{"id":23596,"date":"2023-06-27T14:29:49","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T12:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gardensillustrated.com\/?p=110693"},"modified":"2023-06-27T14:35:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T12:35:11","slug":"discover-beth-chattos-gardens","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/discover-beth-chattos-gardens\/","title":{"rendered":"Discover Beth Chatto\u2019s Gardens"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pioneering plantswoman’s garden is a thing to marvel at. Here we explore the key areas of Beth Chatto’s gardens. Words Catherine Horwood, photographs Richard bloom <\/p>

By Daisy Bowie-Sell\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 27 June 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

This year marks the centenary of Beth Chatto\u2019s birth in what she called \u2018the sticks of Essex\u2019. But it was her garden at Elmstead Market, near Colchester, especially her experimental Gravel Garden<\/a>, that brought her international acclaim. It\u2019s a beautifully planted space that James Hitchmough,<\/a> emeritus professor of Horticultural Ecology at the University of Sheffield, has described as \u201cperhaps the most original British garden creation of the 20th century\u201d.<\/p>\n

Discover more about this garden and the other spaces at Beth Chatto\u2019s Gardens below.<\/p>\n

Read more about Beth Chatto\u2019s influence<\/a> on garden designers today.<\/p>\n

Read our interview with Beth Chatto<\/a> from 1997<\/p>\n

The Gravel Garden<\/h3>\n

$\""Asphodelus\"$ <\/picture><\/div>

Asphodelus luteus in The Gravel Garden at Beth Chatto\u2019s gardens in Spring.<\/span> <\/figcaption> \u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

$\""The\"$ <\/picture><\/div>

The Gravel Garden at Beth Chatto\u2019s Garden in Spring.<\/span> <\/figcaption> \u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

$\""Nepeta\"$ <\/picture><\/div>

Nepeta \u2018Chettle Blue\u2019, Stipa tenuissima and Stachys in The Gravel Garden at Beth Chatto\u2019s in June.<\/span> <\/figcaption> \u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

$\""Ampelodesmos\"$ <\/picture><\/div>

Ampelodesmos mauritanicus and Alstroemeria in The Gravel Garden at Beth Chatto\u2019s in June.<\/span> <\/figcaption> \u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

$\""The\"$ <\/picture><\/div>

The Gravel Garden at Beth Chatto\u2019s Gardens in June. Perovskia atriplicifolia \u2018Blue Spire\u2019<\/span> <\/figcaption> \u00a9 Richard Bloom<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThis most famous area of Beth\u2019s garden was created in the 1990s on the half-acre site of the nursery\u2019s former car park. It was inspired by a dried-up river bed she saw in New Zealand, and a visit to Dungeness, where by chance she met Derek Jarman and saw his garden at Prospect Cottage. The drought-tolerant planting may look like it\u2019s growing directly out of the gravel, but it is, in fact, planted into the soil underneath. Beth dug over the compacted ground before adding compost to enrich the soil, and topped it off with a 4cm-deep mulch of sand and gravel. She was not trying to imitate a natural plant community or landscape, but creating a beautiful, low-input garden that would thrive year-round in the challenging Essex climate and conditions.\n
The Water Garden<\/h3>\n
\n
\n