Sis-ter: A weekend staying at Sissinghurst and then visiting Dixter. Such wonderful weather. For the Dixter open winter weekend it was practically empty - which is always a joy.
interested to hear what you made of the new dry garden?
I understand why they made it, it was kind of Vita's idea - they loved Delos, but I find the whole thing odd, in this lush area surrounded by ponds and lakes , vegetable gardens and woods. I suppose it was a historical nod, but an orchard would have been lovely. There seems to be not much in Delos apart from euphorbia, but it's quite new and maybe in the summer it will be an explosion. My sense is that the National Trust get a lot of stick for being stuck, way too conservative and harking backwards. I suspect this was the NT trying to be hip and 'with it' by planting a dry, drought-tolerant garden, in step with climate change. It fact it might just end up being a pile of rocks next to a rose garden. One upside is that gives people a nice place to sit and have a quiet rest.
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I do get disheartened watching the crowds charging through the spaces, like they do in galleries. They seem there because it's listed in a book. A photo to share, a story to tell. They charge up the tower, take two pictures and charge down the tower and on to the next bit. The kids seemsed happiest and least confused - just running about, chasing each other and shouting in the sunshine, glad for the space.
That’s interesting- I share your view that it seemed sort of out of place. But I put that down to be me being an old stick-in-the-mud (or should that be gravel 😂). Good to know what others reckon
I recently read a magazine article (God knows where) by someone snotty who revisited Sissinghurst after 25 years and found the same begonia in the same pot in the place. He wanted to weep. Dixter is celebrated for its innovation.
God knows I am no afficiando, but it seems that some historic gardens (Trusts, head gardeners etc) aim to go for conservation and historical accuracy/faithfulness to original designs, planting schemes and varieties. Whilst other gardens value innovation and dynamism more. I don't see anything inherently wrong in sticking to original plans. Surely it's horses for courses, whatever the hell that means.
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I know bequests can be a royal pain in the butt of historic sites. Kenwood House, near me, for example, I think was gifted to English Hertiage but the bequest states that the art collection can never change. So every picture is in exactly the same place that it was in when I was six. It's eerie. Very aspic. But in fact, it's in a widely visited and popular site where most people through the door are visiting for the first time and it works for them. The art collection includes lots of notable pieces and artists (Constable, Rembrant, Vermeer etc) so there is enough there to hold interest. It's kind of a shame not to have a more dynamic area for visiting art or young artists but that's not their Shtick.
@Fire Thanks for taking time to write all of the above .So much I did not know. Do they still have lots of Crocus tommisianus I understand it had become a problem?
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
Yes, it seems they do. @GardenerSuze They were still kind of vertical in the shady ares. I think maybe I was about a week late for the peak show.
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This isn't a great picture, but the whole walk was lined. I can't say I'm a great fan of this crocus. It looks like a collapsing, soggy mess after a few days, like there's been a masscre. I was personally excited to see that a wide range of snowdrops were going well at Dixter.
It was very interesting to see the flawless pleaching above.
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I play with plants and soil and sometimes it's successful
Love a Sissinghurst/Dixter combo @fire. I was at sissighurst in October ….. interested to hear what you made of the new dry garden?