Our annual garden trip last week was to my favorite garden in the world, Great Dixter. The garden is a magical path of colour and aromas, it really does overwhelm your scenses. The volunteers wandered slowly discovering a different flower around each corner.
It was a beautiful sunny day, one to remember.
Great Dixter was the family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd – it was the focus of his energy and enthusiasm and fuelled over 40 years of books and articles. Now under the stewardship of the Great Dixter Charitable Trust and Christopher’s friend and head gardener, Fergus Garrett, Great Dixter is an historic house, a garden, a centre of education, and a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world.
The borders are mixed, not herbaceous. I see no point in segregating plants of differing habit or habits. They can all help one another. So you’ll see shrubs, climbers, hardy and tender perennials, annuals and biennials, all growing together and contributing to the overall tapestry.
A little from the head gardener on colour...
There are no segregated colour schemes. In fact, I take it as a challenge to combine every sort of colour effectively. I have a constant awareness of colour and of what I am doing, but if I think a yellow candelabrum of mullein will look good rising from the middle of a quilt of pink phlox, I’ll put it there – or let it put itself there. Many plants in this garden are self-sown and they often provide me with excellent ideas.
Thank you for all of the gardening volunteers hard work in the garden over the year.
We couldn't do it without you!
Fancy a visit? Click here for the Great Dixter website...
