130 years of planting excellence is celebrated at Borde Hill Gardens

Visitors can pre-book access to the Elizabethan Mansion House and view the significant horticultural archive which unlocks the exciting history of the notable rare and unusual plants at Borde Hill. Gathered from explorations around the world from 1893 onwards, the nationally important collection of exotic plants and champion trees continue to represent the very best in British gardening.

Full details and booking information available at: https://bordehill.co.uk/events/130-years-of-planting-excellence/

During the tours, each group will hear first-hand from the Borde Hill Archive team how Col. Stephenson R Clarke was a visionary Sussex horticulturalist who influenced the way we garden today. Groups will then take a guided walk led by Head of Horticulture Harry Baldwin to discover trees and shrubs which celebrate the past, present and future of horticultural planting excellence at Borde Hill.

To honour the Colonel’s contribution to the planting world, a ribbon of 130 rare and unusual trees and shrubs which signify ‘growing for the past and planting for the future’ will be celebrated throughout the formal Garden and Woodland for visitors to enjoy. Heritage plantings of note at Borde Hill include the Chinese tulip tree (Liriodendron chinense), which was the first specimen to flower in a Garden outside of its native habitat in China. Other rare plants in Borde Hill’s nationally important plant collection include

Meliosma beaniana which was bought in the Aldenham Sale and planted in 1932. There are only three specimens surviving in the British Isles today due to the challenges in propagating this rare species, making the plant at Borde Hill even more significant to preserve for the future.

The Emmenopterys henryi, a rare deciduous Chinese tree collected by plant hunter George Forrest in the early 1900s is particularly of note, as there are only a few of the original specimens in the UK to have flowered. The tree was planted in the Azalea Ring at Borde Hill in 1928 and started flowering for the first time in 2011. It’s rare beauty led the tree to be chosen as inspiration for a bold new rebrand for Borde Hill which launched this month and is rooted in Borde Hill’s significant botanical heritage, reimagined through contemporary design.

As well as celebrating the significant heritage plant collection at Borde Hill, the 130 trail will include trees and shrubs planted for the future – those that are adaptable to our shifting climate, as well as being pest and disease resistant to ensure their place for generations to come.

The first planting of the trail began in March, when several Japanese cherries were ribboned up the main drive. Over 30 carefully selected cherry varieties were chosen for their mass spring display but to also honour a close friend of SRC’s, Collingwood Ingram. Collingwood Ingram was revered at the beginning of the 20th Century as the main authority on Japanese cherries and spent most of his life saving rare varieties thought to have been lost, as well as selecting and naming new ones. The start of this trail will feature some of his very best named selections, as well as illustrating the exciting stories and correspondence behind them which are well documented in Borde Hill’s extensive plant archive which totals some 75,000 letters and records from the early 1900’s onwards.

For 130 years, five generations of the Stephenson Clarke family have preserved and enhanced their Garden, Parkland and Woodland which lie on the edge of the High Weald in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Colonel’s sponsorship in the early 1900s of intrepid Plant Hunters, such as Ernest Wilson, Reginald Farrer, George Forrest and Frank Kingdon-Ward, led to the amassing of a global collection. These rare and unusual plants still flourish in the varied soils and microclimates within this West Sussex landscape - presenting visitors today with the ‘world in one Garden’.

The current generation has further enriched this very personal Garden with stunning new ‘garden rooms’, designed by Chelsea Gold Medal winners such as Chris Beardshaw. Wander in high summer through the fabulously scented Jay Robin’s Rose Garden or along the Paradise Walk, a glowing sea of blue and yellow. Together, the garden rooms provide a fitting setting for an unmatched collection in private hands of over 70 champion trees (largest by girth and height).

SRC was described by nurseryman Harold Hillier as ‘the greatest amateur all-rounder in 20th-century gardening’ who influenced the way we garden today by generously donating seedlings, new plants and trees for grafting to nurseries and botanical gardens throughout Britain. It is this generosity and planting excellence which Borde Hill continues today.

Director Jay Goddard (née Stephenson Clarke), 5th generation Family custodian of the Estate, says, “Borde Hill is a vibrant mix of horticultural heritage and contemporary design, where visitors of all ages can find joyous balance in our tranquil setting. Join us this year to celebrate my family’s unbroken commitment to 130 years of the very best in horticulture.”

Find out more at: bordehill.co.uk/events/130-years-of-planting-excellence/

Borde Hill Garden, Borde Hill Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1XPTel: 01444 450320