RHS Wisley (Surrey, England)

I'm up to the last day of my trip to England last May, and we ended with a trip to the second most visited garden in the country - RHS Wisley (Kew Gardens is the most visited). Most of the previous day was spent at the Chelsea Flower Show, which I will cover in the next post.

I did not realize how huge this garden was until I started going through my photos. It is more than a garden - it is a horticultural institution.

The garden was originally created by businessman, scientist, and inventor George Fergusson Wilson in 1878. He used a small portion of the estate to create the "Oakwood Experimental Garden" where he grew plants that were unusual in England at the time. Among his horticultural achievements was growing lilies outside the greenhouse and water gardening.

Wilson's garden attracted notable visitors during his day, including fellow gardeners Ellen Willmott and Gertrude Jekyll (Jekyll actually worked some in the garden with him). Wilson died in 1902, and the property was purchased by Sir Thomas Hanbury (creator of the La Mortola garden in Italy) as a gift to the Royal Horticultural Society. The Society coveted the property was unable to secure it due to a lack of funds. 

Over the following century, the RHS expanded Wisley into the world-renowned garden that it is today, while preserving its founding spirit of experimentation and education.

Upon arrival, the house is visible right next to a vast parking lot. 

Entering the gardens at the back of the house, the Jellicoe Canal (designed by Geoffrey Jellicoe in the 1970s) is surrounded by a series of gardens characterized by immaculately trimmed hedges and topiary -

A window inside a yew hedge gives a glimpse of the Walled Garden -

Inside, a group of student workers (or they looked like students) was busy pruning -

We saw wisteria blooming in earlier gardens on our trip, but by the time we reached RHS Wisley, warmer temperatures had ended the display. We were too late to see the famous wisteria-covered walk -

The Cottage Garden, designed by Penelope Hobhouse -

The Mediterranean Garden -

I think the little tree with bright yellow and orange leaves is Redbud 'Flame Thrower' although I could be mistaken. I was surprised to see it, especially in the Mediterranean garden.

The plants were labeled, and I remembered to photograph the labels. 

Pinus montezumae 'Sheffield Park' 

I was struck by the way they had pruned the trees, like the clerodendrum and catalpa. This was encouraging to me, and I plan to prune our clerodendrum back this year. I'm still hesitant to do the catalpa, but I keep thinking about it.

The Mixed Borders - I believe the statue was a special exhibit. I thought I photographed the sign but I could not find it. There wasn't much to see in the borders. It would be fantastic to see it in summer.

Walking down from the Mediterranean Border to Clear Lake, which was anything but. I thought it was quite unattractive, the only area of the garden that I didn't like. It looks pretty in this photo, but not so much down below.

The Wildlife Garden, a newer garden designed for pollinators. The centerpieces are willow and chestnut sculptures, designed by Tom Hare.

Right around the corner is the Well-Being Garden. This was one of my favorite areas. I loved the color scheme, with several Japanese Pagoda trees (at first, I thought they were honey locust trees) in winding borders, surrounded by grasses and perennials with blue and purple flowers.

The Piet Oudolf garden was recently redesigned and just opened in 2024. Again, it was too early to appreciate it. There are 36,000 perennials planted here among drifts of grasses. A mount overlooks the garden, allowing visitors to get a bird 's-eye view. 

This is only half of the garden. I will cover the rest in my next post.

(Visited May 22, 2025)

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver