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The Beth Chatto Gardens at Elmstead Market, near Colchester, began life in 1960. It was a piece of ground attached to the Chatto family home. It had not been farmed before, as the soil was considered too dry in places, too wet in others and the whole area had been allowed to grow wild.
From 1960, Beth and her husband Andrew Chatto worked on developing their gardens and in 1967 the nursery was opened.
In 1978 Beth Chatto’s first book, The Dry Garden, was published and this led to media appearances and further books.
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Elmstead Market is known as one of the driest spots in the country.
David Ward oversees what goes on in the gardens and nursery and he spoke to Ken about the growth of the business [2015].
Ken Crowther talks to garden designer and plantswoman, Beth Chatto OBE VMH in 2015.
She worked with a team on developing the gardens and continued to inspect and approve their work until the day before she died, at the age of 94, on 13 May 2018.
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