RHS Wisley

We visited RHS Wisley for the first time yesterday and it was the quickest 2 and a half hours I've experienced in a long time. Originally given to the RHS by Sir Thoman Hanbury in 1903, Wisley has grown from a 60 acre site to a large and diverse gardens covering 240 acres.

We only covered a small part of the gardens yesterday, but could have easily spent much more time than we did just in that small part. We saw the canal, conifer lawn, walled garden and views of the rock garden. Most of our time, though, was spent in the extensive Wild Garden. I was delighted that such an important and popular garden would provide such a large area to a wild garden - and with all things the RHS show how it can really be done. So much so, it seems that people have been taking some of the plants. It's unfortunate, but I can see why. There is such a range of plants in the Wild Garden and it's great to see that it gives the impression of being wild - no formal borders here!


The only disappointing thing was that we went on Easter Sunday, so the gift shop was closed! But to make up for that we saw wonderful waves of Muscari 'Peppermint' and ended up following the Jays around the garden and spending a lot of time near one of the ponds watching a Wren collecing nesting material in the form of moss.

I could see myself in some of the people there, or at least my previous self. They were just wandering around, not stopping to really look, just seeing the blocks of colour as they made their way around the gardens. But that's the great thing about this garden.

Whether you just want to say you've been to Wisley, just see blocks of colour, or really take time to focus on a small part of the garden and notice the perfection and imperfection of the plants, flowers, and wildlife; RHS Wisley provides. And it lets you know that whatever your reasons for coming to the gardens and whatever you enjoy there, it's ok.

We're already making plans to go back. Even with the gift shop shut - It was that good.