Even in winter I was so impressed \u2013 I was taken aback by the bone-structure of the garden. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
\u201cOf course I was way too shy to knock on Beth\u2019s door, so I went home and wrote her a letter, asking if I could come and work over the summer. Initially, it was for six months. I lived in a caravan by the vegetable patch \u2013 which was great, as I could wander around the garden, observe, make notes, compare cultivars and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given this level of dedication from the outset, perhaps it is not surprising that \u00c5sa rapidly became a quasi-head gardener \u2013 because \u201cBeth was always the boss\u201d. The role became formalised over time, and \u00c5sa says she has been in charge of the day-to-day running of the garden for the past seven years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I started,\u201d she says, \u201cBeth told me: \u2018I probably haven\u2019t got long left.\u2019 But she was always in the garden working or observing, latterly on her mobility scooter \u2013 which was a little hair-raising, as she was always looking at the plants rather than where she was driving. To be honest, I never once saw her sit down in the garden and relax.\u201d<\/p>\n
With shoulder-length blonde hair swept back from her forehead and that sunny, open disposition we \u2013 perhaps unreasonably \u2013 tend to expect from Scandinavians, it is difficult to imagine the preternaturally calm \u00c5sa being fazed by anything. But is there not a great burden of responsibility in being expected to work \u201cin the spirit\u201d of someone who is no longer with us, but whose memory is still so bound up with the garden? \u201cIt doesn\u2019t bother me,\u201d says \u00c5sa, apparently with genuine unconcern. \u201cI\u2019m happy just working with the plants. If you ask, do I have to stop and think all the time what Beth would have done, I don\u2019t \u2013 because I know that 99 per cent of the time my choice would be the same as Beth\u2019s. Of course, she had her favourites: if she had her way, there would be bergenias everywhere. That was her go-to plant. But my worries are more practical: sustainability<\/a>; whether we have the manpower; integrating new team members. In the end, the biggest challenge for any gardener is understanding what it is you are trying to create, and getting that image in your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge for any gardener is understanding what it is you are trying to create. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Growing up near Stockholm, \u00c5sa says she was not drawn to gardening as a child. \u201cWhen you have wild nature, as we do in Sweden, it\u2019s different,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe don\u2019t have Dixters<\/a> or Beth Chattos.\u201d She only began to think of gardening seriously as a career option in her early twenties, while helping her parents in the garden of their weekend cottage, \u201cdeep in the forest\u201d. This followed stints as an au pair in the USA and working at a ski resort.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitially, I thought about floristry,\u201d she says. \u201cBut then I got practical experience [as an intern] in the botanic garden in Stockholm.\u201d There followed a two-year course at a horticultural college, then a period at a nursery-cum-garden centre \u2013 and finally, at the age of 31, her horticultural destiny.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeth was a tough boss,\u201d \u00c5sa says. \u201cHer whole life was led by plants. When you arrived in the morning, it was as if she had been up since the early hours, impatiently waiting for someone to come in. There was always a long list of things to do. But she was so generous with her time and her knowledge. She was a great friend and I miss her hugely. I always had the highest respect for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was a great friend and I miss her hugely. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
Sometimes in Britain such things can be said almost out of politeness. But in the case of \u00c5sa \u2013 who was informed, when she first arrived in England, that she was \u201cquite direct\u201d \u2013 it is clear that these sentiments are deeply and earnestly held. Indeed, respect and affection for Beth Chatto are the underlying reasons for her career-long loyalty and dedication to one garden.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
USEFUL INFORMATION\nBeth Chatto\u2019s Plants & Gardens, Clacton Road, Elmstead Market Elmstead, Colchester, Essex CO7 7DB. Tel 01206 822007, bethchatto.co.uk<\/a><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
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