Christopher Lloyd(Christo) who died in 2006 created this garden with his head gardener Fergus Garrat who still carries on the legacy with the same inspiration and individuality that made their style of gardening notorious. No camera could do this garden justice,but hear are a few shots. My first glimpse of Great Dixter.....Excited already. The great house....15th Century. A typical Vista,texture,colour and form. Wherever you look there is colour. And more. The first sight of Fergus at work. Christo's barrow. Great Dixter is also a haven for wildlife,long grass habitats are strategically placed,even amongst the topiary Even a tropical garden A rare view in Christo's garden.... ..Clean lines.. Fergus in the Long Border. Nothing suprises hear. Not sure who's idea this was Christo's or Fergus. Gunera Maticulata and Inula Magnifica. Water Lilies in Horse Pond. Even the Loo was interesting.
Great pictures Roders, a beautiful garden indeed. Interesting to speculate on possible uses for the fork in the loo..........
Lovely pictures Roders. I live not far away so know it well. I took a fellow designer there, up from Wales, a couple of weeks ago, and she was knocked out by the garden. I know Fergus a bit and was lucky enough to spend some time with him, preparing a bed for replanting. We had a great chat, he's a smashing bloke and a worthy successor to carry on Christo's work.
Thanks for the nice comments,it is a special garden. Although Christo has long passed, I couldn't help thinking this handsome cat had a special aura about him and could be himself reincarnated,it was something about him,just making sure Fergus didn't conform to much.
Lovely Roders - thank you for showing that. I would love to visit that garden. And he is still my favorite guru as far as his writings are concerned.
Definite look of Christo about him! Although I suspect he would rather come back as one of his beloved Dachshunds!
You are proberbly right Chris, I don't know how many dogs he had,I know one was aptly named Conifer and I believe the one in the picture is Canna.... Yes Peter,I have not yet read any of his books.....That IS about to change.What do you recomend to start with?
Roders - I like any of his writings as he chats about plants, and there is a lot of information in what appear to be casual throw away lines. One good book is "Succession Planting". I happen to have (somehow) two copies, and I would be very pleased to let you have one. Just send me a PM with your full name and address. The book is a ramble through plants, garden structure and successional planting. Another one I like is "Garden Flowers". This is more of a reference book listing plants alphabetically. He goes through the genera talking about them (no pictures). But rather than quote the usual statistics of colour and height etc, he gives his personal opinion. He says things like "this is the Salvia that I most drool after" (of Salvia leucantha). And of other plants "this is rubbish and not worth a place in the garden". Whilst I have read some of his other books, I think the only other one of his that I have is "Garden flowers from seed" written in conjunction with Graham Rice. Its a bit like "Garden Flowers" in that it goes through the genera, and its form is a conversation between him and Rice about each plant ,how to propagate it from seed, how good a plant it is, and what conditions it likes etc.
roders thanks so much for sharing some of your trip.. It is a garden on my list, but not got there yet... Your photos are superb & make me want to go even more now.. :D
Thanks Marley x Peter,thanks for your very very kind offer,I will PM you asap.I can't wait to get my hands on some of Christo's work......