PLANT PARADISE

Find the perfect plant for every spot at Beth Chatto’s Gardens

Lying in a desert-dry corner of Essex, this seven-acre garden is the creation of plantswoman Beth Chatto. She first created the garden over 60 years ago, when she and her husband, Andrew, took on a windswept, brambled patch of land on which to build their home. Originally trained as a teacher, Beth was also brilliant at creating flower arrangements and knew how to combine plants for form, texture and colour. Faced with cultivating a beautiful garden from this difficult site, Beth painstakingly trialled plants to cope in challenging conditions, from arid soil to boggy hollows. In the process, she defined the concept of ‘right plant, right place’, a practice that has since been adopted by gardeners the world over. As Beth explained, ‘I know if you grow contented plants, you will find contentment yourself.’

Over the years, Beth lectured, wrote and exhibited, while also winning a gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for 10 consecutive years. Her first book, The Dry Garden, was published in 1978 and, over the following 30 years, she wrote another eight influential titles.

She died in 2018, aged 94, having been decorated with an OBE and VMH.

Today, the gardens are managed by Beth’s granddaughter, Julia Boulton, while an educational trust offers courses on-site. Although small – compared with many other well-known gardens – the variety is fantastic and there is inspiration in spades. Divided into diverse, naturalistic styles – gravel, water, scree, woodland and reservoir – here is the proof that if you match plants to the conditions they love, your garden will flourish.

The water garden features a series of ponds linked by a stream that tumbles downhill from Beth’s house. Tranquil and cooling, the moistureloving plants offer intriguing shapes and textures, made more beautiful by the play of light and shade, and shimmering reflections from still waters.

The recently planted reservoir garden has a Mediterranean feel similar to the gravel garden, but the clay soil has been improved with tonnes of mushroom compost. Here, a stone path wends its way between herbaceous border plants, including spikes of blue hyssop and blowsy poppies.