Comments on: Please do not visit Sissinghurst Castle Garden

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:09:55 +0000

I love the gardener’s art as much as the gardens they make. But do you think the roses were ‘superbly’ pruned in Vita’s day? I have a hunch there was a slapdash streak in her nature, though I can imagine that this not extend to the work of those she supervised.

By: Marian

Marian — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 08:11:07 +0000

Last week was my first visit this year to see the superbly pruned roses – an art in itself and the best time to see it is now before leaves and flowers cover the architecture. Of course no visit to Sissinghurst could be complete without a visit to the lovely Sissinghurst Village Shop!

By: Sissinghurst Village Shop

Sissinghurst Village Shop — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:25:30 +0000

Regarding the “sad” vegetable garden – Amy (the Head Vegetable Gardner) does a sterling job with very few resources -please realise the main garden has 8 full time gardeners and a Head Gardener – Amy has only 1 full time assistant and two part time seasonal only assistants.

Regarding the profit of Sissinghurst, it is well known as a “cash cow” and makes far more money than it spends on its own upkeep – this is so that it can subsidise other less profitable National Trust properties. Hopefully this year (2012) the newly re-designed restaurant will speed things up but prices will always be high.

May i suggest a trip to the Sissinghurst Village Shop in Sissinghurst Village, which makes excellent fresh sandwiches and cakes on a daily basis, sells all manner of comestibles which one can then picnic with at the Castle in one of the many picturesque areas of the Estate.

By: C cooper

C cooper — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 09:29:46 +0000

I live not that far from it and we dont go at all now, queue queue queue. I thought it had really gone down hill, the latest custodians should be removed they are doing more harm than good.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 05:16:11 +0000

Thank you for the comments. One has to love Sissinghurst! It is strange that they have not got the vegetable management right. I visited Audley End recently. It is managed by English Heritage and they are making a wonderful job of the vegetables.
A friend, who works for the National Trust, gave me the opinion that they treat gardens as profit centres – in the sense that they make fat profits from gardens and spend the money on other pet projects. I think what happens is that only the money collected from non-NT-members, who pay to visit a garden, goes to the garden management. The garden management teams do not get a share of the membership income. Not sure about this: can anyone say if it is correct?

By: Susanna Clymo

Susanna Clymo — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 19:48:55 +0000

Well, I took foreign visitors there last week, mainly because I was very keen to see the vegetable garden after all the problems Adam and Sarah had in persuading the National Trust to establish it.

I agree with Jennifer Carpenter – we went on 12th July and saw the rather sad vegetable garden, masses of weeds, tiny starved veg, lots of rabbit damage, the only successful plants were heavily protected by netting. I was very taken by their best red lettuce – “Roger” – and a cheerful gardener told me where to buy seeds:

(http://www.tamarorganics.co.uk/)

which I have now obtained and sown. My own allotments are weed ridden, but I expected more from Sissinghurst….

Big contrast when we moved on to the Castle gardens – well watered and weeded and mown and absolutely perfect.

I have to say that I was quite annoyed with the ticket buying system. As a member of the NT I had to stand in line for the “free” tickets, then join another longer line for our guests’ tickets. It was really buzzing by 10.30, and took a lot of time.

I still love it because my children grew up there, and I have watched that garden since 1968.

By: Tom Turner

Tom Turner — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:56:54 +0000

Perhaps we should compile a shedule of when Sissinghurst is likely to be busy and when it is likely to be quiet.

By: Jennifer Carpenter

Jennifer Carpenter — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:42:39 +0000

My husband and I went to Sissinghurst this time last year on a Thursday afternoon, arriving at 2 p.m. It was not busy at all ! There were no queues for the loo, we saw everything easily, but were very disappointed by the badly kept vegetable garden.

By: Susanna Clymo

Susanna Clymo — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 07:46:07 +0000

Living nearby for 20 years, I used Sissinghurst as my back garden, and my children learned to walk there in the 60s and early 70s, and my choir sang on open evenings. We could buy an annual pass for £1 and sit about reading in peace, and fish for tadpoles in the moat.

It is utterly different now. To answer Edward Baker, I suggest staying in the Bed and Breakfast next door to the castle (my children used to work there – it’s now under new management but still exists). That would give you a chance to prowl round the outer buildings in the early morning and late evening, and be among the first to buy a ticket to get closer to the buildings.

By: Edward Baker

Edward Baker — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:29:27 +0000

I am an ancestor of the Baker line. I would be interested in visiting the buildings due to family heritage, rather than the gardens per se. When would it be best to visit Sissinghurst to view the buildings and learn more about the Baker clan without having to fight the crowds? I live in America.

Thanks.