Sussex Gardens

Sussex gardens, whether large or small, are places of real delight.

My dad, who's is now 86 years old, has just created the most beautiful garden out of a patch of builder's rubble - and all in the last three years! He has no-one to help him, other than me and his reluctant teenage grandsons, who may lend a hand for half an hour about once a year.

He's up each morning just after 6am and, light permitting, he's out in his garden with his cup of tea checking on each newly emerging shoot. Having moved to our Sussex village in 2004, it is staggering to look at what he's achieved. Everything that he's planted has not only grown, but flourished.

Tendrils of Jasmine are entwined around the wooden posts of the small summer house; Clematis montana 'Rubens' scrambles for several metres along the fence; architectural Euphorbia characias wulfenii, like some strange, tropical triffid marks the woodland walkway at the far corner of the garden, and some of his roses flower virtually non-stop throughtout the year.

Carefully pruned wisteria flowering on a house wall in Ditchling.

Our mild climate means that we are fortunate to grow a fantastic range of plants. With careful placing, many semi-tender plants become quite spectacular in our gardens. For example, I have a beautiful Trachelospermum jasminoides variegatum on my patio, against the south-facing wall of our house. It's been there for five years now!

There are many gardens open under the National Gardens Scheme in Sussex; for a full list you will need to get one of their little yellow guide books. I will give details of the ones closest to the Sussex South Downs, around Brighton, Lewes and Eastbourne on this site, but there are many more worth visiting throughout East and West Sussex.

We also have several larger gardens owned by the Royal Horticultural Society or the National Trust. The National Trust also owns several tracts of beautiful Sussex countryside and coastline, which will be explored in other parts of this guide.


Sussex gardens opening for the National Garden Scheme
The National Gardens Scheme was founded in 1927 and raises funds by opening gardens to the public throughout England and Wales. For information about Sussex gardens opening for the NGS during 2007, follow this link.

In early April '08 about 4" snow fell on our Sussex garden in just a couple of hours.
The garden was full of Spring blossom, tulips, grape hyacinths, three flowering and beautifully scented Daphne odora aureomarginata plants and a Magnolia laden with huge pink buds ... then 4" snow fell in just a couple of hours.


BBC film series 'A Very English Village' now available on dvd
If you can't visit the Sussex South Downs just yet, why not have a look at the section about the acclaimed series of films set in and around Ditchling and made by resident film-maker, Luke Holland? You can also purchase the full series or just a couple of the films from this part of the site.