“Ooh I bet that’s a hard hedge to prune”, my first words upon viewing the immense yew hedges of The Broadwalk at Walmer Castle & Gardens.

My next question to Rachel Clark who is the Senior Gardener there, is apparently the one that everyone asks “how long does it take to clip?” well with two people working on it (not all day long) about four months!

The four 85m sides are first, leaving a Mohican effect on top, which is done with a cherry picker.

The unusual hedge shape originated when Sir Winston Churchill was Lord Warden, heavy snowfall in the winter of 1947 melted and distorted the hedge with clipping over the years exaggerating its now undulating shape.

One of the herbaceous borders has been revamped by Tom Hooijenga, Head Gardener, taking four years to complete. They are now tackling the other side and hoping to be completed by autumn, with planned colour scheme inspired by Gertrude Jekyll.

70% of the plants will be a reflection of the border opposite with some changes to adapt to this shadier side. They have cleared the plants and are currently digging it over, rotavating is not a good option as it chops up the roots up and makes weed spreading worse.

With so much to do here and only four full time gardeners and 16 volunteers, I’m amazed they don’t find it rather overwhelming but I suppose it’s like any job you just have to tackle it a bit at a time.

The Kitchen Garden, Rachel’s main domain, has been in continuous production for nearly 300 years and is the oldest part of Walmer’s gardens.

The flowers, fruit and vegetable grown here are used in the castle and restaurant. Espaliered apple and pear trees lining the garden are undergoing a two to three-year process of pruning to get them back to how they should be.

The Trombone Italian Courgettes looked quite amazing taking over a wigwam made of chestnut posts cut from the woodland.

On our tour of the gardens we also viewed the HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s Garden created in 1997 by Penelope Hobhouse to commemorate her tenure as Lord Warden it houses a 95 metre still pool and is planted in her favourite shades of pastel pinks and blues.

We walked along The Woodland Walk, taking in Hornbeams, beautiful Multistemed Liquidamber, Corylis, Sambucus & Viburnum. In this area there is a lot of ongoing clearing and planting worth a visit from March onwards when the spring flowers are looking particularly pretty.

Walmer Castle was built in 1539 as one of a chain of coastal artillery forts constructed by Henry VIII against the threat of invasion by Spain.

The Duke of Wellington died at the Castle in 1852 at the age of 83 and there are exciting things planned for next June being the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo.