The Art of Gardening at Sissinghurst

Mid-April is a busy time - but it’s also key to take time to step back, observe and analyse your borders and plan. Troy shares his top tips on how to do this to get the most from your borders.

From the beautiful setting of the Cottage Garden in mid-April, Troy discusses how to use annuals to extend a border’s season of interest.

Staying in the Cottage Garden, we move on to adding seasonal perennials to add early colour and create the perfect pairing with existing plants.

The tools you use make a huge difference to the results you get. Troy shares the handful of basics that he relies on, along with his approach to weeding and deadheading.

Troy shares the importance of getting ahead with staking to save time later and keep plants looking their best.

In the White Garden in April, we're going to look at how to prune Spiraea 'Arguta' to keep it looking good and flowering well.

We move on to look at the slightly different approaches needed for some less hardy shrubs, including hibiscus, wisteria, figs and Indigofera.

One simple task done ahead of time in April helps to ensure these seasonal stars look their best. Troy shows you his trick for staking that doesn’t detract from the flowers.

You’ll learn how to use hazel stems to create beautiful and effective domed supports for plants, such as peonies, to grow through.

This popular perennial is perfect for shady borders, and Troy’s here to show you how to keep it looking fresher for longer.

Join Troy in the Orchard in mid-April to learn how to do this simple task that can really make a difference to the feel of your garden.

It’s late spring, Troy’s favourite time in the Nuttery, as he shares how to embrace this time of year with seasonal planting.

Clematis are useful and versatile plants that give a lot with little maintenance. Troy introduces you to the different types and how he uses them at Sissinghurst.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how a simple spring task can save time and effort later, and ensure we get the best display from our clematis.

Troy discusses a popular tough, low-maintenance and fast-growing clematis that’s great for easy May colour.

Over the next four lessons, Troy takes you through the process of building up a layered planting plan from scratch. Starting with an overview of the steps involved in planning a new border, discover how to go about researching, evaluating and creating a plant list.

You’ll learn how to put pen to paper on a blank planting plan to start placing the key structural elements, and how to create impact and succession with a golden rule for any border.

Troy explains how to start building up layers in the planting plan, looking at how to group perennials for impact and how to maximise the succession of interest, with examples of popular perennials he’s chosen for his own redesign.

We explore how to add in final details and extend the season of a planting scheme by means of annuals, biennials and bulbs.

Troy discusses redesigning an existing border around the plants that are already there, using examples of their extension of the Nuttery and rejuvenation of a bed in the Herb Garden.

It’s mid-May, and Troy is planting out this popular annual, which will provide flowers right up to the first frosts. He shares his tips for growing and planting cosmos, and how it fits into the planting scheme in the White Garden.

From the backdrop of the magical moment of wisterias flowering at Sissinghurst, Troy shows you how a wisteria can be multifunctional as well as sublimely beautiful, and how to get the most from your own - because he believes there’s a wisteria for everyone.

Troy now looks at bearded irises in more detail, including the full process of lifting and dividing, and why everyone should consider having some in their garden.

In this lesson, Troy heads out into the Sissinghurst Estate to explore how the wider landscape influences the garden and how to make the most of any borrowed views you may have in your own space.

It’s mid-June, and Troy takes us back to the Rose Garden to revisit a dome-shaped rose that was trained in winter to stimulate more flowering. He shares the results and next steps, as well as how to choose roses and pair them with other plants.

Troy brings the course to a close with an encouraging message to set you on your way to applying the knowledge, inspiration and confidence you’ve gained to create an incredible garden of your own.