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Beth Chatto
There are gardeners whose ideas and influence extends far beyond their personal fame. One such gardener is Beth Chatto, who began her garden, and then nursery, in one of the driest areas of Britain, East Anglia, over 35 years ago.
Faced with making a new garden on a steep, dry, gravel, and sun-baked bank above a ditch in rural Essex, most of us would despair. The beautiful borders, Mediterranean areas, water and bog gardens we see today belie those beginnings
Beth Chatto's garden is celebrated for the way in which she has selected and grouped plants that require similar conditions, creating a beautiful garden on an inhospitable site. Her nursery is almost a place of pilgrimage and her record of ten Gold Medals at the Chelsea Flower Show gained over ten years is as impressive as her display garden is beautiful and informative.
Underlying all of Beth Chatto's work is the concept that we should create our gardens according to ecological ideas. Plants that require hot dry conditions should be given them and not planted in a shady, damp corner. Plants that need woodland shade and or a bog to be happy should be given them.
She acknowledges that she is not a purist and that her delight when Helleborus orientalis flourished in full sun was matched only by her amazement that they survived away from their natural, shady woodland. However, she explains this as the result of far milder summers in The British Isles.
Many plants will tolerate quite a range of conditions, although with species you cannot go far beyond natural range. By first establishing where and in what conditions plants grew naturally and she was able to provide those conditions.
A firm believer in the preparation of the soil as the key to establishing successful borders, and the importance of the texture of the soil, is illustrated by the development of the gravel garden. The soil was ripped with a sub-soiler to counter the effects of many years of use as a car park. Then compost, well-rotted manure and bonfire waste was added, as in dry climates humus is especially vital to plant survival and good growth
Using mound forming plants, interspersed with vertical accents, Mrs Chatto adds feature plants to add interest and fillers to cover for those plants with a short season. Mulched with a protective layer of gravel the garden is truly wonderful in summer.
Mrs Chatto advocates attention to the 'form and shape of a plant and the texture and colour of its leaves are as important as the colour of its flowers' when planting. Plants have leaves for longer than flowers and dramatic foliage plays a more important part in design than do more ephemeral flowers. Arching plants, big-leaved, bulky plants and grasses create contracts and interest, while tall plants lift the eye and create background for other plants.
Mrs Chatto's gift to us is that she has demonstrated, in the most practical way, that planting together those plants with similar requirements not only enhances their chance of success but creates a 'harmonious whole'.
The lesson that has spread far further than her personal fame is that we should plant according to the environmental requirements of plants, as well as the techniques of working with difficult, almost impossible terrain.
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A garden that is as beautiful as it is informative
Planting for the environmental requirements of plants
Mrs Chatto excels at selecting and grouping plants
The Mediterranean Garden
The water gardens
The woodland garden
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