Beth Chatto's Garden Notebook

by Beth Chatto

One of the great gardening writers of our time opens up her own personal notebooks to fans. With revealing honesty, Beth Chatto shares her gardening successes (and occasional failures), and describes what it takes to maintain her unique and flourishing garden. Written from notes she's made over the years, this engaging, often surprising book covers the entire range of gardening topics in a style that's both literally and figuratively down to earth.

Genres: Gardening, Horticulture, Nonfiction

372 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 1988

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Travel through the year with British gardener, Beth Chatto, as she tends her massive nursery and prepares for an exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show. While the pen and ink drawings were charming, photographs probably would have been more useful. This one is for serious gardeners only.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covering a year in the life of Beth Chatto's garden and nursery, this is the perfect combination of personal diary and horticultural guide through the seasons. It was published in 1988 so every now and then a detail appears quite dated (ie: doing everything by hand rather than by computer), or a botanical name has changed, but on the whole it is a timeless celebration of a garden created over several decades, full of advice and interesting facts about the running of a nursery. I am a keen novice gardener, and I found the everyday seasonal advice useful, while the diary style made it very much more readable than a straightforward how-to guide. I had to look up a lot of the plants (there are no colour illustrations) referred to, but I loved the almost poetic descriptions of foliage and flowers and the expert eye she cast across the whole, grouping colours, heights and textures aesthetically while also being aware of each plant's individual provenance and needs. These passages were interspersed with visiting friends who were treated to meals fresh from the garden, a book launch in London or the excitement of putting on an exhibition. It brought home the 24/7 nature of work at a nursery, always ruled by the weather, which had to be juggled with preparing for Chelsea Flower Show, writing and family (some of the most touching passages concern her small grandchildren, one of whom is regularly in hospital). I look forward to reading more about and by Beth Chatto - and to visiting her garden.

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beth Chatto has a naturally elegant writing style and her recollections of her gardening year are full of her depth of plant knowledge and her profound practicality of giving the plant exactly what it needs.

I particularly enjoyed the retelling of her summer trip to Germany and the intricate planning and implementation that goes into making an award winning stand at the Chelsea Flower Show.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a number of garden diaries over the years, but this is one of the best. Beth Chatto not only developed a garden which became deservedly famous, she also ran a plant nursery, wrote books, lectured on gardening and was involved in numerous other horticultural projects, so in addition to the normal observations on gardening and garden wildlife, she covers a wide range of other topics, interspersed with autobiographical snippets. Well written, entertaining and stuffed full of practical advice on managing a garden and running a garden business, there is something of interest on every page.

Recommended for anyone with a keen interest in gardening and particularly for anyone considering setting up their own gardening business. You do need to have a fairly good grasp of botanical names as otherwise, I think you'll either be totally confused or quickly get bored with looking up all the plants! Any plants that she mentions are listed in a useful index in the back, which is really helpful. I'm planning on rereading it at a slower pace next year, reading each chapter during the appropriate month so that I can make notes.

[Suzana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!
Probably painfully boring if you’re not into gardening or Latin plant names, but a small delight for plant enthusiasts. Offers a small dose of escapism, but also practical advice about plant care, and glimpses into the author’s private life outside the plant nursery. Even some very British recipes that I tried out, with fairly good results.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness, I loved this book. Beth had such a wonderful way of writing both about plants and daily life. Truly captivating. Knowing Beth’s garden and the nursery well, having visited it regularly for the last fifteen years, this book had an added richness and familiarity for me that made it a supremely comforting read.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetic, lyrical, a gentle, peaceful read that would appeal to avid gardeners. Lots of info. on plants (perhaps only appropriate for a zone 7-8, as she in Colchester, UK), but still very educational, especially re design. Chatto's love (passion) for her plants come thru on every page.

[Sarah Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a lovely one to dip in and out of and not rush. It’s interesting to read her commentary about the Chelsea flower show and her grandchildren and family and the pleasure she gets of having visitors to the nursery, as well as her knowledge and descriptions of her plants.

[romney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Record of a year in Beth's garden / nursery. Photos would have been nice but otherwise it's a good diary of plant propogation, a trip to Chelsea, and generally pottering about the house making bread.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Beth's voice!

[Lydia St Giles · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a new garden needing attention, I retrieved this book from my shelves. Chatto is an admired plantswoman, with a successful nursery in the east of England and a welcoming way with words. The Notebook is arranged by the months of the year, so I started to re-read in June and am now half-way through the September chapter.
The pages read like the words of a companion as you look around a flourishing garden. She tuts over the continuing drought and is delighted by the “long purplish-black tubular flowers” of a tender climber in the greenhouse. It’s the season of spiders’ webs and fungi, so a couple of recipes are offered before she disappears into the potting-shed to “sew several hundred pans of seed”. Later we hear about the family as she takes care of two young grandsons, leaving trusted staff to care for the plants in the nursery.
Threaded among these rambles through a year in the life of a garden, a business and a family, there is plenty of information for the amateur gardener. Pleasure as a new cultivar exceeds expectations, advice on care for a difficult but rewarding perennial, a suggestion for planting in an area of deep shade - all provide help for the person looking at a new plot and trying out pictures in their head. A very thorough index is provided and the book has been a useful reference for me in more than one garden.

[Panayoti Kelaidis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, if slightly dilatory read: Chatto is a cutting edge gardener and nurserywoman and this book is a heartfelt journey through what is likely a "typical" year--remarkably hectic and eventful and rich in detail.

I was particularly struck by her sensibility to sounds, smells and food: the book is a foodies feast, even with recipes included here and there: and she wrote this decades before the current Slow Food revolution!

I am glad to have a copy: I shall dip into this time and again, and re-read it some day in the future.

[Karen Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beth Chatto lets the reader spend a year with her, in her personal life, her garden and her nursery. Her writing is casual, friendly and vividly descriptive. We are with her as she worries about her grandson's health, as she prepares for the Chelsea Garden Show, as she fixes lunch for a visiting friend, and as she propagates new plants. I learned a great deal and felt welcomed into her circle. I hated parting company with her.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a joy to read. I love to go through the seasons with famous gardeners.

Another go-round in 2022. Still love it but she is gone now.