GREAT DIXTER (NORTHIAM, UK)
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. House and garden are a centre of education, and a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world.
Since Christopher Lloyd died in 2006, the estate is under the stewardship of Fergus Garrett and the Great Dixter Charitable Trust, set up by Lloyd in 2003. The Trust and its staff are maintaining the quality and unique atmosphere of Great Dixter with its exuberant and dynamic style of gardening.
Apart from a couple of mixed orchards and a scattering of trees there were no gardens when the Lloyds arrived in 1910. Christopher Lloyd’s planting favours mixed borders with shrubs, climbers, hardy and tender perennials, annuals and biennials, all growing together and contributing to the overall tapestry, and he took it as a challenge to combine every sort of colour effectively in the entire garden. All nineteen garden sections lie around the house. The surrounding estate with its meadows and ancient woodland is managed in the traditional manner to maximise biodiversity and sustainability.
The Trust has catalogued and conducted conservation work on the historic archives and furnishings, has been able to restore the historic buildings and provide accommodation and training schemes for young gardeners.
Christopher Lloyd; Fergus Garrett; Edwin Lutyens; Great Dixter Charitable Trust
Foto: Great Dixter Charitable Trust
