Beth Chatto’s Garden
Beth’s special expertise is in her familiarity with plants’ suitability to varying soils and conditions, her own garden being a transformation of several acres of swampland from her husband’s fruit farm. Here she has divided the garden in its natural variations to suit widely differing plants, from a water-garden to a dry gravelly Mediterranean-type garden. She adheres to her one strict rule of planting – ‘Pick the plants that naturally thrive in the conditions you have in your garden’. A rule we have tried to follow, but so often break.
This garden presents a very harmonious picture throughout the seasons with carefully placed foliage and texture, this being as important as colour to Beth. In the garden a series of pools runs along a shallow hollow, edged with moisture loving plants. Further up the slopes are sweeping beds containing a rich abundance of bulbs and herbaceous perennials backed with shrubs and trees.
Gardeners will find valuable information and an example of suitable planting for their own microclimate here. Beth’s recognition of soil conditions and her use of the sculptural and architectural value of plants, results in a most pleasing picture of contrasting form and undulating colour, a tapestry in greens.