My garden is one of my greatest pleasures. And though I love tending it, I am at the stage where I love visiting the gardens of others even more. I am always inspired and take away tidbits and images worth remembering. I am very lucky to be able to travel a lot and I make it a point to visit gardens wherever I go. On a recent trip to England I wandered through many different kinds of gardens…all of them unique in their own way. But, with the hot weather and lack of rain we’ve been in the past few years, one of the gardens that stick out in my mind is the Beth Chatto’s garden in Essex.
Now, this is not your average homeowner’s garden. It is quite famous and one of the great gardens of the world. Mrs. Chatto is in her late 80s but she is still intimately involved in the running of the place, though she does have “staff” and a head gardener. I only have a staff of one and that is me (and maybe a reluctant husband once in a while). Even so, there are lessons to be learned no matter what the size of your garden or the depth of your pocketbook might be.
Mrs. Chatto started her garden in 1960 as an experiment to see what would grow without any additional moisture in a place that has only an average of 20 inches of precipitation per year…the driest place in England. She began the gardens from five acres of overgrown wasteland with very poor gravelly soil and boggy hollows. Her “Gravel Garden” as it is known never get watered. They have to go it alone with what Mother Nature provides and yet they are lush and beautiful. According to Chatto it is all about putting the right plant in the right place.
Besides the Gravel Garden this gardener extraordinaire has created water gardens, shade and woodland gardens and scree beds. But it is the gravel garden that always gets the most attention from visiting North Americans.
Besides the actual gardens, the property has a cafe that overlooks the famous Gravel Garden where you can enjoy light refreshment, a gift shop and an outstanding nursery.
For more information see: http://www.bethchatto.co.uk/