On a September morning in 2024, Troy Scott-Smith, head gardener at Sissinghurst Castle took me on an early morning tour of its world-famous garden. As the sun rose, bathing the red Tudor brick walls in a late summer glow, he told the story of its creators – poet/ novelist Vita Sackville-West and her husband, diplomat and diarist Harold Nicolson.

This 1930s gem of a garden, with its different rooms and famous collection of roses, is now owned by the National Trust. Troy explains the challenges of looking after a space created for just one family but now visited each year by many thousands. He tells how he and his team sensitively manage the garden, preserving what Vita and Harold created, while adapting to the changing environment.

I hope this video captures the spirit – maybe that should be the ‘spirits’ – of the place.

Visit www.storytellergarden.co.uk for more on this and other tales from garden history.

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