Great Dixter House and Gardens

Stunning gardens, historic architecture and seasonal blooms — a quintessentially English day out a short drive from Rye.

When

Open Tuesday to Sunday through the season — closed Mondays (except bank holidays) and through winter

Where

Northiam, near Rye, East Sussex, TN31 6PH

Info

Visit the official website or follow on Facebook for more details

The Lutyens-extended 15th-century timber-framed manor at Great Dixter was Christopher Lloyd's family home and the laboratory for his bold, painterly approach to planting — long borders that build through the season, the Exotic Garden he co-designed with Fergus Garrett, meadows allowed to seed themselves and grow shaggy. Lloyd died in 2006; Garrett has led the gardens since, and the place is as adventurous as it ever was — one of the most-talked-about English gardens of the last fifty years.

Dixter sits in the Wealden lanes near Northiam, a 25-minute drive from Rye. Stay riverside at The River Haven and head over for the morning — the nursery is worth half an hour on its own, and the Loggia café handles lunch.