What do you think?
Rate this book
Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants
Beth Chatto was the inspiration behind the "right plant, right place" ethos that lies at the heart of modern gardening. She also wrote some of the best-loved gardening books of the 20th century, among them The Dry Garden , The Damp Garden , and Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden . Some years before her death in May 2018, aged 94, Beth authorized Catherine Horwood to write her biography, with exclusive access to her archive. It also includes extracts from Beth’s notebooks and diaries, never previously published, bringing Beth’s own distinctive and much-loved voice into the book. Most of the photographs from Beth’s personal archives, have also never been seen in print before. For Beth’s legions of fans, here is the personal story behind her beliefs and the struggles and determination that brought her success.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2019
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 13, 2019
It somehow seems so logical. Plants, like people, thrive in the right environment. Yet, it was not until Beth Chatto, plantswoman extraordinaire, emerged on the scene in the 1960's that the practice of providing garden plants with an environment closely resembling their natural habitats became widely adopted. "Right plant, right place," was her motto.
In the extensively researched, Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants, author Catherine Horwood traces Chatto's evolution from her childhood in a small village in Essex to her career as a horticulturalist, author, international lecturer, and garden designer. It's a complex journey.
"I had no idea where or how I would go but I somehow felt I was driven or had the energy to discover a wider world," writes Chatto of her childhood. Determined, intellectually curious, and keenly attuned to nature, Chatto did indeed discover a wider world. She achieved such a profound level of success that she was recognized in the horticultural world by her first name alone - Beth.
Chatto had little formal horticultural training. With the support of her husband, Andrew, whose lifelong study of plants and their habitats provided an ongoing foundation for her own explorations, her philosophy on planting design steadily evolved. Chatto's earliest success, as a floral designer whose naturalistic creations were as likely to feature plants foraged from the local hedgerow as from the garden, established her reputation as a lecturer and demonstrator.
Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants chronicles the many close friendships that influenced the direction of her career including that of painter Sir Cedric Morris whose garden she and Andrew frequented. It included rare and unusual perennials and provided artistic inspiration to Chatto. Morris' influence also served as the impetus to move to Andrew's family's fruit farm (despite her own family's objections) at Elmstead Market in Colchester. Here, she would establish the acclaimed nursery of "unusual plants" for which she became known.
According to Horwood, Chatto planned every detail of the nursery with "steely determination."
Its distinctive identity was evident in the design of the catalogue, simply titled, Unusual Plants. Within were lists of plants defined by where they should be sited, Chatto's trademark. These included; Hot, Dry Conditions; Cool Conditions; Dry Shade; Waterside and Bog; Ground Covering Plants; Handsome Foliage Plants; Seed Pods; Grasses and Sedges and Heathers.
In 1976, Chatto exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show where she won a silver-gilt medal. Her display, which featured plants in naturalistic settings optimal for their success, contrasted dramatically with the other exhibits. Unlike other exhibitors, Chatto refused to exhibit cultivars, for which she harbored a distinct disdain.
Journalist Graham Rose, of The Sunday Times, met Chatto at Chelsea. Three weeks later, impressed with her exhibit, he arranged a visit to her garden and nursery. One of the hottest summers in one hundred years had followed an exceptionally dry winter and spring. Rose
realized that Chatto's approach to gardening was timely. His piece, 'Blooming Arid' detailed recommendations of "unusual plants" suited to drought as well as plans for planting a "dry" garden. It is credited as the turning point in Chatto's career. Offers to write a book followed and in 1978, her first book, The Dry Garden was published. Both Chatto's garden and nursery were firmly established.
Chatto would win 10 consecutive RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold medals and receive the Lawrence memorial medal, the Victoria medal of honor ( the highest award granted British horticulturists by the Royal Horticultural Society), and the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire).
Beth loved autumn, and for me, Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants, shines most in this season of transition, as her later years are chronicled. While maintaining a vigorous schedule of travel, Chatto continued to be actively engaged in the nursery. Her many friendships continued, including that of her dear friend Christopher Lloyd, which is chronicled in the book they co-authored, Dear Friend and Gardener, a compilation of their copious correspondence.
Biographer Catherine Horwood worked with Chatto directly and had access to her extensive personal archives of daily diaries, travel notebooks, and correspondence. Thus, Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants, tells a complete and intimate portrait of Chatto's professional and personal life. Complexities abound, yet the unambiguous conclusion is that of great talent, perseverance, and generosity of spirit summed up in one word - Beth.
In the extensively researched, Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants, author Catherine Horwood traces Chatto's evolution from her childhood in a small village in Essex to her career as a horticulturalist, author, international lecturer, and garden designer. It's a complex journey.
"I had no idea where or how I would go but I somehow felt I was driven or had the energy to discover a wider world," writes Chatto of her childhood. Determined, intellectually curious, and keenly attuned to nature, Chatto did indeed discover a wider world. She achieved such a profound level of success that she was recognized in the horticultural world by her first name alone - Beth.
Chatto had little formal horticultural training. With the support of her husband, Andrew, whose lifelong study of plants and their habitats provided an ongoing foundation for her own explorations, her philosophy on planting design steadily evolved. Chatto's earliest success, as a floral designer whose naturalistic creations were as likely to feature plants foraged from the local hedgerow as from the garden, established her reputation as a lecturer and demonstrator.
Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants chronicles the many close friendships that influenced the direction of her career including that of painter Sir Cedric Morris whose garden she and Andrew frequented. It included rare and unusual perennials and provided artistic inspiration to Chatto. Morris' influence also served as the impetus to move to Andrew's family's fruit farm (despite her own family's objections) at Elmstead Market in Colchester. Here, she would establish the acclaimed nursery of "unusual plants" for which she became known.
According to Horwood, Chatto planned every detail of the nursery with "steely determination."
Its distinctive identity was evident in the design of the catalogue, simply titled, Unusual Plants. Within were lists of plants defined by where they should be sited, Chatto's trademark. These included; Hot, Dry Conditions; Cool Conditions; Dry Shade; Waterside and Bog; Ground Covering Plants; Handsome Foliage Plants; Seed Pods; Grasses and Sedges and Heathers.
In 1976, Chatto exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show where she won a silver-gilt medal. Her display, which featured plants in naturalistic settings optimal for their success, contrasted dramatically with the other exhibits. Unlike other exhibitors, Chatto refused to exhibit cultivars, for which she harbored a distinct disdain.
Journalist Graham Rose, of The Sunday Times, met Chatto at Chelsea. Three weeks later, impressed with her exhibit, he arranged a visit to her garden and nursery. One of the hottest summers in one hundred years had followed an exceptionally dry winter and spring. Rose
realized that Chatto's approach to gardening was timely. His piece, 'Blooming Arid' detailed recommendations of "unusual plants" suited to drought as well as plans for planting a "dry" garden. It is credited as the turning point in Chatto's career. Offers to write a book followed and in 1978, her first book, The Dry Garden was published. Both Chatto's garden and nursery were firmly established.
Chatto would win 10 consecutive RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold medals and receive the Lawrence memorial medal, the Victoria medal of honor ( the highest award granted British horticulturists by the Royal Horticultural Society), and the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire).
Beth loved autumn, and for me, Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants, shines most in this season of transition, as her later years are chronicled. While maintaining a vigorous schedule of travel, Chatto continued to be actively engaged in the nursery. Her many friendships continued, including that of her dear friend Christopher Lloyd, which is chronicled in the book they co-authored, Dear Friend and Gardener, a compilation of their copious correspondence.
Biographer Catherine Horwood worked with Chatto directly and had access to her extensive personal archives of daily diaries, travel notebooks, and correspondence. Thus, Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants, tells a complete and intimate portrait of Chatto's professional and personal life. Complexities abound, yet the unambiguous conclusion is that of great talent, perseverance, and generosity of spirit summed up in one word - Beth.
July 1, 2020
What a frustrating book! I very rarely read biographies and books like this are the reason why.
Beth Chatto is one of my gardening heroes. I've got her books, visited her fantastic garden, bought plants from her nursery. I know that she had been an important contributor at Chelsea, had a major influence in the move towards more naturalistic planting with an emphasis on choosing the right plant for the right place. I knew she was great friends with Christopher Lloyd from Great Dixter. And I really wanted to know more about her.
So I was delighted at the prospect of learning more about what drove her to achieve so much at a time when women were more likely to be arranging flowers (which is where she started) than wining gold medals at Chelsea, creating a world famous garden and building a successful businesses.
But this book is like reading a diary that hasn't been edited. Which means that for me there is too much of the 'and then she did this, and then she went there, and then she met so and so' and not enough investigation of her character, motivations, challenges and passions. What about how the affair she had with the Dutch next door neighbour impacted her marriage, family and business, what was the ups and downs of her great friendship with Christopher Lloyd, what about the views of the people who worked for her and knew her. The author manages to make a life that was clearly packed with intrigue and passion, with wonderful people and places, with extraordinary achievements and great challenges, seem ever so slightly dull. I came away feeling that I had been offered intriguing hints of a fascinating life without ever getting close to going beneath the surface.
Now I want the real story of Beth Chatto! Can somebody write it please...
Beth Chatto is one of my gardening heroes. I've got her books, visited her fantastic garden, bought plants from her nursery. I know that she had been an important contributor at Chelsea, had a major influence in the move towards more naturalistic planting with an emphasis on choosing the right plant for the right place. I knew she was great friends with Christopher Lloyd from Great Dixter. And I really wanted to know more about her.
So I was delighted at the prospect of learning more about what drove her to achieve so much at a time when women were more likely to be arranging flowers (which is where she started) than wining gold medals at Chelsea, creating a world famous garden and building a successful businesses.
But this book is like reading a diary that hasn't been edited. Which means that for me there is too much of the 'and then she did this, and then she went there, and then she met so and so' and not enough investigation of her character, motivations, challenges and passions. What about how the affair she had with the Dutch next door neighbour impacted her marriage, family and business, what was the ups and downs of her great friendship with Christopher Lloyd, what about the views of the people who worked for her and knew her. The author manages to make a life that was clearly packed with intrigue and passion, with wonderful people and places, with extraordinary achievements and great challenges, seem ever so slightly dull. I came away feeling that I had been offered intriguing hints of a fascinating life without ever getting close to going beneath the surface.
Now I want the real story of Beth Chatto! Can somebody write it please...
January 27, 2021
A remarkable woman and a decent book. Beth Chatto brought practicality and beauty into the transition from tight and formal to loose and thriving gardens. The dry garden and the damp garden were revealed as sights where tough little plants could thrive if chosen carefully. Those thriving plants could then be grouped and interwoven and an evolving beauty revealed.
It is a thorough biography and more interesting than expected, but not quite as lyrical as I had hoped.
Still it shows a garden icon as made of both admirable traits and human flaws. The odd plan or photo would have been most welcome as gardening remains a very visual medium. Not enough included for my taste.
It is a thorough biography and more interesting than expected, but not quite as lyrical as I had hoped.
Still it shows a garden icon as made of both admirable traits and human flaws. The odd plan or photo would have been most welcome as gardening remains a very visual medium. Not enough included for my taste.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews