Right plant, right place.

On my birthday this year, in July, I visited and spent the day at Beth Chatto gardens. It is situated on the outskirts of Colchester, in Elmstead.

The gardens are informal, and when visiting this may surprise you as there are a team of gardens and it does look quite formal. In garden design, it is informal as it does not have specific planting structures or closely clipped box hedging around.

The gardens opened in 1960 to the public. Prior to this land was effectively wasteland. It became boggy and has sandy soil. Beth Chatto planting style was very much right plant, right place and did not try to force plants to grow in conditions which were not best suited to them. By doing this, it meant that the planting was sustainable and freely allowed plants to spread. The gardens also boasts a nursery where most of the plants are grown on site prior to be sold to the customer.

Sustainable and Ecological planting

The gardens are made up of the Gravel Garden, Resevoir Garden, Scree Garden, Water Garden and Woodland Garden. Within the Scree Garden, Beths house is still in situ (although this is not generally open to the public)

The Gravel Garden was actually once a car park. It has various Salvias, Lavenders and a spectacular Eucalyptus tree (seen in the picture above) The gravel acts a mulch as well as a footpath. Keeping the soil underneath cooler than the surface temperature and acting as drainage for rainfall.

Interested, the Gravel Garden does not have any irrigation. Plants are watered in when planted but after that, they solely rely on rainfall. The Gravel Garden is at the highest point of the garden and is in a large open sunny area – perfect for Mediterranean plants. This was originally an experiment garden by Beth Chatto to test drought tolerant plants – it certainly had a positive outcome.

The Water Gardens has several ponds which is on the lower ground of the site. With grass around the lake, and it is planted with an array of moisture loving plants. Interestingly, as this is where the water drains too from the site, the grass was still flourishing green. Plenty of pond plants, ensured a great habit for local wildlife. I spotted a variety of dragon flies, butterflies, hoover flies as well as garden birds. There are many benches situated around the Water garden to sit and take in the environment. The temperature around this garden is several degrees cooler than the rest of the garden.

The Reservoir Garden has heavy clay soil. Heavy clay soil is very could at holding water and nutrients but does not drain or aerate easily. There are small stone pathways that run through the planting and these act as a river flowing through it.

There are benches situated at the perfect vantage points, to really feel the effect of grasses and the water.