Driftwood

About Driftwood

When we bought the house 22 years ago, the garden was an exposed, sloping plot, frequently battered by salt-laden winds that sometimes, exceeded 50mph!

It was selected by Plum Pictures (on behalf of Channel 4) as the perfect inspiration for the design of a seaside garden in Exmouth, featured in George Clarke’s brand-new series Beautiful Builds, which aired in August 2025. They paid to use the garden for location shooting in October 2024.

Driftwood has been featured on BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World twice, in 2016 and again in March 2024. It has been the smallest garden listed on the Great British Gardens website since 2017. It has also appeared several times on both BBC South East Today and ITV Meridian News.

2025 marked our fourth very successful year of opening by arrangement only. The garden was awarded a TripAdvisor 2025 Travellers’ Choice Award and has received over 262 five-star reviews. Here are just a couple:
“An amazing private garden that I have been meaning to visit for a number of years so myself and a few other (nine of us) visited today and wow! I have never quite seen a garden like it, the love and work that has been poured into it is obvious; so small but so large at the same time, great planting and interesting objects take up all available space without it being chaotic. Thanks too to Geoff our lovely host the tea/coffee and great cakes added to the lovely afternoon – highly recommended and all the funds collected go to a great cause.” Dawn Draper: 23rd July 2025.

“I almost had the gardens to myself so some luck was involved. They are so rich, each eye full needs time, yet not too dense or messy. The sensitive presence of Geoff was appreciated who was both willing to chat and to leave me in solitude. The experience was wonderfully enhanced by earl grey tea and cherry polenta cake, (though there were other choices) beautifully presented. I sat under a parasol in light drizzle, and there is a summer house for wetter conditions. I will definitely return next season, to be in the gardens in different light and time.” Vibha Donne: 1st August 2025.

In 2024, the garden was featured in Garden Answers magazine (July), a one-hour gardening podcast (July), and the subject of a 20-minute film on Brighton’s Latest TV (also July). Additionally, The Sunday Times published a fabulous feature on 18th August about age-proofing your garden, based on my own.

2023 was our second year of visits by arrangement only. The garden was featured in Garden News magazine (July) and recommended as a coastal garden to visit in the book Designing and Creating a Coastal Garden. Geoff was appointed one of the 500 Coronation Champions by the King and Queen for his fundraising and volunteering. He was also a finalist in Macmillan Cancer Support’s national Outstanding Supporter award. The garden received a TripAdvisor 2023 Travellers’ Choice Award and over 200 five-star reviews.

In 2022, the garden remained open by arrangement and was still very popular. In June, Geoff began a regular weekly full-page gardening feature in The Argus every Saturday. A photo shoot was conducted at Driftwood for a 2023 feature in Garden News magazine, commemorating the 10th anniversary of winning their Gardener of the Year 2012 award for small gardens. TripAdvisor awarded another Travellers’ Choice Award, recognising over 170 five-star reviews.

In August 2017, Alex Reece titled her 8-page feature in Coast Magazine “A Feast for the Soul,” writing:
“Geoff Stonebanks has created a garden full of innovative planting and original artworks — where he serves delicious tea and cake!”

Francine Raymond wrote a feature in The Sunday Telegraph titled “A Garden by the Sea – Small and Perfectly Formed,” closing with:
“I was overwhelmed and charmed, and wondered how so many plants have fitted into such a perfectly formed space? Geoff’s enthusiasm is catching, and he and his amazing garden deserve every visitor that makes their way up his enchanting garden path.”

Francine also noted:
“It’s not just the planting scheme that entices visitors to this Sussex plot, it’s also the tea and homemade cakes.”

Jean Vernon, a colleague at The Sunday Telegraph, wrote in her blog:
“Driftwood is a secret treasure on the coast of East Sussex. It’s the magical garden creation of a man fired by the glory of plants and passionate about life in general. What makes it so special she says? Lots of things, it’s not trying to be something that it isn’t, there are no formal lawns, double herbaceous borders, or parterres here. Geoff has used his blank canvas to paint with his plants, and the effect is an exuberant, intricate tapestry of ideas, textures, plants, and so much more.”

So, come visit this exuberant yet immaculate seaside garden. The dense plantings with no lawn and no exposed soil are split into a number of mini garden rooms, creating the illusion of a much larger space. In recent years, it has been dramatically adapted to accommodate Geoff’s advancing years, knee replacement, climate change, and hosepipe bans.

It remains a very personal plot, with plants and objects once owned by family and friends. Enjoy great teas and home-made cakes served in the garden on vintage china with teapots on trays. We look forward to seeing you this summer. A small selection of garden decorations is also available for sale.

Since 2012, Geoff has had a regular monthly spot on BBC Radio Sussex’s Sunday gardening programme, talking about National Garden Scheme gardens. From 2024, this became a weekly slot from April to October. Also, since 2012, there has been a monthly article in Garden News magazine about the garden, written by Geoff himself.

Since December 2015, Geoff has written a monthly blog on Richard Jackson’s Garden website. He also has a weekly gardening page in The Argus newspaper in Brighton, a monthly gardening column in Bournefree in Eastbourne, quarterly features for the digital magazine Sussex Exclusive, and regularly contributes to other local magazines about open gardens.

The garden has been featured on BBC Two, ITV, BBC South East Today, and extensively in both local and national press in recent years.

In 2021, Driftwood was published as a summer garden in a Dutch book titled 4 Seasons, and featured in Saga magazine (June) and Gardeners’ World magazine (May, subscriber-only).
In 2020, despite being closed, it appeared in Your Home (April), Sussex Life (July), The Lady (August), and Country Life (July), plus short films on ITV Meridian News and BBC South East Today.
In 2019, an 8-page feature on the front beach garden appeared in Dutch lifestyle magazine Seasons.
In 2018, it was featured in Flea Market Garden Style (USA), the Daily Mail (August), and an 8-minute film on BBC South East Today.
In 2017, it had an 8-page feature in Coast Magazine (August), was listed on the Great British Gardens website (June), and Geoff was named an influential personality in Sussex gardening by Sussex Life magazine.
In 2016, the garden was featured on Gardeners’ World and was a finalist in the Gardeners’ World Garden of the Year (small space category). It also appeared in Gardeners’ World magazine (November) and Period Homes and Interiors (July).
In 2015, it was featured in The Sunday Telegraph (23rd August) and Daily Mail Weekend Magazine (27th June).
In 2014, it appeared live on ITV’s Good Morning Britain (July), in Garden Answers (May), Etc magazine (April), 100 Idées Jardin (France, February), and in The Sunday Times (June).

Driftwood is the proud holder of the coveted Daily Mail National Garden Competition blue plaque and winner of Garden News Magazine’s Best Small Garden in the UK (2012).

PLEASE NOTE: WC facilities nearby on the seafront. There is no access to the house.
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