Amazingly there will be an article in the NYT travel section on some English gardens. Here are the gardens they visited:
"GARDENS

The websites for the gardens mentioned are listed below. Hours vary according to the season and day of the week, so check before going.

Great Dixter, Northiam, Rye, East Sussex; greatdixter.co.uk

Charleston, Firle, Lewes, East Sussex; charleston.org.uk.

Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Biddenden Road, Cranbrook, Kent; 44-1580-710701; nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden.

Nymans, Staplefield Lane, Handcross, West Sussex; 44-1444-405250; nationaltrust.org.uk/nymans."

Sissinghurst is on my list and I think I will try to get to Great Dixter (especially due to the comments about incorporating what are considered weeds in the landscape design- I am WAY ahead of the curve on that!!). Any comments on the others?

Here is the link but I think at this point you need a NYT account:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/t...ttom-well&_r=0

It might be different after the article is published which is why I have included it.

Can't wait!! Weather looks like it is warming up too. :)
TIA

Great co-incidence, AGM. it was obviously meant to be.

I've already recommended Great Dixter, and Nymans is also lovely. [same sort of style if I remember rightly, though it's over 20 years since I've been there!]

Sissinghurst is obviously another great garden but Great Dixter would be top of my list. If you've got time, try to get hold of a copy of "the well -tempered Gardener" by Christopher Lloyd if you want to understand a little about his approach and how it evolved.

The only one I can't help you with is Charleston, which I don't know at all.

I was reviewing this prior to leaving and notice that Knole House got dropped somewhere. Is it worth going to? Is there something we can see on the same day as RHS Wisley on the way to Tonbridge Wells?

So right now I have:
Day 6- Drive to Royal Tunbridge Wells, stopping at RHS Wisley- anything I can add into this day?

Day 7- Visit Sissinghurst- which is better Knole House or Hever?

Day 8- Great Dixter on the way to Gatwick

Of course I ran into a co worker who said 'what you are not going to Leeds Castle?' so little time. :(

>>Day 6- Drive to Royal Tunbridge Wells, stopping at RHS Wisley- anything I can add into this day?<<

Not really -- if you are really into gardens (which I assume you are) Wisley will take a lot of time.

>>which is better Knole House or Hever?<<

Hard to say -- the house is better at Knole, the grounds/gardens much larger at Hever. I'd play it by ear and maybe do Sissinghurst very first thing, have lunch, head on to Hever and then if you finish there early enough, dash over to Knole. (Some find the grounds at Hever overwhelming. They cover more than 125 acres and it may be that you just explore the areas nearest the house and not walk the entire grounds)

We found Leeds Castle underwhelming, except for the setting, and still remember the bees buzzing all over the outdoor café. Not a problem to miss the castle.

Oh -- I didn't even see the mention of Leeds Castle. Let your co-worker down gently ;) Leeds isn't even in the top 10 of must see's in the region. Their main claim to fame is great marketing.

The grounds are very pretty but the castle is mostly a wedding/conference venue. I wouldn't drop anything else on your itinerary to fit in Leeds.

I vote for skipping Knole. I did a stately home/gardens trip in the same area you're visiting and Knole was a disappointment. Loved, loved the Great Dixter and Sissinghurst gardens, plus Standen and Chartwell for homes. I enjoy houses that aren't tremendously "grand" and large scale, which Knole was.

Day 6- Drive to Royal Tunbridge Wells, stopping at RHS Wisley- anything I can add into this day?

Day 7- Visit Sissinghurst- which is better Knole House or Hever?

Day 8- Great Dixter on the way to Gatwick

Of course I ran into a co worker who said 'what you are not going to Leeds Castle?' so little time. :(>>

AGM, i think that this would be better:

Day 6 - drive to T. Wells via Wisley. I agree that that's probably enough but if you left Wisley early enough you might go to Hever en route. [it's not very far out of your way and would take a couple of hours or so to see unless you explore all the grounds as well as the house and the immediate gardens].

Day 7 - Sissighurst and Great Dixter. they are very close together - much closer than Hever or Knole is to either of them. to give you an idea, it's 30 mins from T Wells to Sissinghurst, another 25 mins from S'hurst to GD, and about 40 mins back to T. Wells, nearly all through lovely countryside.

Day 8 - return car to LGW via Hever or Chartwell.

<< I'd play it by ear and maybe do Sissinghurst very first thing, have lunch, head on to Hever and then if you finish there early enough, dash over to Knole. (Some find the grounds at Hever overwhelming. They cover more than 125 acres and it may be that you just explore the areas nearest the house and not walk the entire grounds)>>

IMO this is undoable. You'd never do all 3, and going from Sissinghurst to Hever is a longer journey than S'hurst to G Dixter which IMO you really shouldn't miss. You can easily visit Hever on your way to LGW - that's what I'd do.

Good news on the weather front, the forecast is for very nice dry sunny weather in the SE for the next 10 days or so. the cotswolds should be sunny, if not quite so warm [60F rather than 70F].