Exotic Garden

The Exotic garden is already special to me. A film clip of Christopher Lloyd showing Rosemary Verey around the exotic garden broadened my horizons to what gardening can be. It inspired me to follow my ambitions and come to Dixter. Christopher has a captivating manner, his words and choice of language engage people to really listen and learn. At times a cheeky side to Christopher's personality surface, as he drops little lines almost teasing Rosemary. I particularly enjoy the ending "Oh gosh... what do we mean by an English country garden anyway? A garden is a garden; it’s stuffed with excitement, good plants and arrangements of them. Whether it looks English or not, I would not care."

Veiw from the terrace to the exotic garden, the tall structural plants instantly catch your gaze: Acer negundo 'Flamingo', Miscanthus sinensis var. condensatus 'Cosmopolitan', Musa basjoo

Begonia luxurians in the centre of the picture, looking into the garden from the hovel

The exotic garden is the area I begin the day in; sweeping, deadheading and irrigating in dry conditions. What a joy it is to navigate through the different textures, foliage and tropical colours.

The exotic garden was the original site of a Lutchens designed rose garden. The roses had reached a position where they were leggy and heavily spotted. In 1993 Christo took the decision to remove the majority and create a new feel to this garden. The intention was to create a garden that was at its best late into the season and to experiment with large leaved plants to give a feeling of being closer to the equator. 

Bold tropical foliage of Colocasia esculenta 'Fontanesii'

The situation of the Exotic garden helps create its atmosphere enclosed, sheltered and warmed by the Yorkstone paving. The layout of the close beds allows for a variety of interesting textures and focal points; however it is not possible to see the whole garden in a single position so visitors must be within the picture itself, interacting with the plants to explore these views. This year the sense of feeling is that you are negotiating your way through a jungle environment. One morning while I was deadheading Dahlia 'Twynings After Eight' I could hear roaring, as children from the 'garden explorer club' came rustling through the vegetation with faces painted like tigers. For children closer to the ground the exotic garden must be an ‘other-worldy’ experience.  

Amicia zygomereis

Dahlia australis

Dahlia 'Chimborazo'

In terms of planting in the exotic garden the rule is there are no rules, just an awareness of sense of place. A whole range of plants are selected on the merit that they are of interest late summer and possess bold textural characteristics, but can still knit together to create an environment. Exotic colour is dotted throughout by the use of Dahlias, Cannas and original roses. Verbena bonariensis is allowed to self seed throughout and help brings unity to the garden.

Wonderful examples of contrasting foliage that creates a big picture

Japanese banana Musa basjoo

The exotic garden is an experimental garden inspired from Christos travelling. By seeing chronological slides of the exotic garden it becomes obvious that it is an area of evolution and can look completely different year on year. This decision is usually finalised by Ferg in June when the garden is planted up fully.

Tetrapanax papyrifer

Cyperus papyrus

A splash of exotic colour in Dahlia 'Witteman's  Superba'

Garden visit: Gravetye

Today I had the good fortune to visit Gravetye manor.

“Gravetye manor became the home of the creative, innovative and revolutionary gardener, William Robinson in 1884. Robinson spent his life as a professional gardener and botanist, but made his fortune through writing about his experiences and ideas on horticulture. His most notable works include The English Flower Garden, which is one of the best-selling horticultural books of all time, and the hugely influential title, The Wild Garden.”

“Robinson's ideas about naturalised plantings, allowing nature to flow into the garden were ground breaking. Previous to Robinsons books gardens were places where nature was controlled and suppressed, meticulously managed, with carpet bedding and topiary. Robinson travelled the world studying plants in their natural habitat and spent years discussing how the beauty of these habitats might be replicated in the garden. This paved the way for much that we take for granted today in modern garden design. After years of studying, gardening and writing Robinson came to Gravetye and it was here he put his ideas into practice.”

Front entrance to the property

The newly instated long border, animated with late colour

The famous wildflower meadow leading down to the lake

The large circular walled kitchen garden, designed to drain frosts. Now supplies fresh produce to the hotels kitchen.

It is certain that the writings of William Robinson have influenced the development of the gardens at Great Dixter. When Daisy Lloyd managed the grassland as a wildlife retreat, Robinson’s books were the resource to aspire to.
In 2010, Tom Coward, former assistant gardener to Fergus at Dixter, was appointed Head gardener at Gravetye. One of the biggest challenges has been gaining control back over invasive perennial weeds that were steadily choking the borders. Tom and his team have been tackling the problem by holding back on planting perennials, instead mass planting beds with annuals and really working the ground between each planting to fork out and destroy the weeds from the root up. Perennials are planted out in the borders when the section of the ground is clean.
I should like to return in the spring to see the meadow when the Narcissus pseudonarcissus are in flower through a sea of sky blue Scilla seberica, it must be a beautiful event.

Garden visit: Sissinghurst

This week Dixter is hosting a touring garden symposium group from North America. Fergus is very keen for the students of Dixter to experience many different educational opportunities. As it happens there was space in the group and gave permission for us to visit Sissinghurst for a private tour before the gates opened to the public. What an exciting rare opportunity, I skipped on the bus grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Sissinghurst is and will always be Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West’s creation. It began in the 1930s through the acquisition of an Elizabethan ruin and is now under the management of the National Trust. Sissinghurst is held dear in the hearts of millions worldwide as the template of the 20^th-century romantic English country garden.

Sissinghurst has recently appointed a new Head gardener after the retirement of Alexis Datta. We were to meet Troy Scott Smith. I had seen Troy visiting Dixter and knew of his reputation from Bodnant gardens, so this was equally exciting for me as a young gardener. Troy spoke openly and honestly about problems in managing a large garden with a high annual footfall.

Many puritans argue that Sissinghurst has lost Vita’s ‘amateur’ charm and the spirit is extinguished through over gardening, the grounds are too tidy. Great advice I will take from Troy is be critical in your work, question everything and base your actions accordingly.

Sissinghurst employs the equivalent of 6 full time gardeners and on average expects to receive 170,000 visitors each year. 

As this was my first visit to Sissinghurst I was captivated by the beauty of the backdrop the garden resides in. The historic architecture the mature pristine yew hedges dividing the garden rooms and focusing the eye to key focal points. The flow of the garden just feels right and sits within the surrounding farmland, woodland, countryside beautifully. I would love to experience working in this environment one day.            

Successional paving

In the morning I met with Fergus who was preparing a lecture in the billiards room. The fire was blazing and I nearly had to pinch myself to be sure that this was real. Ferg showed me slides of the sunken garden and of Christo’s terrace at different stages through the year. This was important to understand the desired look and characteristics that need to be upheld.

Ben and I worked in the sunken garden selectively weeding the joints in the paving to remove the annual meadow grass and vigorous Cyperus eragrosti. It was important to thin out, but leave the strongest Leucanthemum vulgare and Oenthera biennis for the following spring.

In the afternoon we worked on the Terrace. Like the sunken garden the terrace paving experiences a succession of change from spring to summer. We cut the red valerian, Centranthus ruber and Alchemilla mollis hard back to the ground and weeded out the annual meadow grass and perennial weeds. In the process of weeding we were careful to keep the strongest Leucanthemum vulgare, Oenothera biennis and Erigeron karvinskianus.

Beautiful Erigeron karvinskianus sowing freely in the gaps between the masonary.

Sorbus torminalis

While working in the Orchard garden raking up hay I noticed a tree that I have known as the wild service tree.

In the words of head gardener Fergus Garrett “the orchard garden is our principal area of meadow stretching almost the whole south side of the garden. Studded with apples, pears, plums, hawthorns and crabs, the meadow stretches into the landscape marrying us to the surrounding countryside. The long grass contains communities of crocuses, daffodils, four types of terrestrial orchid, and Adder’s Tongue ferns.”

Wild service tree Sorbus torminalis fruit.

That evening I did some research: Wild service tree Sorbus torminalis. The species is a rare tree to Britain in the wild and a species indicator of ancient woodlands. The local Kent Sussex name is the chequer tree, possibly due to the nature of how the bark peels off in rectangular strips. The gritty fruit of the service tree was used and sold in the South East of England as the ‘chequers berry’. It has been eaten as a cure for colic and dysentery. 

Topiary Lawn Meadow

One major area of work at Dixter in September is the cutting of all the wildflower meadows.

The meadows of Dixter are a testament to the passions of Christopher’s mother Daisy Lloyd for ecology and naturalistic gardening principles. An English wildflower meadows require poorer soils than intensive agricultural practices allow, consequently is a habitat in decline. The aspect of the topiary lawn make it a good site for wildflower, because it gets full sun, adequate spring rainfall and the soils is naturally nutrient poor. One of the most important species in the meadow is Yellow hay rattle Rhianthus minor, yellow rattle is semi-parasitic and greatly curbs the vigour of the grass it grows off. Reduced competition opens dense swards allowing wild flower species to colonise. Four terrestrial orchids native to the Weald have naturally established and colonised themselves on the lawn: Early purple, Green winged, Twayblade and the common spotted Dactylorhiza fuchsia.

Ben James and myself cutting and clearing the topiary lawn, in the scary presence of BBC4

Rowing up the orchard meadow using traditional hay rakes

The timing of cutting is determined when seeds of the wildflowers have matured and ripened late summer end of August into September. It is favourable to cut in dry conditions as mechanical operations are easier to perform. The meadow is cut using a Trac Master Power scythe. The scythed biomass is raked to rows by hand using Dixters own hay rakes, more efficient than modern spring tined rakes, then bagged and removed from the site to continue to deprive the soil of nutrient. For a clean finish and to remove further vegetative matter the site is closely mown with the ride on mower.

Bagged material being transported to Dixter farm to be strewn on the new wildflower meadow.

The stack of meadow hay to be composted

Much of the material taken from the topiary lawn is stacked in a large composting heap to decompose over a three year cycle. The compost off the meadow is incorporated into the vegetable garden. It is used in the vegetable garden and not the borders, because it contains a large weed seed bank that can be managed in an environment that is regularly hoed. The management at Dixter is to increase the area of wildflower meadows; therefore, proportions of the clippings rich in seed are collected and moved to other grassland and scattered on the surface in a process called strewing. Strewing enables local seeds to spread to new grassland increasing the rate new wildflower meadows can establish. To return formality to the topiary lawn the edges of the yew topiary are weeded and edged to create definite boundaries from the lawn.

The Topiary lawn the following morning clean cut with crisp edges.

Morning Routines

After meeting Simon I met with Fergus who issued us with a series of daily jobs to do in the morning before the garden opens. To begin with I will be working alongside Ben, the North American Scholar also at Dixter for one year.

I am responsible for the spare plant stock stored in the frost free lean-to at Dixter farm, opposite my accommodation. I am then to meet up with Ben in the Exotic garden and initiate the daily sweep around all paths of the garden. As we travel from garden to garden we will dead head any obvious Dahlia or Cosmos to help keep the picture of the garden bright and tidy. We will also check the pot displays.

Dixter Farm lean-to

My beautiful pink trug in action down a misty long border.

One of the pot displays, this one located in the wall garden.

Checking Dahlia A La Mode for deadheading and found this little chap catching some rays, small copper I think.

Handmade Wooden Products

Today I met Simon who works in the Great Barn,  over the next few months Simon will process the timber we collected from the woods and construct beautiful handmade wooden products.
These are now on sale at Great Dixter. This is a unique range made from locally sourced timber. Simon builds beautiful: hurdles, hay rakes, ladders, benches, crates and many other interesting items.

If you are interested in Simon's work then please contact Perry Rodriguez for further information:

Tel: 01797 252878 ext.3            Email: office@greatdixter.co.uk 

Dixter Woods

Today I learnt Dixter is not only a house and garden, but also manages two pieces of woodland on its estate. I was given the opportunity to visit and work the woods. I was delighted as I had not worked a wood since Westonbirt and before that college working in an ancient hazel coppice called Siccaridge. I enjoy the atmosphere of woodland; it feels a very natural place to be, enclosed, peaceful and secure.

A compartment of the wood previously coppiced, growing for its next harvest.

The compartment of the wood coppiced last winter, note how more open the canopy is.

The woodland is comprised mostly by Sweet Chestnut Castanea sativa and Hornbeam Carpinus betulus coppiced stools with English Oak Quercus robur and Common Ash Fraxinus excelsior Standards, however in the compartment we were working I also noted:  Hazel  Corylus avellana, Holly Ilex aquifolium, and Silver Birch Betula pendula accounting for a significant proportion of the understory.

A pulp hook used to grip the lengths of timber

The tractor and trailer is used to bring the harvest back to Dixter

Coppicing is a traditional form of native broad leave woodland management. It involves repetitive felling on the same stool close to ground level. Shoots are then allowed to re-grow from the coppiced stump.

The emphasis at Dixter seems to be of Sustainable land use that dynamically supports biodiversity. I believe the management plan for the woodland is to bring the wood back into a 15 year coppice rotation.

Coppiced woodland has a broader range of habitats due to the compartments at different growth stages. Areas will have different light levels hitting the ground depending on the density of the canopy. Areas with greater light levels will favour many invertebrates and woodland flora. It is this regulated diversity of habitat that enables coppiced woodland to support a broader range of species. In a recent spider survey conducted at Dixter out of 124 species recorded 64 inhabited the woodland environment.

Beginnings of a wood pile 

P.T.O driven saw bench used to process gnarly timber into firewood for the house.

The task for the next few days is to extract all the seasoned chestnut timber, then deliver and stack the logs beside the great barn ready to be processed into firewood and timber products. Paths need to be cleared in the wood through brambles to access the timber stacks. The larger chestnut timber will be dragged to the trailer using a pulp hook and manual handled onto the trailer.