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 Fergus Garrett and the Great Dixter Charitable Trust, Great Dixter is an historic house, a garden, a centre of education, and a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world. In Christopher Lloyd’s own words: “Most of the garden design was by Lutyens; it always seems fluid, never stodgy. Thus, yew hedges are sometimes curved, making a change from straight lines. Dixter’s is a high maintenance garden; I make no bones about that. It is effort that brings reward. There are many borders and much work goes into them.  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.  I have no segregated colour schemes. In fact, I take it as a challenge to combine every sort of colour effectively”.  www.greatdixter.co.uk/

Fabulous colour patterns

The overall tapestry is really what this garden is all about.  So many people have visited this wonderful garden and will have found different things to interest them.  To be quite honest I found it a bit of a jumble but I think that is EXACTLY what it is meant to be and taken on that level it is fascinating.  There are NO RULES here… the colour clashes are incredible but then there are also fabulous colour matches.  You seldom get a long vista but you turn a corner and find yourself in a new theme or room even! Here are some lovely photos.

Fabulous colour clashes

Fabulous colour shapes

Garden tapestry

Mores shapes and colour

Soft hues