Gardener: Marianne Willburn
Great Dixter's Influence on North American Gardeners
“Dixter has inspired a child-like curiosity within me that helps me weather the abundant challenges I face as a gardener with a more playful and joyful spirit.”
🌿 Marianne Willburn on Great Dixter
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our third interview of North American gardeners, each of whom have been deeply influenced by the work of the famed British garden, Great Dixter. In the coming weeks I will be sharing the stories of students, designers, horticultural professionals, and home gardeners as we chat about the practices and qualities of Dixter that have changed them.
Read a bit about the history and generosity of Great Dixter in the first post of this series:
Garden writer & speaker
Today we will hear from gardener Marianne Willburn. Marianne is a garden columnist, author, speaker and international garden tour guide based in rural northern Virginia. I’m glad to invite Marianne here to tell us about her experience reading about and visiting Great Dixter.
Welcome Marianne!
Julie: How did you find Great Dixter?
Marianne: A used book sale was my gateway to Dixter, through a second-hand copy of Christopher Lloyd’s book, In My Garden, more than twenty years ago. His literary style and often biting sense of humor was an instant draw, as was his adventurous approach to the garden. He was curious. I loved that, and proceeded to search out every book he’d ever written. Few garden writers cause you to fall in love with their gardens and give you such a strong sense of what they are – he did, perhaps without trying. I felt I knew Great Dixter long before I walked through that gate for the first time many years later. An odd feeling, but I’m sure one that many have shared.
Julie: Do you have a favorite part of the garden or planting at Great Dixter?
Marianne: The simple joy of the topiary lawn when the spotted orchids are blooming in May ranks very high in my mind. It represents the essence of Dixter to me – the desire to understand and support complex ecosystems through patient and thoughtful stewardship, whilst cherishing tradition and championing our human desire to garden as a form of art. The tension between these three elements is so fragile. And so beautiful. That’s what I see in that space. When the sun is just going down and the tiniest flying insects are swirling, it’s pure magic.
Julie: How has Great Dixter inspired you?
Marianne: The love of place is so palpable at Dixter, from those that keep it to those that visit it, that I could not help but come away with a heightened appreciation for the little bit of land that I tend, and the mysteries and systems I have yet to discover here. Dixter has inspired a child-like curiosity within me that helps me weather the abundant challenges I face as a gardener with a more playful and joyful spirit.
Julie: What three words best describe Great Dixter to you?
Marianne: Curiosity. Courage. Joy.
Julie: How have you applied what you have learned at/from Dixter to your gardening in North America?
Marianne: The most obvious way is in recognizing what my ‘planting pockets’ are, and how to best use them – rather than seeing them as problem gaps in a border needing filling. I’ve also loved strategically working with bulbs in more naturalistic patterns against a sea of emerging annual and perennial foliage. And when I occasionally sneak and don’t use boards I feel like Fergus is watching and shaking his head disappointedly. Dammit.
Julie: Why should North American gardeners with more extreme climates than Britain learn from the gardening at Great Dixter?
Marianne: Because it’s not about using the same plants as Dixter uses only to fail with them. It’s about using the techniques of Dixter to discover what characteristics you need from your plants and then figuring out which plants in your eco-region/climate can give that to you. It’s like changing keys in a song to suit your voice. It sounds different, but it’s the same song. And it’s up to you to embellish it further.
Fergus Garrett explains tying up a Euphorbia in the border at Great Dixter. Video by MW:
Julie: Where can we find out more about your work in North America?
Marianne: You can find me on Instagram or Facebook. If you’re interested in touring with me, DM me for news of new tours for next year. You can find much more of my writing and photography at GardenRant.com, MarianneWillburn.com, and occasionally for The American Gardener and The Wall Street Journal. My books Big Dreams, Small Garden, and Tropical Plants and How To Love Them, are available on my website and wherever books are sold.
Thank you, Marianne, for sharing your Great Dixter story today!
"It’s about using the techniques of Dixter to discover what characteristics you need from your plants and then figuring out which plants in your eco-region/climate can give that to you."
This is really empowering.
"And when I occasionally sneak and don’t use boards I feel like Fergus is watching and shaking his head disappointedly."
And this is really funny. :-)