A day out in Sissinghurst Castle Garden

Spring truly is the best season in the UK in my opinion. I love how nature comes back to live with all these lush green colours and blossoming trees after what seems like an endless winter, especially this year.

England is also full of beautifully designed gardens that are particularly pretty in spring. I didn’t want to miss out on this special season, so I did some research on where to find the most beautiful spring gardens. As it turns out, Sissinghurst Castle Garden is basically the English garden to visit in spring. It is a National Trust property located in the county of Kent, also called ‘The Garden of England’.

The garden we know today is mainly the work of poet and gardening writer Vita Sackville-West and her husband Harold Nicholson, who moved to Sissinghurst Castle in 1932. The castle was originally built in the Middle Ages but nothing remains today of the original house except for parts of the moat. By the late 16th century, an affluent family called Baker transformed the castle into a magnificent Renaissance courtyard house and added the tower at its centre.

Sissinghurst Castle Garden is designed as a series of ‘rooms’, each very different in their planting scheme, colours and scent. The walls are high clipped hedges and brick walls. You can basically discover various parts of the garden by walking through rooms and even ‘doors’. It is also possible to climb the tower, where you can find an exhibition space with Vita’s personal study and enjoy splendid views across the area.

We went to visit Sissinghurst on a Saturday and it was quite busy, which is probably due to the fact that the garden is designed in ‘rooms’ and sometimes it felt a bit crowded in these enclosed spaces. But I can still highly recommend visiting the gardens, especially if you’re interested in gardening, plants and flowers. You can even stay in one of the houses. The Priest’s house is available to hire through National Trust cottages.

Sign up to my email list and receive notifications of new posts straight into your inbox.

[mc4wp_form id=”4044″]