Autumnal Wander through Sissinghurst Castle Garden: The once-famed structure of Harold Nicolson resurfaces amidst scattered apples, as autumn's bounty attracts diverse wildlife.
In the picturesque village of Cranbrook, Kent, the Sissinghurst Castle garden undergoes a beautiful transformation as autumn arrives. The garden's address is Biddenden Road, nr Cranbrook, Kent TN17 2AB, and its website is nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst.
Autumn is an appropriate time to prune formal hedges such as the yew and box hedging that frame garden rooms like the White Garden at Sissinghurst. This helps maintain their formal shape and prepares them for winter. The bulk of the hedges are cut between 1 August and 1 November to ensure a neat and tidy appearance.
When it comes to dahlias, the traditional planting time is in late spring or early summer as tubers or young plants. However, in preparation for autumn, dahlias can be cut back to encourage bushier growth and more flowers. When planting dahlias, clear the beds first, plant them in well-drained, sunny spots, and protect them from slugs using natural deterrents like garlic spray. Dahlias prefer poor, well-drained soil and full sun.
While direct specifics for hedge cutting timing at Sissinghurst are not detailed, the presence of formal hedges implies regular pruning in autumn to maintain structure, and dahlia care involves planting earlier in the season with pruning to promote flowering.
As the season progresses, the garden is a spectacle of colour. The low smoulder of sedums in hues of faded Venetian red contrasts with the burning torch of Euonymus alatus*. Wildlife, including hedgehogs, mice, birds, fieldfares, and redwings, feed on the halos of red around trees in the Orchard, caused by fallen apples deliberately left to drop.
The garden is experiencing a shift of mood from the flamboyance of summer to the mellow days of autumn. By spring, not a morsel of the fallen apples remains due to wildlife consumption. For box, the cut is shifted to a late autumn/winter cut to avoid disrupting the overwintering box caterpillar.
Visitors can enjoy the garden daily from 11am-5.30pm, with an admission fee of £17. For more garden-related insights, follow Troy Scott-Smith on Instagram @troyscottsmith1.
Hedge cutting remains a key autumn task at the garden. Cutting the hedges any sooner than the start of August may tempt them to grow again, while cutting them any later than the beginning of November may expose new, young shoots to frost. Thus, for autumn at Sissinghurst Castle, hedge cutting focuses on maintaining formal yew and box hedges, and dahlias require careful planting in prepared beds with protection from slugs, followed by pinching or cutting back to promote more blooms.
Read also:
- Eliminating the lingering scent of smoke: Cleaning strategies and additional advice
- Epic Tale of Princess Kaguya: A Timeless Classic
- Davao Oriental explores innovative and non-traditional strategies to resolve energy and water shortage issues
- "Exploring potential acquisition of a PRS Silver Sky guitar, a new musical instrument that recently piqued my interest - addressing a dilemma I was previously unaware of in my collection"
