The Silk House

About The Silk House

Silk House ~ garden summary 2025

This is a classic, maturing modern Japanese style stroll water garden set among various garden rooms. Lots of wildlife, birds, fish and an apiary. Visitors often remark how calm and peaceful the garden makes them feel. Sometimes we have meditation groups and classes, or talks on bonsai and Japanese garden design. The on-site restaurant Silk House Dining can be booked for dinners and events. Group visits available – please enquire.

The owner and head gardener is very friendly and always happy to chat to guests, answer questions and give advice.

The spectacular south facing garden of 2 acres surrounds an old tithe barn, originally part of a farm. The owner is RHS trained at Hever Castle and started planting the garden in 2017 in her spare time to a design drafted by her husband. The garden is now maturing and despite being only 8 years old, it looks far more established and developed. The owners do everything, and practically all plants have been propagated from cuttings, seeds or small pots. In addition to the very special Japanese garden, the kitchen garden and apiary supplies the restaurant and, there is always a new area or garden room being developed. South facing and sheltered by trees, it has its own microclimate. However, we get strong winds, especially down the west side. Soil is neutral ph clay, though very fertile, and the water table is high.

The owners are very interested in Japanese gardens and visited them all over Japan. The ambition was to create an authentic garden in Japanese style, but adapting to climate, soil and plant availability, as Japan is volcanic and humid. The design is a water stroll garden with hidden views and features, with a wildlife pond, bamboos and gunnera at one end, a wet and dry “canal”, a spectacular cherry tree pond with blue & golden orfe, common & great crested newts, and a filtered Koi pond as well as hundreds of young Koi. Several cherries and lots of pretty maples and ever changing bonsai. Sculptural fish swim through a yew hedge. There is a meditative zen section with large set stones and a beautiful mature Niwaki acer from a Chelsea gold medal winning Japanese garden of Isihara Kazuyike.

The cloud garden was planted in 2021 using Niwaki pruning methods to shape freeform balls of buxus, crenata and other plants as it grows. A Japanese style path and some giant bamboos maturing, add variety.

The owner is experimenting with a dry garden on the west side using drought tolerant plants. To the south is a kitchen produce plot which supplies the restaurant. It has 2 modest greenhouses, cold frames and a potting / propagation shed, and supplies fruit, vegetables and honey and is where the owner’s passion for propagation from seeds, layering and cuttings, for example yew, lavender, herbs, ground cover and so on. The apiary is adjacent to the old pigeon loft in this area. There is also a growing collection of aeoniums.

On the east side, is a small woodland walk. Grass and everything else is usually allowed to grow long for the abundant wildlife here. We hope visitors will realise that this is quite a new garden, though it is maturing fast, and worth revisiting as it develops. Visitors are welcome to help! It’s fairly wheelchair friendly, but there are some steps and banks in places.

Visitors please be aware that this is a private garden and you visit entirely at your own risk: the owners accept no liability. There are several very deep ponds, and hazards typical of a Japanese Garden such as stepping stones and bridges, which may be slippery. There is no access to the house and no toilets for garden visitors: the nearest being in the garden centre or Waitrose nearby. Garden entrance donations support the NGS nursing and other charities.

Top quality refreshments and cakes are available. Propagated plants and bonsai usually for sale along with gardening and cookery books and sometimes garden tools. Any profit from these help support charities for homeless people, where the owners volunteered.

The garden website will be updated for the 2025 NGS openings and found on the Japanese garden page at www.silkhousedining.com.

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