Beth Chatto
Pioneering gardener and writer
BORN JUNE 27, 1923 DIED MAY 13, 2018, AGED 94
GREEN-fingered Beth Chatto dedicated her life to horticulture.
The distinguished nurserywoman opened the Beth Chatto Gardens at Elmstead Market in Essex after transforming in 1960 an overgrown wasteland into one of the world’s most famous gardens which thousands of plant lovers visit every year.
Born in Essex, Chatto inherited her love of all things green from her parents who were both enthusiastic gardeners.
After leaving school she trained to be a teacher at Hockerill College in Bishop’s Stortford but became interested in gardening professionally when she married her husband Andrew in 1943.
The fruit farmer’s lifelong research into the origin of garden plants rubbed off on Chatto, laying the roots for her successful horticultural career.
She was equally encouraged by a close neighbour to start flower arranging and together they founded Colchester Flower Club, the second in Britain at the time. Her groundbreaking ideas were communicated through her books which chronicled her experiences of ecological gardening with an emphasis on sustainability.
Her first, The Dry Garden published in 1978, was such a success it paved the way for a host of other titles including The Damp Garden and Plant Portraits.
For years she was a regular exhibitor at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show winning 10 successive gold medals, the first of which – in 1977 – was for showcasing plants for dry and damp areas.
She was also given the RHS’s most prestigious award, the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1987.
In 2002 Chatto was awarded the OBE.
She died peacefully at home and is survived by her two daughters.