The hard landscaping and green bones of Great Dixter need continuous maintenance. The steps and paths are laid in York stone and the steps are underpinned with brick and tile. The plantings of the Barn Garden are anchored in walls and paving which need frequent attention. Great Dixter is a high intensity flower garden requiring a large amount of work from skilled staff. The yew hedges require 45 days of cutting each year. The flower meadows need careful supervision and strewing is used to enrich adjoining pasture. In the kitchen garden new varieties of seed are tried out alongside traditional varieties of fruit and vegetables. Tree audits are carried out, tree surgeons brought in, and gaps filled.

The old timber and plaster walls of the house, its oak floors and peg tile roofs require constant monitoring, as do its historic contents.

In 2018 donations funded the restoration of further cold frames in the nursery. They also made it possible to resurface the entrance drive and contributed towards help in the vegetable garden and buying vegetable seed. A comprehensive biodiversity audit of the garden and wider estate was carried out with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and a number of private donations. A new kitchen and improvements to catering in the loggia received funding from The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.  

In the house donors helped with the conservation of two watercolours and the cleaning and stabilization of Nathaniel Lloyd’s winter coat.

If you would like to donate to this area of activity at Great Dixter please contact Linda Jones.

To donate to the House & Garden Fund, please click the button below:

Please add a comment to your donation if you wish your money to be used for a specific project. 

For further information, please contact Linda Jones:

Tel: +44 (0) 1797 254048
Email: [email protected]