Great Dixter House and Garden in Northiam stands quiet and still in the cold winter air. There is no one in the house today, even the resident dachshunds are out visiting. Go through the enormous wooden front door, no pot flower display outside it now, the place is silent and still. It will soon wake again, though now the wonderful old timbers in the Great Hall are resting, waiting for the New Year. The furniture still shines, the brass and copper are polished, the books wait to be dusted and replaced on the bookshelves.
The medieval part of the house feels chilly and silent, too, with no one about. The Lutyens-designed Arts and Crafts wing of the house, which is normally occupied, still has the sense of being lived in, more friendly, less monumental. The dachshunds will be back in the next few hours and there will be noise and bustle, which will spill over into the oldest part.
The garden seems equally eerily empty. There isn’t anyone about. The flowerbeds are neat and tidy, shrubs cut back, the winter light low.
Is anyone about? What is going on? The exotic garden is all wrapped up, waiting for warmer weather, the rest of the garden is being tidied up, and the garden at the front of the house will shortly have its first cycle of plants put in place. This, like many other parts of the garden, will be replanted through the year, so it always looks its best.
But there is activity. Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener and Chief Executive of the charitable trust that now owns the house and garden, says that this is one of the busiest times of the year. It is this period, when the place has no paying customers, that the garden and nursery staff and the horticultural students, led by Fergus, put in all the background work and planting plans, to achieve the amazing results that so excite visitors for the rest of the year.
Great Dixter garden waits for the first signs of spring, planting is moving quietly forward and it will all be its experimental, exuberant best as the year progresses and the visitors flow through the doors at the end of March. Don’t forget, that the nursery is open all year round, propagating and potting up, filling the cold frames ready for the spring.
For opening times, go to the website. Groups are welcome, with prior booking and Great Dixter is well known for its courses and study days, information on all of these is on the same site.
Photos: Gillian Roder