I thought I would take another trip to Doddington Place & Gardens. The garden is surrounded by wooded countryside in an area of outstanding natural beauty on the North Downs.
As the shadows lengthen across the immaculate lawns at Doddington Place, one could be transported back 100 years of Kent Life. The lovely landscaped gardens, recognised of being of historical importance by English Heritage, are set in the grounds of an imposing Victorian mansion and cover ten acres. The gardens have been open in aid of the National Gardens Scheme for more than fifty years.
The yews hedges were planted by Maude Jeffreys (née Oldfield) before the First World War. They are now one of the most memorable features of the gardens. 'The yews have evolved into giant mounds like a range of cumulus clouds. They still provide structure and are beautifully maintained in all their eccentricity, yet they are 'soft and full of character' Dan Pearson wrote in the Telegraph Gardening Section.
Over the winter of 2010/11, Kirsty Knight Bruce has re-designed the sunk garden, adding eight new flower beds and moving the pyramid-shaped clipped yews to the south terrace overlooking the park. The beds and borders will be continually changing throughout the summer: beginning with what promises to be a spectacular display of thousands of different varieties of tulips. Followed by alliums, roses, euphorbias and a thrillingly wide variety of herbaceous plants.
The four beds around the central pond will be planted with the annual cosmos 'purity' which should be stunning. So if you fancy a day out to stretch your legs when you can get the sun to come out is a bonus! It's not very far from Sittingbourne in Kent: ME9 0BB.
The Tearoom is a little on the small side, but you can sit outside weather permitting, the ladies are clean and tidy which are located next to the house or behind the tearooms. Entry price is £7 and the car park is parking either side of the main drive on the grass. If you didn't realise you could accidentally not pay, you have to in the tearoom, I didn't try the food, but it looked OK. Watch out for big birds! They do bird displays in the grounds.
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