Award-winning garden in East Sussex village shuts gate for 2026 after successful season despite intense heat

Little did Geoff know, when he opened his garden gate for visitors, back on June 1, that the upcoming season would be one of the most challenging in the 17 years since he began, back in 2009.

Despite the intense heat, 401 visitors pre-booked to see his beautiful garden. This number would have higher, but for the cancellations of bookings, ahead of planned visits, due to the high temperatures.

More than 40 people have subsequently written glowing five-star reviews of their visit on TripAdvisor, despite the immense difficulties Geoff has encountered to keep the garden looking its very best.

An extract from an amazing comment posted in June 2026 said: "What Geoff has created in a relatively modest space is nothing short of extraordinary. This isn’t just a beautiful garden; it’s the work of a true plantsman with an exceptional eye for design, colour, texture and plant combinations. Every corner is thoughtfully composed, yet the garden never feels contrived. Instead, it feels natural, relaxed and full of character. Quite simply, one of the most inspiring private gardens I’ve had the pleasure of visiting, and I have no doubt my third won’t be my last visit.”

While the first half of the season was slow going, as the final closure date of August 2 approached, there was a real rush to get to see Geoff’s plot.

In the end, Geoff baked 323 portions of his infamous homemade cakes, much commented on by visitors on TripAdvisor. “Tea in a teapot with delicious home-made cakes - absolutely faultless.” So said Dominque back in July, when visiting to celebrate her mother’s birthday.

Just under half of the visitors opted to hear the story of the garden talk, prior to their visit, which Geoff provides, so that everyone really understands how it was created and developed and place everything in context.

There was only one day throughout the nine weeks when rain threatened to spoil proceedings, but it never materialized. Some 26 members of the Grafty Green Garden group in Kent were scheduled to visit on July 26. As a precaution, Geoff had to clear out his garage and lay up tables and chairs in there and serve all the tea and cakes under cover.

Thankfully, spirits were not dampened, with organiser Sue Birch emailing after the visit: “Thank you Geoff for making us so welcome and giving the group a super experience, what an amazing garden; so inspirational.”

The biggest surprise however was when a schoolfriend of Geoff’s, who he had not seen since they left school in Northamptonshire, back in 1970, arrived with his wife from Bedfordshire to see the garden. Some 56 years since last meeting, this created a great deal of catching up over tea and cake in the garden.

There were other visitors too, like Kristen and family from California, who really loved the garden, Petra from Dortmund in Germany and Marta from Spain. Kristen was so taken with one of the fuchsias Geoff had in a pot behind the house that she asked for cuttings to take back to the States with her. The plant was Fuchsia Empress of Prussia, it was the very plant that Geoff’s Dad had bought for his Mum, for their ruby wedding anniversary, many moons ago. Let’s hope she can get them through customs once back home.

After closing, Geoff reconciled all the income from the garden entry, payment for garden talks and the proceeds from his tea and cake sales to finalise a magnificent £4,502.50 raised for the National Garden Scheme. This brings the running total raised for all charities since 2009 to a whopping £186,548.

You can read more of the garden at www.driftwoodbysea.co.uk and perhaps pencil in to visit in 2027, when the National Garden Scheme is celebrating 100 years. Geoff’s open dates will be between June 7 and August 2.