Beth Chatto OBE

Beth Chatto died early this week aged 94. Her garden, on an inhospitable site in Essex, is an inspiration for gardeners the world over.

Chatto won many awards including ten successive gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. In 1987 she was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour, the Royal Horticultural Society’s highest award.

Her books included The Gravel Garden, The Dry Garden, The Woodland Garden, The Damp garden, Plant Portraits, The Green Tapestry and, with Christopher Lloyd, Dear Friend and Gardener.

Criss and I first visited her garden thirty years ago and briefly met Beth who generously detailed one of her gardeners to show us around. As well as walking around her beautiful gardens we were taken to the stock areas at the back of the gardens where we saw bed after bed of beautifully tended perennials.

The next day Criss and I were wandering around Great Dixter when Beth, visiting her great friend Christopher Lloyd, invited us to tea with her, Lloyd and a gardener named Ed Flint.

The next time I went to the Beth Chatto gardens I went with my son Ric, then the head gardener on the Cadogan Estate. By this time the marvellous gravel garden had been made. This garden was her crowning achievement. Wide curving beds were planted with drought tolerant perennials, grasses, bulbs and shrubs giving a long display from early spring until late autumn.

This garden was her crowning achievement. Wide curving beds were planted with drought tolerant perennials, grasses, bulbs and shrubs giving a long display from early spring until late autumn.