Great Dixter is a garden you can immerse yourself in, vibrant, daring and exciting. Originally home to the great gardener and garden writer Christopher Lloyd. The garden was the focus of his energy and enthusiasm and fuelled over 40 years of books and articles. Now under the stewardship of Fergus Garret, Great Dixter has become a place of pilgrimage for gardeners from across the world. Fergus, Head Gardener and Chief Executive continues to garden in Christopher's style, daring to be different and experimenting, working with nature rather than against it. In 2017 there was a Heritage Lottery funded biodiversity report of Great Dixter, our garden team garden with biodiversity and nature in mind, we are not pristine, we are forward thinking.
What a delightful place. You arrive at what feels like a rustic farm. Eat outside in the rustic food area, food that is carefully prepared and fresh. The staff happy and helpful. Then you wander through the nursery to the very well packed gardens. These have an almost jungle like feeling, where you duck and dive through many pathways. You can do this for quite a while and rediscover your inner child exploring. Then there is the house. Access to three rooms that totally amaze you. The building, the furniture and the knowledgeable staff. Some great links and information placed around that put you in touch with the family. A very comfortable place to explore.
I'm not a gardener or particularly interested in horticulture and so Great Dixter should have been a bit of a yawn for me. But my wife wanted to visit, despite the fact that dogs aren't allowed in the gardens, and so we made our way here on a Sunday afternoon. I'm glad we did because the gardens are absolutely top-notch being both varied, extensive and jaw-dropping. In a sense you're moving between rooms as you tread the paths with the sense of separation between spaces heightened by, well, the height of the vegetation. It truly towers above your head at times as you literally thread your way through the plants. So we meandered our way through the deeply planted beds catching glimpses of the central manor house here and there. This building is powerfully evocative in its own right (especially if you visit it last) and quite anchors the surrounding land. You don't get to see all or even most of the internal rooms sadly but what you can visit are highly impressive. The central great hall is a vast space featuring wide floorboards and thick roof beams that have been in place for many human lifetimes. In a sense when you visit Great Dixter you're benefitting from the passage of time and the hard work of previous generations. Unrecorded numbers of people have worked the soil here for our benefit and I can recommend visiting to see what they created.
Loved this place. It's a little bit shabby and wild which is awesome, makes you feel immersed in the garden as if you're part of it. Large vegetable garden a little bit away from the main garden. House garden 'riot' of grasses flowers, trees etc across a variety of genera. The house is fantastic. Rustic cafe outside with a limited menu. Nursery. Although there is a disabled toilet, I don't think this is a good venue for wheelchairs - the paths are extremely narrow and a wheelchair wouldn't manage most of them, some steps as well and no ramps. People with higher than moderate mobility needs might struggle too. No dogs allowed in the house garden.
Wow Wow WOW! What beautiful gardens that create havoc with your neck! Spinning and twisting from side to side and looking UP and down to the ground. Today was an absolute highlight of our visit to Sussex. The colour schemes and combination of plants all woven together create a tapestry of wonderment. I felt so small walking in-between the high flowers on the narrow twinding paths. Every corner is an absolute delight. We ate at the cafe and the food was lovely and I strongly advise you to visit here too. 150% GO
This was an absolutely brilliant visit. It's literally a couple of hundred metres across the Kent border with east Sussex . There's the house of course in which you can visit 3 rooms (the great hall, the parlour & the solar) in the mid-15th C part of the house. The rest of the house is private. And then there's the gardens. The gardens are full to overflowing with flowering plants, shrubs, architectural grasses, trees, manicured yew....there's even the very occasional cactus if you look close enough. It's a feast for your visual, olfactory and tactile senses. If that isn't enough, there's also a shop, a cafe/restaurant, a plant nursery with some plants that you'll find in your typical garden centre and lots that you won't. There's the great barn and the oast house. Videos to watch, audio to listen to. The estate is partly disabled-friendly. Of the 3 house rooms open to the public, the solar is upstairs and is not disabled-accessible. Anyone unable to manage the walk from the car park can be dropped off by the ticket booth. Toilets are modern and everything worked. Gardener's World 2:1 is accepted (on non-event days) and provides amazing value. Honestly, just visit before the end of the season. It's utterly brill.
Historic house and gardens in a peaceful setting, with a distinctive feel unlike most National Trust properties. The staff in the house were friendly and happy to answer any questions. The gardens are characterised by densely planted borders that exude colour in summer. The exotic garden, orchard garden and tropical garden offer plenty of variety. The house itself and outbuildings are attractive in themselves, and inside the house visitors can see various items Christopher Lloyd collected over the years. There's plenty of on-site parking (mostly unpaved), a gift shop, nursery and cafe offering an appealing selection of sandwiches and cakes, with plenty of locally sourced items. Entry isn't cheap, but after spending a few hours exploring the house and gardens it seemed worth the money.
On-site services
Wheelchair-accessible car park
Wheelchair-accessible entrance
Picnic tables
Public toilet
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What a delightful place. You arrive at what feels like a rustic farm. Eat outside in the rustic food area, food that is carefully prepared and fresh. The staff happy and helpful. Then you wander through the nursery to the very well packed gardens. These have an almost jungle like feeling, where you duck and dive through many pathways. You can do this for quite a while and rediscover your inner child exploring. Then there is the house. Access to three rooms that totally amaze you. The building, the furniture and the knowledgeable staff. Some great links and information placed around that put you in touch with the family. A very comfortable place to explore.
I'm not a gardener or particularly interested in horticulture and so Great Dixter should have been a bit of a yawn for me. But my wife wanted to visit, despite the fact that dogs aren't allowed in the gardens, and so we made our way here on a Sunday afternoon. I'm glad we did because the gardens are absolutely top-notch being both varied, extensive and jaw-dropping. In a sense you're moving between rooms as you tread the paths with the sense of separation between spaces heightened by, well, the height of the vegetation. It truly towers above your head at times as you literally thread your way through the plants. So we meandered our way through the deeply planted beds catching glimpses of the central manor house here and there. This building is powerfully evocative in its own right (especially if you visit it last) and quite anchors the surrounding land. You don't get to see all or even most of the internal rooms sadly but what you can visit are highly impressive. The central great hall is a vast space featuring wide floorboards and thick roof beams that have been in place for many human lifetimes. In a sense when you visit Great Dixter you're benefitting from the passage of time and the hard work of previous generations. Unrecorded numbers of people have worked the soil here for our benefit and I can recommend visiting to see what they created.
Loved this place. It's a little bit shabby and wild which is awesome, makes you feel immersed in the garden as if you're part of it. Large vegetable garden a little bit away from the main garden. House garden 'riot' of grasses flowers, trees etc across a variety of genera. The house is fantastic. Rustic cafe outside with a limited menu. Nursery. Although there is a disabled toilet, I don't think this is a good venue for wheelchairs - the paths are extremely narrow and a wheelchair wouldn't manage most of them, some steps as well and no ramps. People with higher than moderate mobility needs might struggle too. No dogs allowed in the house garden.
Wow Wow WOW! What beautiful gardens that create havoc with your neck! Spinning and twisting from side to side and looking UP and down to the ground. Today was an absolute highlight of our visit to Sussex. The colour schemes and combination of plants all woven together create a tapestry of wonderment. I felt so small walking in-between the high flowers on the narrow twinding paths. Every corner is an absolute delight. We ate at the cafe and the food was lovely and I strongly advise you to visit here too. 150% GO
This was an absolutely brilliant visit. It's literally a couple of hundred metres across the Kent border with east Sussex . There's the house of course in which you can visit 3 rooms (the great hall, the parlour & the solar) in the mid-15th C part of the house. The rest of the house is private. And then there's the gardens. The gardens are full to overflowing with flowering plants, shrubs, architectural grasses, trees, manicured yew....there's even the very occasional cactus if you look close enough. It's a feast for your visual, olfactory and tactile senses. If that isn't enough, there's also a shop, a cafe/restaurant, a plant nursery with some plants that you'll find in your typical garden centre and lots that you won't. There's the great barn and the oast house. Videos to watch, audio to listen to. The estate is partly disabled-friendly. Of the 3 house rooms open to the public, the solar is upstairs and is not disabled-accessible. Anyone unable to manage the walk from the car park can be dropped off by the ticket booth. Toilets are modern and everything worked. Gardener's World 2:1 is accepted (on non-event days) and provides amazing value. Honestly, just visit before the end of the season. It's utterly brill.
Historic house and gardens in a peaceful setting, with a distinctive feel unlike most National Trust properties. The staff in the house were friendly and happy to answer any questions. The gardens are characterised by densely planted borders that exude colour in summer. The exotic garden, orchard garden and tropical garden offer plenty of variety. The house itself and outbuildings are attractive in themselves, and inside the house visitors can see various items Christopher Lloyd collected over the years. There's plenty of on-site parking (mostly unpaved), a gift shop, nursery and cafe offering an appealing selection of sandwiches and cakes, with plenty of locally sourced items. Entry isn't cheap, but after spending a few hours exploring the house and gardens it seemed worth the money.
