Visited early August. Didn't do the house. The 'sunk' garden was delightful but the rest of the gardens disappointing on the whole. A lot of repetitive planting so generally not much to distinguish the separate areas. Recent planting in rows like soldiers! e.g the sunflowers and what I think were zinnias (didn't look closely). Overall it looks very tired, uncared for and overgrown. The setting is great and perhaps it might be worth visiting in early summer or spring but I wouldn't recommend it as there are so many more interesting and well maintained gardens within easy reach. My two companions, with whom I recently completed a two year horticulture course, were of the same opinion.

inspirational May visit; saw plants that were new to me, the pot collection I've repeated, and this beats every other garden i have ever visited. I shall return next year

Great Dixter has it all: an atmospheric house, an imaginative garden and a jam-packed nursery that can quench your thirst along with your plant envy. It even offers a bouquet of garden symposia. The week-long symposium that I attended tackled topics ranging from designing for garden succession to techniques for plant staking. The expert, intensive instruction, principally by Fergus Garrett, satisfied amateurs and professionals alike. Satisfy is perhaps too weak a word, though. Delight is closer to the truth. The enthusiastic, charming staff cosseted us non-stop. They ushered us on field trips that illuminated not just English gardens but also English gardening life. And they served up splendid meals that were enriched as much by Great Dixter’s luscious produce as by Dixter’s great beauty. The profusion of extras transformed a substantive symposium into a brilliant break. Take it!

Wonderful gardens that encourage you to go home and add colour to your own. Not fussy or formal, yet still manages to educate.

We have been to many houses and gardens with our children (age between 5 and 10) and they have enjoyed almost every one of them. However this isn't something we can say about Great Dixter. Great Dixter felt really unsuitable for children. They were made to feel really unwelcome. Our advise is not to go if you and your children want to have a good time....This is a real shame as at this young age children can get a real appreciation for this type of venue. The gardens were nice but having a meadow around formal topiary!!!!. In our view it didn't go together.... The house is really nice, but you only get to see 3 rooms. A real shame as you dont get to see much at all. A bit of a waste, given that this is 3 houses incorporated into one. The real benefit would be to see how this is merged together but you don't get to see any of this..... In summary we wouldn't waste our time or energy visiting Great Dixter.