The storied actor has spent years campaigning to protect green spaces. She invites us into her Surrey sanctuary, where each tree represents a lost loved one
A
visit to Dame Judi Dench’s garden in Surrey is bittersweet. The 2.4-hectare (six-acre) plot contains enough trees – about 100 – to count as an arboretum. Among them is a carpet of wild garlic and a wildlife pond from which rabbits like to sip. But each of these trees represents someone she knew who has died. As her eyesight has nearly gone, Dench, who features in the latest episode of the Royal Horticulture Society’s new podcast, Roots, navigates her way around the garden via memories and smell. Here, she shares her stories of the garden and discusses the items that mean the most to her.
Dench was married to the actor Michael Williams for 30 years before he died of lung cancer in 2001. She is about to plant a young oak tree, sent to her by her daughter, Finty, and her grandson, Sammy, in commemoration of their wedding anniversary. “It was just a little kind of stick when it arrived. And now it’s full of buds at the top,” she says. “So, when we’re all together, probably in the next few weeks, we’ll choose a place to plant it.”
All her family are keen swimmers, Dench says, and they “make great use” of the pool on the lawn. She takes laps regularly.
