Beth Chatto
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Beth Chatto (27 June 1923 – 13 May 2018) was an English plantswoman,
garden designer A garden designer is someone who designs the plan and features of gardens, either as an amateur or professional. The compositional elements of garden design and landscape design are: terrain, water, planting, constructed elements and buildings, ...
and author known for creating and describing the
Beth Chatto Gardens The Beth Chatto Gardens, now known aBeth Chatto's Plants & Gardens are an informal collection of historically significant gardens, with National Heritage Grade II listing. The ecological gardens were created by plantswoman Beth Chatto in 1960 fr ...
near
Elmstead Market Elmstead Market is a village in the civil parish of Elmstead, in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It lies 3 km north-east of Wivenhoe and 6 km east of Colchester. It is on the A133 road which runs to Clacton-on-Sea to the south ...
in the English county of
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
. She wrote several books about gardening under specific conditions and lectured on this in Britain, North America, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany. Her principle of placing the right plant in the right place drew on her husband Andrew Chatto's lifelong research into garden-plant origins.


Biography

Chatto was born at
Good Easter Good Easter is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district of Essex, England. The village is northwest from the city and county town of Chelmsford. The parish includes the hamlets of Farmbridge End at the south, and Tye Green, conjo ...
,
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, England, the daughter of Bessie (née Styles) and William Little, both enthusiastic gardeners. Named Bessie Diana, she used the name Beth from her twenties onwards. She attended
Colchester County High School for Girls Colchester County High School for Girls is a selective girls' grammar school with academy status in Colchester, Essex. The school consistently scores highly in the league tables for the UK. It was joint first in the country in the 2018 secondary ...
and trained to be a teacher at
Hockerill College Hockerill Anglo-European College (formerly known as Hockerill School) is an international school, international boarding school, state boarding school with Academy (English school), academy status located in Bishop's Stortford. In 1850, Hocker ...
,
Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...
from 1940 to 1943. In the early 1940s, she met Andrew Chatto, a fruit farmer, grandson of
the founder ''The Founder'' is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel. Starring Michael Keaton as businessman Ray Kroc, the film portrays the story of his creation of the McDonald's fast-food resta ...
of the publishing firm
Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...
. Their shared love of plants helped to bring them together and they married in 1943. The couple lived in
Braiswick Braiswick, also referred to as New Braiswick Park is a village in Essex, England, 2 km northwest of Colchester. Development of Braiswick begun in 2007 and was eventually completed in 2011. History In the late 13th century, Braiswick and surr ...
,
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
, where their two daughters, Diana and Mary, were born in 1946 and 1948. In 1960 they moved into the new White Barn House, built on the farm at Elmstead Market. Andrew died in 1999. The couple met Sir
Cedric Morris Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (11 December 1889 – 8 February 1982) was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his portra ...
, whose art school at Benton End in
Hadleigh, Suffolk Hadleigh () is an ancient market town and civil parish in South Suffolk, East Anglia, situated, next to the River Brett, between the larger towns of Sudbury and Ipswich. It had a population of 8,253 at the 2011 census. The headquarters of Bab ...
attracted artists such as
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
and
Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...
, who later gained fame. Beth Chatto learned about plants from Morris, but was dismayed when he advised her to move house if she wanted to create a great garden. Chatto had a friend who lived nearby named
Pamela Underwood Pamela Underwood (10 March 1910 – 1978), born Pamela Richenda Cubitt Montgomery-Cuninghame and later known as Mrs Desmond Underwood, was a British florist and nursery woman. She was an early enthusiast for flower arranging and she wrote about ...
, who had a nursery and was keen on
flower arranging Floral design or flower arrangement is the art of using plant materials and flowers to create an eye-catching and balanced composition or display. Evidence of refined floristry is found as far back as the culture of ancient Egypt. Professionally ...
. She persuaded Chatto to get involved and they were two of the founder members of the second flower arranging club in the country, in Colchester. From the late 1950s, Chatto was involved in the Flower Club movement, lecturing, opening new clubs and demonstrating flower arranging. Members became an enthusiastic audience for unusual plants and a
mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...
business began from a small hand-typed sheet. From 1960, the Chattos worked on developing the Chatto Gardens and in 1967 the nursery was opened. In 1978 Chatto's first book, ''The Dry Garden'', was published by
J. M. Dent Joseph Malaby Dent (30 August 1849 – 9 May 1926) was a British book publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series. Early life Dent was born in Darlington in what is now part of the Grade II listed Britannia Inn. After a short and ...
. Chatto died at the age of 94, on 13 May 2018. In her later years, Chatto commissioned author
Catherine Horwood Catherine Horwood is an English journalist, author and social historian who writes extensively on horticulture, garden design, and in fashion, the history of dress. She is the authorised biographer of the British plantswoman, garden designer, a ...
to write about her life and her work. ''Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants'' was published in 2019 by Pimpernel Press.


The Beth Chatto Gardens

Construction of the
Beth Chatto Gardens The Beth Chatto Gardens, now known aBeth Chatto's Plants & Gardens are an informal collection of historically significant gardens, with National Heritage Grade II listing. The ecological gardens were created by plantswoman Beth Chatto in 1960 fr ...
at
Elmstead Market Elmstead Market is a village in the civil parish of Elmstead, in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It lies 3 km north-east of Wivenhoe and 6 km east of Colchester. It is on the A133 road which runs to Clacton-on-Sea to the south ...
near Colchester began in 1960. It was attached to the Chatto family home, on land that had previously belonged to the Chatto family fruit farm. 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 with
blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. The species is native to Europe, western Asia, and regionally in northwest Africa. It is locally naturalized in New Zealand, Tasmania, ...
,
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
and
bramble A bramble is any rough, tangled, prickly shrub, usually in the genus ''Rubus'', which grows blackberries, raspberries, or dewberries. "Bramble" is also used to describe other prickly shrubs, such as roses (''Rosa'' species). The fruits inclu ...
s. The only plants to survive from the earliest days are the ancient boundary oaks surrounding the Garden. The Beth Chatto Gardens comprise a varied range of planting sites totalling , including dry, sun baked gravel, water and marginal planting, woodland, shady, heavy clay and alpine planting. They now include the Gravel Garden, Woodland Garden, Water Garden, Long Shady Walk, Reservoir Garden (redesigned by the Head Gardener, Asa Gregers-Warg, and the Garden and Nursery Director, David Ward, with input from Beth) and Scree Garden. The development of these sites prompted Beth Chatto to write books on gardening about what could be considered as "problem areas", using plants that nature has developed to survive under differing conditions. Beth Chatto lived in the white house in the midst of the gardens. She worked with a team on developing the gardens and continued to inspect and approve their work until the day before she died. She contributed to articles for the international and national press and appeared in international media.


Exhibitions

In January 1975 Chatto created a small winter garden at one of the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...
Halls,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
SW1. More exhibits followed and eventually the Beth Chatto Gardens "Unusual Plants" exhibition arrived at the
Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...
. Exhibits by "Unusual Plants" were awarded ten consecutive Gold Medals at the
Chelsea Flower Show The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...
from 1977 to 1987, except that she did not exhibit in 1983. Exhibits by the Beth Chatto Gardens can still be seen at the Tendring Hundred Show in
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
.


List of publications

Beth Chatto was the author of many gardening books, including an exchange of letters with her friend and fellow gardener and writer
Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...
: * * * (out of print) * * (out of print, rev. ed. ''Beth Chatto's Green Tapestry: Perennial Plants for Your Garden'', London, England,
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
, 1999) * * (reprinted in 2016 as ''Drought-Resistant Planting'') * * * (previously ''Beth Chatto's Woodland Garden'', 2008)


Honours and awards

*1987: Awarded the Lawrence Memorial Medal *1987: Awarded the RHS
Victoria Medal of Honour The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society. The award was established in 1897 "in per ...
*1987: Awarded an honorary degree by the
University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...
*1995: Selected to the International Professional and Business Women's Hall of Fame for outstanding achievements in introducing plant ecology to garden design *1998: Presented with the Life Time Achievement Award by the Garden Writers Guild *2002: Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...
*2009: Awarded an honorary degree by the
Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...
*2011: Named a Paul Harris Fellow by Colchester Trinity
Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...
*2014: Awarded the Society of Garden Design's John Brookes Lifetime Achievement Award


Legacy

The Beth Chatto Education Trust was founded to engage all age groups with plants and gardens, and to take an ecological approach to them. The trust also sponsors the Beth Chatto Environmental Award, under the auspices of the Garden Media Guild. The Society of Garden Designers has created a Beth Chatto Eco Garden Award to be assigned from 2020 onwards. It will focus on the ecological impact of garden designs.


References


Other sources

*''The Beth Chatto Gardens Guide Book: Early Beginnings'' *


External links


Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatto, Beth 1923 births 2018 deaths People from Tendring (district) British people of English descent English gardeners English garden writers Writers from Essex English landscape and garden designers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Victoria Medal of Honour (Horticulture) recipients Chatto family People educated at Colchester County High School