The garden
The Beales started planting the 12-acre garden almost immediately after they had acquired the land, on the site of an 18th-century garden and orchard. In the spring of 1891 trees were planted, a yew hedge established and the kitchen garden begun. They consulted a London landscape gardener, G.B. Simpson, who drew up a planting layout anticipating a site for the new house on the line of the existing terrace. However, Webb suggested that the house be re-sited further into the hillside. Simpson's planting schemes were in the so-called 'gardenesque' manner with strict geometrical layouts of colourful flowerbeds and shrubs but Webb's preferences were quite different, favouring a mixture of natural styles with old-fashioned formality and compartmentalised gardens. Webb provided designs for the Terrace, the retaining wall from the conservatory leading to the summerhouse, and the summerhouse on the Croquet Lawn.

Arts & Crafts gardens
The characteristic Arts & Crafts garden used local materials in the construction of the formal elements, and loose planting within an unpretentious framework of yew hedges, trellis and pergolas. Naturalistic colour schemes and subtle combinations of colour and foliage were preferred and care was also taken in the transition between the garden and surrounding landscape.

Margaret Beale was a knowledgeable plants woman who introduced many of the exotics that were then fashionable with the owners of large gardens and were being hybridised to produce new varieties. She also had a friendly rival in the influential gardening writer William Robinson, who owned nearby Gravetye Manor. Her interest in new plants and the influence of Simpson together ensured that the garden at Standen had a less subdued and occasionally more exotic character than Webb himself would have wished.

©NTPL / David Sellman

Margaret Beale
Margaret Beale's garden diary allows us accurately to reconstruct the development of the garden and her constant revisions to the planting. The drive was made through an old quarry with dramatic effect and a new quarry was opened, west of the Conservatory, to provide building stone for the house.

The south garden terrace was begun in October 1893; the rock garden was planted with heather and conifers from October 1896 and completed in February 1897. In 1910 the firm of J. Cheal & Sons created the Top Terrace and summerhouse in a similar style to Webb's earlier work in the garden. This terrace was aligned exactly with West Hoathly church, which can be seen beyond the summerhouse. A bamboo garden was created for bathing and a court for tennis on the lawn below and to the south-east of the house (now known as the Croquet Lawn). With Mrs Beale's diary, there survive her plant catalogues of alpines, Japanese trees and shrubs and other exotics, many of which can still be seen in the garden.

After Margaret's death in 1936, the period of experimentation ended, and her daughters did little to change their mother's plantings. Some consolidation of over-mature shrubberies has been inevitable since the Trust took responsibility for the house and garden in 1973, and labour-saving methods are used where appropriate. Most of the shelter belts planted by the Beales around this exposed garden were lost in the Great Storm of October 1987 but it has opened up new views of the house and surrounding landscape and the worst affected areas are now recovering.

The woodland walks, which wind their way through nearby Hollybush and Standen Woods, are a haven for bluebells and other wild flowers and add a final touch of informality to this charming Sussex garden.

Standen Wood
The National Trust acquired Standen Wood in 2001, which was originally part of the larger estate at the property. The wood, famous for bluebells, has been owned and managed as a nature reserve since the 1970s and is a haven for birdlife. This addition will increase the scope for beautiful walks from the property.

©NTPL / David Sellman