A visit to Sissinghurst

I visited the Delos garden today, at the Sissinghurst Estate in Kent. This National Trust property was owned by Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicolson until 1962.

I wanted to see how Dan Pearson’s design and planting was holding up after 5 heatwaves. It still looked stunning and was proving a hit with visitors young and old.

Dan Pearson OBE is a highly celebrated, award-winning British landscape designer, responsible for the modern reimagining of the Delos dry garden at Sissinghurst.

While his wider signature style is more naturalistic, ecological, and a painterly approach to perennial planting, he has become a leading authority on climate-resilient and dry-garden design. His planting palette for Delos covers different climate zones to cope with the land topography without needing to water. The result is sun-baked terraces with a cooler, shady ‘ravine’ to emulate a Mediterranean gorge.

It survives UK droughts and hosepipe bans because the soil is different….in fact, it is not soil at all! What we expect in our own gardens is a mix of clay, sand and silt. Here it is 60cm of free-draining grit and aggregate, more akin to an arid rocky scrub land in Greece.

Species such as rockrose, cypresses, and phlomis rely on deep, naturalised root resilience.

For planting in a similar substrate in Kent or Sussex, plants need to be supported after planting in spring, so they can adapt to create this deep root resilience.

What we can learn from the Delos garden:

• Free-draining root zones: Beds are terraced and built with sharp grit and crushed brick to prevent winter wet-rot on dry-loving roots.

• Silver and hairy foliage: Plants like Greek horehound and Stachys feature downy or reflective leaves that bounce harsh light and minimize moisture loss.

• Aromatic oils: Tough shrubs like rockrose and thyme hold volatile oils that reduce transpiration during baking summer heat.

• Ephemeral self-seeding: Short-lived annuals and poppies drop seed in gravel to naturally cycle through wet and dry seasons without human intervention.

Tips for planting in Kent and Sussex

1. Study the design strategies and plant palettes used by Dan Pearson at Sissinghurst.

2. Visit regional dry-planting pioneers like the Beth Chatto Gardens in Essex for proven gravel-gardening templates.

3. Read specialist insights and climate-resilient updates from senior staff via the Sissinghurst Castle Garden Facebook page.

4. Observe natural pairing behaviours between structural evergreens (cork oak, myrtle) and low-lying perennials (euphorbias, salvias).