Great Dixter - A Plantsperson's Haven
Why Should Anyone Go To Visit Great Dixter?
Great Dixter is a must-visit garden for garden designers and anyone who LOVES gardens. It is an attractive option for anyone keen on planting, or who wishes to learn about gardening and plants. Described on their very own website as ‘a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world’ it really is a haven of plants. If you wish for inspiration of plants flowering now, then go!
A (Very) Brief History of The Gardens
A stunning venue, the original farmhouse was re-configured and re-designed by Edwin Lutyens, who was commissioned the father of the great plantsman Christopher Lloyd. Christopher was raised here, and after a stint away, he came home and began gardening in earnest, opening the farm up to visitors and selling plants grown in the garden. The popularity of the gardens has grown into the much admired and written about garden it is today.
Maintaining The Gardens Today
Continuing with Christopher’s ethos, the gardens are managed now by Fergus Garrett and his team. The regime is high maintenance, as it was under the hardworking hands of Lloyd. While it looks as though the plants are growing in places of their own choosing, they really aren’t! Each border has had a huge amount of consideration and management.
Getting Around and Getting Lost
The grounds are essentially a series of garden rooms, each enclosed by hedges or brick walls and fences and you transition via gates, along grass, brick and stone paths, around corners and through doors. It feels like a maze once inside.
The map they provide you is essential! Without it you have no idea where you are are, or where you may end up! There are sunken gardens, courtyards, meadows, topiary, an orchard, kitchen garden, ponds and even an exotic garden. Most garden types are represented here.
It is also a fabulous place for children to visit. With so many places to hide, routes from here to there, steps in walls that NEED climbing up and luckily for us, a sprinkler, there wasn't one moment of boredom.
Ignoring my hayfever, I moved from garden room to garden room, wishing I was a better photographer. It is impossible to capture the fullness and diversity of the gardens through the lens.
Going Home
I left clutching a packet of Beth’s Poppy seeds, a wonderful tall, but delicate, small headed pale pink variety bred by the great Beth Chatto- one of Christopher’s closest friends. I left also with dreams of borders even more full than mine are now!
The final Garden Room on our visit: The Topiary Lawn swimming in a Summer Meadow!