Driftwood

About Driftwood

When we bought the house 21 years ago, the garden was an exposed sloping plot, frequently battered by salt laden winds that sometimes, exceeded 50mph!

I’m sure this had something to do with it featuring on BBC 2’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 featured several times on both BBC SE Today and ITV Meridian News.

2024 saw our third, very successful year of only opening by arrangement and the garden was featured in Garden Answers Magazine in July, an hour’s gardening podcast in July and the subject of a 20-minute film on Brighton’s latest TV in July. Additionally The Sunday Times published a fabulous feature on 18th August about age-proofing your garden based on my own garden.

The garden was awarded a Trip Advisor 2024 Travellers’ Choice Award and has over 242 5-star reviews. Here are just a couple:

“Although we visited very near the close of the garden’s open season, it was still astoundingly beautiful. The variety of textures, colours and layers delight as you turn every corner. And as for Geoff’s cakes – oh my heavens – the polenta cake was out of this world. I’ve had to look up a recipe and already recreated it at home. The funds raised for charity are phenomenal and Geoff is to be congratulated for his generosity of time and expertise”.
Rae Knight, August 2024

“Finally got to visit after wanting to for a long time. From being met by Geoff at the front garden and being given a talk of how a non-gardener became an award-winning gardener over many years, to tea and homemade cakes in the back garden, just amazing. What Geoff’s achieved is truly incredible. Perfect, peaceful, paradise, one garden made up of so many different gardens, each with individuality, sculptures and creativity.
Sharon Halle-Richards, August 2024

2023 saw a second year of visits by arrangement only and the garden was featured in Garden News magazine in July. The garden is recommended as a coastal garden to visit in a new 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 Supports, Outstanding Supporter role, nationally. The garden was awarded a Trip Advisor 2023 Travellers’ Choice Award and has over 200 5-star reviews.

2022 saw the garden only open by arrangement and it 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 in 2023, to commemorate its 10th year of winning their “Gardener of the year 2012” award for small gardens. Trip Advisor awarded it a Travellers’ Choice Award, in recognition of its 170 plus, 5-star reviews.

Alex Reece entitled her 8-page feature in Coast Magazine in August 2017, ‘A feast for the soul. 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 on the garden in the Sunday Telegraph and entitled it ‘A garden by the sea – small and perfectly formed’. She closed her piece by saying, ‘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 said ‘it’s not just the planting scheme that entices visitors to this Sussex plot, it’s also the tea and home-made cakes.’

A Sunday Telegraph colleague, Jean Vernon wrote a blog in which she says ‘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 heavy, dense plantings with no lawn and no exposed soil, split into a number of mini garden rooms, create the illusion of a much bigger garden. In recent years it has been dramatically changed to cope with Geoff’s advancing years, climate change and hosepipe bans!

It remains a very personal plot with plants and objects once owned by family and friends. Great teas and home-made cakes to enjoy in the garden too, all served on vintage china with teapots on trays. We look forward to seeing you this summer. Small selection of garden decorations for sale as well.

Since 2012, Geoff had a regular monthly spot on BBC Radio Sussex’s Sunday gardening programme, talking about National Garden Scheme gardens. In 2024 this moved to 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 owner Geoff. Since December 2015 Geoff has written a monthly blog on The Garden Media Guild’s award-winning garden website, Richard Jackson’s Garden. Geoff also has a weekly gardening page in The Argus newspaper in Brighton, a monthly gardening column in Bournefree in Eastbourne, quarterly features for digital magazine Sussex Exclusive and regularly writes other pieces for local magazines on open gardens.

Featured on both BBC2 & ITV, and BBC SE Today, plus extensively in local and national press in recent years.

2021 saw the garden published, as a summer garden, in a book in the Netherlands called 4 Seasons. Driftwood was featured in Saga magazine in June too. Gardeners’ World magazine featured the garden in their subscriber only features in May.

2020, despite being closed, saw coverage in April issue of Your Home, July issue of Sussex Life, August issue of The Lady and mentioned in July issue of Country Life plus short films on both ITV Meridian news and BBC SE Today.

2019 saw an 8-page feature on the front beach garden appearing in a Dutch lifestyle magazine called Seasons.

2018 saw features in America in Flea Market Garden Style, a full page in the Daily Mail in August and an 8-minute film on BBC SE Today. In 2017 the garden had an 8-page feature in August issue of Coast magazine, was listed on the Great British Gardens website, in June 2017 Geoff was listed as an influential personality in the Sussex gardening world in Sussex Life Magazine.

In 2016 the garden was featured on BBC2’s Gardeners’ World and was a finalist in the Gardeners’ World Garden of the Year in the small space category. It featured in BBC Gardeners’ World magazine in November and Period Homes and Interiors July issue.

In 2015 featured in The Sunday Telegraph 23rd August, Daily Mail Weekend Magazine on 27th June

In 2014 featured live on ITV’s Good Morning Britain in July and in Garden Answers May, Etc magazine April, 100 Idees Jardin a national French gardening magazine in February and incorporated in an article in the Sunday Times in June.

Holder of coveted Daily Mail National Garden competition blue plaque and winner of the Best Small Garden in the UK for Garden News magazine, both 2012.

PLEASE NOTE TOLIET FACILITIES NEARBY ON SEAFRONT, NO ACCESS TO THE HOUSE

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