The gardens at Great Dixter, Northiam, East Sussex
A LITTLE over a decade ago, the Heritage Lottery Fund granted the sum of about £4 million to Great Dixter Garden. At the time, the naysayers, led by Sir Roy Strong, protested that no garden could be kept in perpetuity. Others, who had enjoyed Christopher Lloyd’s weekly column on these pages for nearly half a century, imagined that it was his personality that made the garden what it was. Without Christo, Dixter could not be Dixter. But, before he died, the great man wrote that he did not want the place to be a museum. ‘The garden will change, it has changed a lot in my time,’ he wrote, adding that, ‘as long as Fergus is at the helm, I have no fears for Dixter.’
Great Dixter is a way of life with gardening at its heart. For Christo, and now Mr Garrett, it is for gardening, real innovation and best horticultural practice. And some.
‘We try to bring creativity into everything,’ Mr Garrett says, ‘but also the importance of community, the importance of kindness and the importance of a responsibility to the next generation. Christo once said to me: “I’m giving you everything, so that you will be better than me and I expect you to do the same.” Thanks to him, I have a fantastic team of gardeners around me.’
Denne historien er fra October 04, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra October 04, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
