In November I visited the RHS Garden at Wisley in Surrey. Wisley is the second most visited paid entry garden in the UK after the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (which I have yet to visit). The garden was founded in 1878 on a 60 acre site. It was given to the RHS in 1903 and now covers 240 acres.
When I lived in Hampshire I used to visit Wisley regularly (on average about 4 times a year) but I hadn’t visited since 2015 so I was interested to see what changes had been made in the last 8 years. The first difference I noticed was the entrance which has been moved.
My walk started off around the Seven Acres garden and on to the Glasshouse. The Seven Acres garden is home to wide open lawns, ponds and specimen trees.
The Glasshouse is home to a tender plant collection. It is divided into three climate zones – tropical, moist temperate and dry temperate. A new Orchid House has also been added.
From the Glasshouse, I walked up to the Viewing Mount and then onto the Rock Garden.
The Rock Garden was constructed between 1910 and 1912, and is one of Wisley’s oldest features. It showcases a wide range of alpines alongside weeping trees and dwarf conifers. The steep slope faces north and suits many plants that prefer a cool, shady spot, while sun-loving plants enjoy the more exposed outcrops. There are numerous small paths down and around the rocky outcroppings with little pools linked by streams and cascades.
At the top of the Rock Garden is the Alpine House, the Cushion House and the Crevice garden.
The Cushion House is filled with more than 300 cushion alpines, which grow in tight may or mound forming clumps which are planted directly into tufa rock.
The Crevice garden was constructed in 2010 and it mimics the gaps in natural rock formations to create crevices in which plants can grow. Stones are placed vertically on edge, one behind the other, allowing long, free-draining, cool root runs for alpine species.
After a coffee stop at the World Food Cafe, I walked around the World Food Garden and the Wildlife Garden. These are all new areas since my last visit in 2015. This area, known as RHS HillTop, opened in 2021.
The World Food Garden is just under an acre devoted to growing your own. The Wildlife Garden has an extensive aquatic planting scheme. Almost 200 trees have been planted in this section which is just under an acre.
I moved on to a very familiar area, Battleston Hill, a woodland garden where winding paths take you up and around the hill. But even this has a new feature – Clear Lake. This used to be the trails garden, but is now a man-made lake which was opened in May 2023. The lake, which holds around 9 million litres of water, features a giant fountain which aids water quality, through aeration, and helps reduce the sound of the nearby road. The new trails garden is situated where the garden centre used to be. Various plant trials will be carried out in this area providing the opportunity for multiple varieties of the same plant to be grown together for comparison. They offer an excellent method to judge plant performance.
My walk back took me via the Cottage Garden, Wisteria walk, Walled Garden and the Jellicoe Canal.