Beth Chatto

Chatto worked between 1923 and 2018 across horticulturist, author, gardener and architect. This article rests on 19 published texts and 8 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

Beth Chatto studied at Colchester County High School for Girls. The recorded working language is English. Gertrude Jekyll, Christopher Lloyd and Cedric Morris are recorded as an influence. Distinctions recorded are Victoria Medal of Honour and Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

• Name — Beth Chatto • Birth Name — Bessie Diana Little • Born — 27 June 1923 • Birthplace — Good Easter, Essex, UK • Died — 13 May 2018 • Place of death — Elmstead Market, Essex, UK • Occupation — Plantswoman, garden designer, author • Known for — Beth Chatto Gardens • Education — Colchester County High School for Girls Hockerill College

She was born Bessie Diana Little at Good Easter, Essex, to Bessie (née Styles) and William Little. She had a twin brother, Seley, to whom she remained close in adulthood. (Beth Chatto's Garden Notebook, October, p. 278.) Her parents were themselves keen gardeners. She was educated at Colchester County High School for Girls before training as a teacher at Hockerill College, Bishop's Stortford. She adopted the name Beth in her twenties. In the early 1940s, she met Andrew Chatto, a fruit farmer, namesake grandson of the founder of the publishing firm Chatto & Windus. Their shared love of plants helped to bring them together and they married in 1943. The couple lived in Braiswick, Colchester, 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. At this time, they became friends with Sir Cedric Morris, who ran an art school at Dedham, Essex, attended by Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Chatto learned much of planting techniques from Morris, but his advice that she should move house if she wanted to create a truly great garden was less welcomed. With another friend, Pamela Underwood, Chatto became interested in flower arranging and the pair were 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. From 1960, the Chattos worked on developing their gardens and in 1967 the nursery was opened. In 1978, Beth Chatto's first book, The Dry Garden, was published by J. M. Dent. She contributed to articles for the international and national press and appeared in international media. 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. Her husband had pre-deceased her by almost 20 years, dying in 1999. In her later years, Chatto commissioned Catherine Horwood to write about her life and her work. Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants was published in 2019 by Pimpernel Press.

Construction of the Beth Chatto Gardens at Elmstead Market, near Colchester, began in 1960. It was attached to the Chatto family home, on land that had previously been part of their 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, willow and brambles. 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 7 acre, 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, Åsa Gregers-Warg, and the Garden and Nursery Director, David Ward, with input from Chatto) and Scree Garden. The development of these sites prompted 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.

In January 1975, Chatto created a small winter garden at one of the Royal Horticultural Society Halls, London SW1. More exhibits followed and eventually the Beth Chatto Gardens "Unusual Plants" exhibition arrived at the Chelsea Flower Show. Her exhibits won ten consecutive Gold Medals there 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.

Beth Chatto is recorded with the occupation horticulturist. Established in GND (German National Library) under 11293658X. Beth Chatto is established in IdRef (French universities) under 05029024X. Beth Chatto is recorded as horticulturist, writer, gardener and architect. Established in Library of Congress under n78038485. Recorded at birth as Bessie Diana. Established in FAST under 123577. Formation and teaching. Chatto studied at Colchester County High School for Girls. Her recorded influences include Gertrude Jekyll, Christopher Lloyd and Cedric Morris.

• The Beth Chatto Gardens Guide Book: Early Beginnings *