Great Dixter, ideas to use in your garden.

The garden at Great Dixter in East Sussex is probably one of the most famous gardens in the world.

It was the family home of gardener and garden writer Christopher Lloyd, who dedicated his life to the garden and made great changes to the planting. Most of the garden’s original lay-out was designed by Edwin Lutyens for Christopher Lloyds’ parents.

Since Christopher Lloyd died in 2006, the garden has been in the very capable hands of Fergus Garrett and The Great Dixter Charitable Trust.

The garden is set high up with wonderful views over the East Sussex landscape.

Lutyens used farm buildings in the garden, turning them to other uses. As well as bringing enormous charm and character to the garden, these buildings are made from local materials and give real structure to the lay-out of the garden.

Some areas of the garden are a riot of colour:

contrasting with hedges that sub-divide the garden into different areas, evergreen topiary and strong plants shapes.

The topiary lawn:

It’s a lovely garden to visit and you can borrow some of the ideas to use in your own garden:

be bold and use colorful plants
use pergolas, and small garden buildings for structure and height
use topiary and shapely evergreen shrubs to give all year round structure to your garden.