Hidden in the English countryside of Sussex sits Gravetye Manor, a historic Elizabethan property surrounded by a gorgeous 35-acre garden. Now a luxury hotel, Gravetye was once home to one of the most influential horticulturalists and garden writers of the 19th and early 20th Century, William Robinson.
When William acquired the property in 1884, it was just the beginning of his 50 years of garden experimentation. As the only garden he ever built, this is where he laid down principles of wild gardening, created one of England’s most astounding kitchen gardens, and set out a style rebelling against Victorian garden norms, something that hugely influenced the Arts and Crafts Gardens movement.
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Gravetye Manor’s walled kitchen garden from above
(Image credit: Mark Bolton courtesy of Gravetye Manor)
Harvest Season Galore: Feeding the Estate and its Guests
I was fortunate enough to visit Gravetye Manor right in the middle of October. Touring the garden with Head Gardener Tom Coward, it’s apparent how enthused he feels at this time of the year when the walled kitchen garden is in its prime.
‘William moved the kitchen garden three times before he decided this is the perfect spot,’ Tom tells me.
As I enter through the garden gate, I’m instantly in awe. I can’t help but look up and admire the towering elliptical walls.
As my gaze cascades, I’m greeted with large vegetable beds housing neat rows of cabbage, lettuce, beetroot, and all the other offerings of fall crops. In one patch, two of Gravetye’s seven gardeners are harvesting squash.
There’s also a cutting patch towards the back of the garden, where dahlias of all kinds are showcasing their best colors. Other fall staples, including rudbeckia and asters, infuse a seasonal feel to the space. I’m delighted to later find lots of cut flowers on display inside Gravetye Manor, too, creating a sense of the garden being an extension of the home.
Fall blooms can be spotted throughout the kitchen garden at Gravetye
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
Tom points out a small hole in the lowest wall of the garden – easy to overlook, but a feature that reveals the story of its original design.
‘This is a really fascinating piece of engineering,’ Tom says. ‘We’re on a south-facing slope, and when cold air sinks, the oval-shaped walls funnel it out through this hole. It’s called a frost gate. Meanwhile, warm air, being less dense, stays inside the garden.’
The effect creates a microclimate ideal for growing crops – a technique William carefully developed after studying the land at Gravetye for 20 years and completing the walled garden around 1900.
Neat rows of root vegetables are ready for harvesting in fall
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
But the kitchen garden hadn’t been consistently productive since William’s time. After his death in 1935, it fell into disrepair, and decades of neglect allowed weeds, brambles, and thistles to take over.
Restoration began in 2010, when Tom joined Gravetye. ‘When planning the kitchen garden, we looked at its heritage, how to make it productive, and its aesthetic value,’ he explains. ‘Very little is documented about how it originally looked, which has given us the freedom to leave our own mark.’
He adds a personal touch: ‘I know pears were William’s favorite fruit – I learned that from the son of Percy Picton, his gardener. Back then, nobody was allowed to prune the pear trees; William would bring in a specialist once a year.’
Pears can still be spotted throughout the garden, many espaliered in classic patterns. ‘This design is a nod to Great Dixter, another Sussex garden where I worked,’ Tom says. ‘The espaliered trees, the Comice pears there would screen the vegetable beds behind – it’s a classic approach. It frames the beds and establishes permanent crops in the garden.’
Espaliered fruit trees provide both structure and beauty at Gravetye
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
Adding to this structure, apple stepovers line the paths and passages between the vegetable beds.
‘Growing apples was probably one of my first passions,’ Tom says, plucking one from the stepovers and taking a bite. ‘I started my career at a fruit nursery on the Isle of Wight. I love that apples are delicious to eat, but they’re also beautiful plants.’
Gravetye’s collection of apple trees extends beyond the kitchen garden. The orchard here has over 60 varieties, harvested for cooking and juice.
‘The orchard has been very productive this year – we’ve made around 2,000 liters of juice from everything that can’t be used for cooking,’ Tom notes.
‘My top tip for growing apples is to pick a variety you enjoy eating. Start with a dwarf tree, not a big one, so you’re not overwhelmed,’ he advises.
A personal favorite of Tom’s is ‘Howgate Wonder’. ‘It’s an apple that originates from the Isle of Wight in the 1910s, and it’s one of the biggest apples you can get, creating some of the best juice,’ he describes.
‘This garden is special. Sometimes the world is a difficult and frightening place. But, every time I come in here and shut the gate, it’s almost like it goes away,’ – Tom Coward
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
It’s hard to ignore the exquisite scents as you walk through the kitchen garden, especially from the aromatic herbs growing here. Many are positioned next to the main walkway, so your nostrils are filled with rosemary, marjoram, oregano, and more as you brush past.
‘Growing food in William’s day was essential. It was just how people survived,’ Tom says. ‘Especially when you look at William’s youth, you can understand how important it was to him. William was born in Ireland and he was born poor. The Great Hunger began when he was about seven years old. This informed his passion to create such an abundant walled kitchen garden, fostering some self-sufficiency.
‘Kitchen gardens like this became prominent during the Industrial Revolution to keep people fed, and this is one of the last of its kind,’ he explains, looking around at where the old bones of the garden meet the current fruits of his labor.
A Kitchen Garden for Today: The Gardener-Chef Relationship
Today, the walled kitchen garden is fundamental to the running of the hotel, supplying the award-winning restaurant with organic crops.
Executive Chef Martin Carabott has been at Gravetye Manor since April this year, and Tom emphasizes just how important it has been to build the gardener–chef relationship.
‘We’re trying to grow flavors that you simply can’t buy,’ he says. ‘We’re providing flavors that you can only get directly from a garden. We give Chef a unique set of ingredients to work with.’
With each chef that comes to Gravetye, the garden is adapted for their menu, Tom shares. ‘It’s always based around the palate of the chef — that’s the purpose of this space.’
Herbaceous borders line the central pathway in Gravetye Manor’s kitchen garden
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
The garden, being such an invaluable resource, provides some insight into the pristine rows of vegetables.
‘It’s practical yet attractive work,’ Tom says, with all the produce of the garden having its exact place to produce the highest quality.
‘We also have a crop rotation system because if you grow the same vegetable every year in the same soil, you get a thing called replant disease,’ Tom adds. ‘Rotating avoids that and keeps the soil healthy. We also make our own compost to support this.’
When choosing which fruit and vegetables to grow, Tom notes that a mix of heirloom and modern varieties is important.
‘If William Robinson were gardening here now and he was going to plant some apples, he would plant the best apple he could find. That’s the approach we take,’ says Tom. ‘We use heritage varieties, but we don’t let that restrict us because we ultimately just want to produce the best flavor,’ he adds.
Under the canopy of a mulberry tree, you can find William Robinson’s initials inscribed on the wall of the kitchen garden
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
The Birthplace of Wild Gardening: William’s Horticultural Playground
While the kitchen garden may provide brain-scratching symmetry, I notice this garden layout is hard to find elsewhere at Gravetye. And that’s by no mistake.
‘The first time anyone mentioned the term wild gardening was in William’s book, The Wild Garden,’ explains Tom as we walk along Gravetye’s wildflower meadow.
‘With the wild garden, you must have contrast. It’s a fine line between beautiful naturalistic planting and a big mess,’ he adds.
William championed working with the landscape over the formal, repetitive, and rigid gardening that was quintessential to the Victorian garden style.
It’s an idea that became core to the Arts and Crafts Gardens movement, where gardens were seen as relaxed spaces, unified with the home. This is a concept particularly advocated by Gertrude Jekyll, who was deeply influenced by William’s work here.
Tulips form a fundamental part of Gravetye Manor’s flower garden borders in spring
(Image credit: Gravetye Manor)
‘This wildflower meadow is probably the most enduring part of his work. Part of the concept of wild gardening is where you naturalize a plant that’ll spread and take care of itself,’ Tom describes.
Fall crocus have just finished for the season, and in spring, this area is taken over by daffodils, scilla, and tulips.
‘We even consider the orchard a productive wild garden, with thousands of camassia planted beneath the trees,’ Tom says.
This philosophy is also reflected in the hardy perennials and groundcovers throughout the garden, giving it a look of permanence as though it’s been there forever.
Fiery hues surround Gravetye Manor’s flower garden in fall
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
Right outside the house, a sensational flower garden impresses with jam-packed mixed borders – another ideology of William’s that lives on and informs English cottage gardens.
My eyes are immediately drawn to the bright yellows and oranges of dahlias, red hot pokers, and Ipomoea lobata.
‘Very soon, the Nyssa sylvatica will be bright orange in the backdrop of the garden,’ Tom points and smiles. ‘We’re always looking at pinching elements like this from the landscape.’
Other trees for fall color can also be spotted in the natural landscape of the garden: aspen, beech, and maples. It encompasses Gravetye in fiery hues.
‘Orange is an interesting color, it’s so different and stands out in the garden. At this time of year, the oranges, reds, and yellows work so well in the mellow light.
‘In June, the sun is right overhead, and it bleaches everything. These colors don’t work as well, so we would rather use subtle colors,’ Tom continues.
Seasonal cut flowers from the garden are used to decorate inside Gravetye Manor
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
Next to the flower garden, Gravetye Manor stands tall. Large windows overlooking.
‘It was a writer’s garden to William. He didn’t mind if he looked out in October and it was dull because it offered him time to learn about growing something for July,’ Tom explains.
‘Now for our guests, we use successional plantings of annuals and tender perennials, along with mixed herbaceous perennials and shrubs to provide interest throughout the seasons,’ he adds.
The restaurant was added in 2018, protruding into the flower garden. It immerses guests in the borders as they dine and gives them a front row seat to the gardeners at work.
As we pass by, Tom waves to one gardener who is pruning lavender.
‘We were nervous about whether the guests would want to watch us in action, but what’s lovely is that they really enjoy watching what we do from the restaurant,’ says Tom. ‘It’s a really enjoyable way to share the garden with them.’
Continuing Traditions: Using Historic Growing Techniques
Continuing on my tour with Tom, we arrive at a beautiful Victorian glasshouse. It was built in William’s day, but needed some huge restoration to be in usable condition.
Inside, peach trees are planted in beds, trained upwards. Opposite, fig trees are found training up a wall.
‘We grow peaches in the glasshouse out of tradition,’ Tom notes. It’s one of the trees William would have grown ,and the glasshouse provides the perfect environment to prevent issues like peach leaf curl (a fungal infection causing distorted, red leaves, worsened by excessive rainfall).
Tom also lets me in on the secret that you get the very best taste from peaches if they ripen fully on the branch, which this glasshouse environment allows for.
Many of Gravetye Manor’s crops are grown under netting for pest protection
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
It seems the garden at Gravetye Manor has come full circle. Once a blank canvas for William Robinson to define, now a space Tom and his team are making their own, never without William’s founding principles in mind.
‘It’s really quite exciting that we’ve got these experiments and methods from William’s written works. We also have the test of time on our side and can see the results all these years later,’ Tom says.
‘We want to keep experimenting. We do all sorts of things, like trying to grow bulbs from seed, get ground-covers to settle as a habitat, and even cross-pollinate plants,’ he shares.
The flower garden mixed borders are a sea of fall color at this time of year
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
‘In the modern world, working here for 15 years seems like quite a long time. But for the life of a garden like this, it’s just the blink of an eye,’ Tom says.
‘I feel immense responsibility to be the custodian of such an important historic garden. That’s why it’s so rewarding to see people enjoying it and appreciating the craft. But in many ways, I do feel like I have just started here.’
Ideas to Steal from Gravetye Manor
Gravetye Manor is bursting with garden ideas to recreate at home. Even if you don’t have the room for a full vegetable garden or mixed border, there are lots of ways to bring the essence of Gravetye to your yard.
Red ivy growing up the house adds to the fall feeling at Gravetye Manor
(Image credit: Tenielle Jordison/Future)
Naturalize lawns for low-maintenance spring color
Sometimes the endless possibilities for a spring garden can be overwhelming. But, if there’s one trick to take from Gravetye Manor, it’s planting bulbs for naturalizing lawns for a reliable, low-maintenance, returning display.
Many of the best spring bulbs can be planted into a lawn to spread and provide you with a floral carpet. Things like crocus (bulbs from Burpee), daffodils (bulbs from Burpee), and snowdrops (bulbs from Amazon).
Bonus tip: planting successional bulbs will ensure your lawn has interest from early spring right up until fall.
Celebrate the garden indoors
Although William was not directly involved in the Arts and Crafts Gardens movement, much of his planting style at Gravetye influenced it. This includes the idea of the home and garden being a unified space. One of the easiest ways to do this: make floral arrangements with blooms from your yard.
This can involve having a cutting garden raised bed, or simply snipping from your perennial border. For a seasonal twist, why not forage for fall foliage and stems in your yard? Place them along the center of tables to uplift your tablescape for the hosting season.
Practice crop rotation
If you’re planning a kitchen garden for your yard and want to achieve bumper harvests like Tom and his team, it’s important to practice crop rotation.
As Tom explains, this involves rotating where different types of crops are planted to prevent replant disease. This is where a crop struggles to grow in the same spot as before due to a buildup of pests, diseases, and a lack of essential nutrients.
Our expert guide to crop rotation can help you plan a sequence for the fruit and vegetables you’re planning to grow.
Tom Coward
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Head Gardener at Gravetye Manor
Tom has worked at Gravetye Manor since 2010, helping with major restorations of the garden. He has been a gardener since age 15 with a notable previous role at Great Dixter in East Sussex, England.
Beyond Wild Expectations is a new series exploring exceptional public gardens of every scale, from grand formal parterres to intimate community plots. We reveal the design vision, planting choices and defining details that bring the garden to life, and show how each one gives fresh perspectives on how we connect with nature and outdoor living.
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