A Day At The Salutation

Dressed in Levis, checked shirt and scuffed brogues, Dominic, owner of The Secret Garden, was not quite the tweed clad lord of the manor I expected to find today. After an informal welcome and coffee Dominic took us on a tour of The Salutation. At ease, smoking, he strode around his garden with pride.

The Salutation grounds are surprisingly well established after just four years of attention from The Secret Gardens dedicated team. It is a quintessentially English garden. Groomed lawns, bold colours, avenues of trees and framed, structured borders.

The house boasts enchanting accommodation in the 3.5 acre grounds available for guests, a tearoom offering the highest of ‘high tea’, an organic nursery and gift shop.

Each area of the beautiful garden is full of colour and blossom, the uniform White Garden and Vegetable Garden being my favourites. Surrounded by bright planting and blossom trees there is a small lake with fountain and island full of black and purple tulips with a quaint footbridge approaching from the neat lawns. Along the far side of the garden is a woodland walk through a pathway of poplar trees with carved benches and laced with bluebells and ferns.

The Salutation prides itself on its sustainability, everything they produce is organic and making compost and using complex planting structures that help to pollinate the garden. The kitchen Garden and Vegetable Patch are organically marinated and provide the tearooms with fresh fruit and vegetables.

At the bottom of the garden is the greenhouses and large potting shed to look around with obliging garden staff offering answers to visitors horticultural questions.

Among the English planting are tropical plants of wild and exotic species rarely seen in the Kent countryside.

The view of the house from the long, groomed bowling lawn is a memorable sight. The symmetry of this enclosed section of the garden magnifies the grandeur of the house and stands in stark contrast to the meadow Spring Garden just over the hedge, complete with wild grasses, orchids and daisies. Ornate gates and iron sculptures create architectural focal points that guide the visitors around the garden.

The Secret Garden is charming. Its independent management makes it a much more personal experience, it’s a home, open to the public and this makes you feel like a privileged guest. There is something a little less commercial about the Secret Garden than your average National Trust, Bank Holiday destination. Its your own secret discovery, and if you happen to bump into Dominic in the garden, he will gladly welcome you.

Lizzie