My Climate Change Garden

According to the Met Office, summer in the UK officially ends at the end of August.  However, every year we seem to get these wonderful sunny September and October days that make the line between the end of summer and the beginning of Autumn rather blurred.

Temperatures in the South East have been in the early twenties with very little rainfall for the past few weeks, plus the nights have sometimes been almost muggy. Its interesting to notice which gardens have managed to hang onto their shape and colour . Those with traditional water-loving bedding plants are finding the lack of water a challenge whilst borders planted with drought loving varities have really benefited and are looking spectacular.

My favourite garden at this time of year is Great Dixter in Northiam, East Sussex. This magical place never fails to impress with its breath-taking borders mixed with shrubs,climbers, hardy and tender perennials, annuals and biennials all growing together to create a rich tapestry.

Great Dixter was the family home of Christopher Llyod who devoted his life until he died in 2006  to creating one of the most experimental, exciting and constantly changing gardens of our time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jan/30/pressandpublishing.booksobituaries

The look and feel of the garden is quite unique with its rambling collection of borders,walled garden sunken garden, meadow planting , innovative vegetable garden, and, my favourite, the compact but jungle like Exotic Garden.

This inspirational Exotic Garden shows exactly what you can do with a small space to create late summer impact. It is brimming with colour from the exquisite dahlias such as those above called Dahlia Moonfire mixed with a haze of purple from self seeding verbena bonariensis,  combined with impressive displays of the  hardy Japanese banana, Musa Basjoo and a variety of other plant delights.http://www.greatdixter.co.uk/gardens/g_exotic.htm

Great Dixter is both cutting edge and traditional and deserves its place in the horitcultural hall of fame as “the most generous garden imaginable” (Anna Pavord).http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/gardening-where-i-learnt-to-love-the-triffids-1241398.html