixter were all exceptional. I follow many English garden designers, and Tom Stuart-Smith had created an astonishingly biodiverse rewilding garden within the walled garden of Knepp Castle. Recycled crushed concrete and masonry had been used for the undulating landscape which was planted with dry tolerant plants.  Dan Pearson had crafted a similar dry landscape garden called Delos at Sissinghurst, recreating what Vita Sackville–West and Harold Nicholson had initially envisioned. Again is was so so interesting – especially when Philip and I are gardening in a dry landscape in Central Otago.

I fondly recalled visiting the White Garden in 1996 with my son Matthew when he was just nine years old; I didn’t expect to it to have the same peace and quietness  – but the schools are back and mass invasions have slowed down.

However, undeniably Great Dixter was magnificent . The planting was dense, the combinations so clever and the height of everything enormous. Fergus Garret the head gardener here is an icon and students come from all over the world to have scholarships under him and carry on the gardening philosophy of its creator Christopher Lloyd. 

Its always so much fun to stay with our friend’s Susan and Tom in London – but this was only a one night stop – basically to pick up our daughter Hannah’s pack ( as you do ). It gave us an opportunity to go to Wisley RHS garden on the way – unbeknown to us the Flower show was on and Good Heavens – we were in car park 5 and they had 8,000 visitors for 3 days in a row. We were keen to see the Piet Ouldolf planting – the borders were wonderful, but already he has planned a new garden. On the same site. The new Kitchen garden was so motivating and hopefully we gained lots of ideas to try and recreate

Tom and Susan’s hospitality is always special. After being restored with an Aperol Spritz or two on their balcony over looking London, a beautiful Susan meal, glasses of wine from Thomas – plus our washing done and substantial breakfast we headed off on a 3 hour drive to Chatsworth house. 

I did come here a few years ago with my friend Ann – but the flower show was on, so we didn’t get into the house or grounds . So as you would expect the house is enormous and magnificent – but  we both don’t really relish in the opulence and extravagance of the interiors and the vast collections of art, sculpture etc. However, there was an exhibition of modern art through the house and an indication of the new Duke occupying the house.  

Tom Stuart–Smith crops up again and has designed swathes of natural planting between stands of trees looking down on the estate. It was extraordinary, as was the Kitchen garden and the biggest boulder garden I have ever seen . Our 4 hours and over 10,000 steps was a great afternoon. Chatsworth is undoubtedly a massive tourist attraction – but the outer gardens were peaceful and quiet. It comes with restaurants, cafes, shops, has its own farm shop  and must employ hundreds of people. 

Sheffield  was only 30 minutes away and again the Alastair Sawday site came up trumps with a wonderful small hotel called “ Brocco on the Park “ It was perfect in every way. Tastefully decorated , generous extras and a delicious Tapas meal at night. Why Sheffield many have asked us. Again I follow a guy called Nigel Dunnett . A lecturer in landscape at Sheffield  University – he has been responsible for creating the Grey to Green scheme in Sheffield it’s the UK’s longest truly “green street” – at 1.6km, occupying the length of an inner city dual carriageway, reclaiming space for walking , rain gardens and bio swales and effectively reducing four lanes of traffic to two.

Unfortunately, our visit coincided with heavy rain and congested roads. When you’re navigating unfamiliar territory, it’s often best to simply move on. We had a long day of driving ahead to reach St. Andrews, with a brief stop at Lowther Castle. I had been there before but wanted to take Phil their. Although we initially took a wrong turn off the M1, we ended up on a breathtaking drive through farmland that resembled a lush patchwork, separated by endless rock walls. The Yorkshire Dales stretched out on one side, and hills of the Pennines on our right. It was an unexpected treat and well worth our navigational mishap.

Lowther Castle, while enjoyable, didn’t quite match the splendor one might expect at this time of year. The original gardens designed by Dan Pearson in front of the demolished castle remained impressive, but his new garden, which I thought would be complete, had barely begun to take shape. Nevertheless, it provided a chance to stretch our legs with a leisurely walk before embarking on another three-hour drive to St. Andrews.

Two nights and one day with our dear friends Charles and Lissa Barkla. They not only were our neighbours in St Clair for 10 years. But, Charles was my guide in the Italy / France tour and Scotland for 8 years. Tragically Lissa’s life of golf, bridge and a myriad of other activities involving family and friends was halted in 2021 by a severe stroke. She is remarkable as is Charles as they manage their new life in St Andrews . We were accepted with their usual generous hospitality and thrilled we could go for lunch to the local famous garden of Cambo – which has the national collection of snowdrops (need to be here in February) – how life can be altered in a second. Charles and Lissa are inspiring and we felt so grateful to spend time in St Andrews with them and the new very cute puppy ‘Bertie’.

so … From Portsmouth to St Andrews in 7 days, 8 inspirational gardens, 3 nights with friends , 3 nights in fabulous accommodation , 1 night in a ghastly 2 room airless flat. Some very nice meals , shitty sandwiches and many not so good coffees.

It’s Italy next. On tour with a great bunch and I can’t wait.