Hurst Green Gardening Club: Club outing to Borde Hill and High Beeches gardens

On May 11^th, an intrepid bunch of members went on a club outing to Borde Hill and High Beeches gardens, which are very close to each other near Haywards Heath. Members may recall that the Head Gardener of High Beeches, Russel Yates, gave a talk to the club back in March, and this was our return visit to see the gardens themselves.

The group photo - apologies to Jane and Brian who managed
to hare off to the tea room before the photo was taken and who are therefore missing!

Sculpture on show at Borde Hill

Borde Hill was the first stop, as it opened earlier than High Beeches. The garden is a mix of formal gardens such as the Rose Garden for which it is famous, the Italian Garden, and areas such as the Azealea Ring and the Round Dell. There is also a newly planted Midsummer Border. Although it was a little early for the Rose Garden to be in bloom, the potential of this section of the garden was very obvious and there was still a good deal of interest for the visitors. Borde Hill also has an exhibition of sculptures throughout the gardens, which led us around the areas nicely and added even more things for us to see (it is being held until the end of September). Personally, I found the metal dragon exceptional, and was only saddened by being unable to afford it!

High Beeches is only ten or fifteen minutes away from Borde Hill by car, and is a woodland style of garden with extraordinary collection of trees, rhododendrons and azaleas. There is also a wildflower meadow, which is billed as one of the best in Sussex and the South ; the flowers were only just beginning to show in this meadow on our visit, and some of the members on this trip will be going back later in June when it is supposed to be at its best. However, the azaleas and rhododendrons were very much at their peak. Although the weather had started off a little murky, with rain threatening (catch a glimpse of our hats at Borde Hill, for example), the sun came out in the afternoon and the sky turned a glorious blue. This made for a wonderful visit after a quick pit stop for refreshment in the High Beeches café - both properties have decent tea rooms serving a selection of snacks and meals.

High Beeches - the view on entry

There can be no substitute for pictures of a garden, and both are highly recommended for visits over the next few months, as you can see from the photographs illustrating this post. A big thank-you to the drivers for this event, and we hope that more members will take up the opportunity to come on the visits – this one was very friendly and enjoyable, and they make a good opportunity to socialise with other members and get to know them.

Details may be found at www.bordehill.co.uk and www.highbeeches.com respectively.