Knepp Estate Walled Garden, West Grinstead and Long Barn Gardens, Sevenoaks Weald
Head Gardener at Knepp, Charlie Harpur gave a wonderful talk at the Museum in 2024, the year which saw the release of the acclaimed documentary ‘Wilding’ about the rewilding project at the 3,500 acre Knepp Estate. Knepp is now a complex mosaic of habitats, teeming with wildlife.
We will arrive shortly before 10am and be welcomed with refreshments and an introductory talk before a guided visit of the Walled Garden. This an inspiring example of what can happen if we change our conventional horticultural mindset. The Knepp team engaged with some of the UK’s most imaginative gardening minds to develop what was there: landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith, James Hitchmough (Emeritus Professor of Horticultural Ecology at the University of Sheffield), Mick Crawley (Emeritus Professor of Plant Ecology at Imperial College, London) and Jekka McVicar (organic gardening expert).
Rewilding is not about ‘letting go’, it is about giving nature more space to evolve, intervening judiciously, always looking for greater variety and trying not to dictate outcomes. The potential for our domestic gardens to provide for wildlife and help reverse global biodiversity loss is enormous.
The smaller Kitchen Garden shows how to create greater ecological complexity from the structure of an existing productive garden. The larger Rewilded Garden is more experimental. Tons of crushed waste building materials were spread on the former croquet lawn to create a 3D surface of humps and hollows. The varying soil conditions and different aspects of this new landscape favours a huge variety of plants. There are almost 900 species here, chosen for their ability to thrive with minimum water. As much as possible, nature finds its way, accepting the winners and losers, and flourishing as an open-ended, constantly evolving garden kaleidoscope.
Our visit will end at 12pm.
We will leave on the coach at 12.10pm for the 15 minute drive to Wilding Kitchen where we will be seated at long tables to enjoy the Chef’s Menu lunch which takes the form of a variety of sharing plates showcasing the produce from the Estate. There will be vegetarian options and a glass of wine is included. The coach will leave at 1.50pm for the hour’s drive to Sevenoaks Weald.
Long Barn Gardens were created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson who lived at Long Barn between 1915 and 1932. These gardens are where the pair first gardened together as relative novices before moving to Sissinghurst Castle.
Long Barn is believed to date back to at least 1360 and has had many famous residents. Vita and Harold bought the house on their return from a two year honeymoon in Constantinople – said to have inspired their domes, spires and turrets approach to planting design. Much of the garden remains as they created it and despite its proximity to Sevenoaks, still has views south across the wooded countryside of the Low Weald.
The 3 acre site slopes down from the north with the house half-way up the hillside to the west. There is a large brick-paved terrace still serving its original purpose as a sunny sitting and dining area, just as it did when Virginia Woolf and others stayed. Beyond the terrace is the main lawn, divided into two levels by low walls topped by a clipped Irish yews and enclosed by a yew hedge. Above is a box parterre and below is the Dutch Garden — with a simple pattern of raised, L-shaped beds, originally sketched out for Nicolson by Lutyens. Crossing all these levels at a right angle from top to bottom is a path and a series of short steps, widening as it descends.
The garden is beautifully cared for by the current owners Lars and Rebecca Lemonius with the help of a small team including designer Anna Ribo. Rebecca will greet us at 3pm with an introductory talk after which we are free to wander at will. Her delicious homemade tea and cakes will round off the afternoon. Please be ready to depart on the coach at 4.40pm.
This event has been organised by the Garden Museum’s Garden Visits Committee. We recommend you read our Garden Visits Attendee Charter and Refund/exchange policy before booking your place on any of our Garden Visits.
