Rosie Fyles, Head of Gardens, at Chiswick House and Gardens, writes about gardens, nature, plants and people every month.

This month, why garden at all?

Written for The Chiswick Calendar

A holiday in the Inner Hebrides triggered a short, internal existential crisis. Not in a bad way. More, I guess what holidays are meant to do, allow perspective and air to get in those places of your brain that are normally congested with the everyday, the to-dos, the should haves…

Looking out of a van window to a ‘simple’ verge by the sea. The only work this sandy area has had is to be untouched. The locals protect it as a treasure of the islands, in this case wild Tiree. 

This was my beautiful, remote trigger.

I experienced similar on a holiday walking the Pembrokeshire coastline in June a few years ago.

What’s this got to do with Chiswick House & Gardens?

Everything. The 65-acres that are yours to walk in and rest a while from dawn to dusk every day of the year are inspired by offering moments of calm, tiny ‘mind holidays’ closer to nature, among living things that don’t talk (but they might listen). The last few weeks the Gardens have offered respite from heat, cooler air, a beautiful early start or a peaceful late finish. For some, many four-legged, they have provided a somewhat cheeky dip in cool water. 

Where a remote island can only exist for the few, its living treasures protected and revered, the sharing of these Gardens offers over 800,000 people visits that refresh, soothe, exhaust (in a good way) and possibly, the odd ‘trigger’ (not in a bad way) – an opportunity to open your mind, find an answer, new or repeated.

And I am really encouraged that the locals of Chiswick protect their ‘treasure’, our gardens, too. Every day I receive comments thanking the garden team, reflecting concern about a tree or a duck, asking questions about specific plants and offering encouragement and support.

In W4 in one of the world’s busiest cities, we have our own island, behind historic walls.

What I’m doing in my own garden this month:

It was described as a ‘haircut’ – not by me. My favourite type of gardening – trimming, editing, shaping. About five hours, timed to be in shade or less heat. One thing I notice, if the plant’s feet are a bit more shaded and cooler, like us, they are happier.

What to look out for in Chiswick House & Gardens: 

The Italian Garden flowering is just what we hoped for when we navigated the ‘cold spring’ to sow seeds in early May, fingers crossed hoping an idea to revitalise this space could work. Who knew then there were multiple heatwaves coming…