Doddington Place

Doddington Place Gardens

We visited Doddington Place Gardens (near Sittingbourne, Kent) as the open gardens brochure for Demelza said it was open for them one Sunday morning. It was all a bit strange when we got there because there was nobody from Demelza there but the owners, Richard & Amicia Oldfield, were very friendly and helpful and let us look around anyway.

We went back in 2012 when Rhondda was visiting us - it was just as lovely as we'd remembered.

We then went back again in October 2013 as I'd bought Jonathon a half day photo session with the Birds of Prey at The Hawking Centre. I've put the most recent photos at the top of the page (for the 2012 photos please click on the link above).

Starting with a couple of owl photos ... Jonathon had a lovely time and the owls seemed quite happy.

owl

I left Jonathon with his camera and the birds and wandered round the garden.

garden

A few of the trees hadstarted to change colour and looked lovely.

garden

There were a few seats and statues around.

garden

There were still lots of flowers around - lots of colour and lots of buzzing insects enjoying them.

The above photos are from October 2013. As you can see, it was a lovely day.

The following photos are from earlier visits. It's lovely to see how the garden's changed over the years.

woodland walk

The woodland garden was in full flower - loads of rhododendrons and azaleas of all different colours - beautiful.

The rock garden had been remodelled over the last couple of years and both the Oldfields were busy working in the garden while we were there. They have a couple of gardeners as well - the garden's about 10 acres so gardeners are definitely required. The garden was clearly well cared for without being manicured so very relaxing to walk around in.

The yew hedges were very impressive and there were yards and yards of them. All beautifully tended, they provided a lovely framework for the various "rooms" in the garden

Our flying friends clearly loved the garden as much as we did. There was certainly plenty of colour and variety for them to explore.

As mentioned above, we went back in 2012 (June) and it was just as lovely as ever.

doddington

The hedges are amazing. It apparently takes the gardeners 7 weeks to cut them once a year.

There were plenty of places to sit and take in the view and tranquility

The sunken rock garden had "grown up" between visits - it was stunning.

The poppies were even better than we'd remembered.

These pigs seemed ever so pleased to see us - galloping across from one side of their area to the other. Perhaps human voices mean food!

The sheep were in fields all around. The lambs were bleating now and then (being typically lamb like really).

One of the big, non-floral attractions was the birds of prey display. You can book a day with these wonderful creatures (and their handlers) but we just watched this time (2012).

We would definitely recommend a visit to Doddington if you're in the area.

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