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The Beth Chatto Gardens - Part 1

© Jane Hollis

Beth Chatto started to create her Essex garden in 1960. The site was a few acres of neglected wasteland, considered unfit for farming due to the dry gravel soil on the higher ground and the dampness of the soil surrounding the spring-fed ditch below.

Beth Chatto was undaunted, however, and set about creating her gardens following two important principles - the selection of plants suitable for the conditions and the proper preparation of the soil by addition of organic matter etc.

One of the delights of the gardens is its relevance to the ordinary gardener. So often we visit a famous garden and think to ourselves 'If only we had those old brick walls, mellow Yorkstone paving and classical statuary, we could have a beautiful garden too'. However, Beth Chatto's is not at all grand - the house itself is a modern split level bungalow, her steps are made from cast concrete and her retaining walls from broken paving slabs. And there is not a sculpture or ornament in sight! All the charm of the garden comes from the brilliance of the planting. Plants are grouped together to avoid a spotty look and there is much emphasis on groundcover foliage. Bold plants such as cardoons and gunnera are used to provide relief amongst smaller flowers and foliage. Alongside the gardens is the nursery, which stocks a wide range of unusual plants, mainly perennials.

The Gravel Garden The gravel garden stands on the site of the old car park, which eventually became too small for the hordes of visitors to the gardens. The topsoil was shallow and compacted and underneath lay dry gravel and sand. Essex is renowned for its low rainfall, so Mrs Chatto knew that, even after enriching the soil with compost and manure, she could only use plants adapted to drought conditions. As an experiment, she decided never to irrigate the gravel garden in order to determine which plants could tolerate drought the best. It is an inspiration for gardeners who may be affected by hosepipe bans in dry summers. Above right is a view of the gravel garden with the wispy grass Stipa tenuissima in the foreground, a Yucca behind

The gravel garden design is based on the idea of a dried-up river bed with curving borders on either side with occasional island beds. The path is gravel and the beds are also mulched with gravel, meaning there is no hard edge between the path and the borders. Right is the giant oat-grass, Stipa gigantea, and horn poppies, Glaucium flavum