Hever Castle & Gardens is celebrating its tenth consecutive Gold medal at South & South East in Bloom 2024.

For the past decade, the 150-acre grounds has consistently impressed judges, with this year’s award particularly highlighting the work by the individual staff members who were working on renovating the Yew Chess Set, maintaining Sunday Walk, the planting in the Sunken Garden, the planting and maintenance of the Fern Bank and the hard work to bring about the creation of the Two Sisters’ Bank area overlooking the Festival Theatre.

Despite challenges from weather conditions and heavy visitor footfall, judges commended Hever Castle as “a garden which demonstrates a high amount of skill in the execution of its gardening activities”. The gardening team was commended for “the mulched, well-weeded beds and borders, consistently mown and edged lawns, well-chosen planting and good pruning”. It was also noted that “the staff had been given ‘ownership’ of different areas to work on and are eager to cultivate them.”

Head Gardener Neil Miller expressed his pride in the team’s dedication, stating, “This Gold award is a true testament to the hard work and passion of our gardeners and volunteers in preserving the beauty of Hever Castle’s grounds.”

The South & South East in Bloom awards are the largest horticultural initiative in the region, involving hundreds of communities across Kent, Surrey, East & West Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, East & North Dorset and East Wiltshire all working towards enhancing their local environments.

There are sometimes misconceptions about “Bloom” the main one being that as the name implies its all about summer bedding displays, hanging baskets and window boxes. But times have changed and while gardening, planting and creating attractive places is an important element, it is now as much about caring for our environment and community.

Judging are now looking for planting schemes which are achieving sustainability, reducing the use of scarce resources such as water and peat. They want to see recycling, effective use of own grown products, use of inorganic pest and disease controls. Also of importance is the management of natural features, wildlife and flora to increase and encourage natural habitats and the protection and management of sensitive areas and regeneration.

It was noted that Hever’s garden waste is collected and processed on the estate; other materials are, if possible, sourced locally.

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