Beth Chatto's Plants & Gardens

Beth Chatto's Plants & Gardens The official page of Beth Chatto's Plants & Gardens. The award-winning Gardens of Beth Chatto OBE VM Beth began to transform the area in 1960, in her 40s.
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The gardens of Beth Chatto OBE VMH used to be overgrown wasteland with poor gravel soil and boggy hollows. Some areas were formerly used for fruit farming, but it was deemed unfit. It became her life’s work and her contribution to the gardening world since then has been staggering. She won gold at the Chelsea Flower show 10 times, over 10 years. She wrote many influential books and she lectured al

l over the world. Beth sadly passed away in 2018 aged 94, but her legacy remains; her plants, her books, her gardens, her influence and her charity; the Beth Chatto Education Trust. Beth Chatto’s plants and gardens are an inspiration, a place to come to learn about plants, to be inspired by beautiful gardens and planting based on Beth’s ethos: ‘Right plant, right place’. The Gravel Garden, which is never irrigated and used to be the carpark, is now world-renowned. It’s an example of drought-resistant planting: sustainable planting, so important to our way of gardening now. The Gravel Garden gently descends into the dramatic water gardens where lush green growth creates a scene of harmony and tranquillity throughout the year. From late winter to early summer the Woodland gardens are embroidered with gentle drifts of plants and the Reservoir Garden has been recently replanted, opened by Beth on her 94th birthday.

90% of the plants in the ample plant nursery are grown here on site. Plants are lovingly cared for, to ensure their high quality and many are propagated from the plants Beth herself added to the Gardens. Plants are also available to buy online at www.bethchatto.co.uk/plants

THE BETH CHATTO SYMPOSIUM27th-28th AugustOur in-person tickets for the symposium have now sold out, but there’s still a ...
21/08/2026

THE BETH CHATTO SYMPOSIUM
27th-28th August

Our in-person tickets for the symposium have now sold out, but there’s still a chance to be part of it all from home!

Take part via livestream and enjoy access to the symposium wherever you are. Stream the full programme of lectures live from the University of Essex, with the flexibility to tune in from home or on the go. A perfect option for those unable to travel but keen to be part of the conversations, ideas and inspiration.

Find out more here: https://bcet.bethchatto.co.uk/symposium-tickets/symposium-2026-livestream.htm

This week with gardener ScottIn breaking news we had some rain! Well, a tiny amount in all honesty - 2mm overnight on Su...
21/08/2026

This week with gardener Scott

In breaking news we had some rain! Well, a tiny amount in all honesty - 2mm overnight on Sunday, 1.5mm on Monday and 1.5mm again on Tuesday. It's notable after some 50 plus days without any rain recorded in the garden. In reality these miniscule amounts don't soak into the soil and offer very little benefit to the plants unfortunately. However, it has cooled the temperature temporarily and given the gardeners some brief respite from the intense heat.

With a week to go before the symposium, the team have been working hard across the garden ticking off jobs from our long to-do list.

We have w**ded the long aster walk border and raked the paths in the woodland, whilst removing encroaching bracken stems from the beds. It was nice to see the first colchicum flowers (autumn crocus) pushing through the deep green groundcover.

We moved to the Reservoir Garden spot w**ding creeping thistle and willow herb before moving into the Water Garden, for more raking and w**ding and edging. Here in the moister part of the garden, bindw**d takes hold and we spent time delicately removing it where it's clambered over shrubs and weaved its way through the perennials.

Although we have gardened the borders here with a light touch recently as a result of the warm weather, we still edge each bed as we move through. It shows that the beds are always maintained by us and constantly being evaluated by the team.

Finally, we moved into the Scree and Gravel Gardens where a w**d, rake, cut back and top up of gravel has given these spaces a reset ahead of next week.

Enjoy the weekend.

This week in propagation with RobIt's been a super week over in the growing department, with everyone bubbling with exci...
20/08/2026

This week in propagation with Rob

It's been a super week over in the growing department, with everyone bubbling with excitement for the symposium next week!

However, it's a bittersweet end of the week too, as we are saying goodbye to Greg. It's been absolutely wonderful to work with Greg, who has been with us for a whole month! His skill, knowledge and hard work has been second to none, and we will all very much miss him. Greg's off on a new adventure at the start of September, joining the team at RHS Harlow Carr. We wish him the best of luck and hope to see him again in the future!

Now, look at these Echinacea purpurea 'Rubinstern', they're delightful! Give them a rich soil and plenty of sun, and you'll enjoy a host of butterflies throughout the summer.

Mel, Kathy, Tina, Kirsten, PJ and myself have been on the nursery this week, tending to our sale plants, making sure they're strong, vigorous and looking gorgeous. Whilst Richard, Olly and Greg have been doing much of the same down in the stock beds.

Felix returned this week to give the pack house crew a helping hand, picking and packing your orders. Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna' continues to be a much sought after treasure. This of little surprise, with its distinctly dark stained stems of violet blue flowers. It's shorter growing than similar forms and will repeatedly flower if cut down after first flowering, perfect for the front half of sunny borders.

Elsewhere, Olly flexed his muscles after finishing the mammoth job of laying new membrane in our largest poly tunnel. With a helping hand from Pete, Callum and Jack, the boys did a splendid job.

ITV visited us! Hosting their national weather report last Friday, right here in our Gravel Garden. With the drought conditions this summer, drought-tolerant planting has been brought into focus, and we are proud to be a part of that conversation.

Right, it's back to work! Our furry four-legged supervisor has done her rounds and provided a list of jobs she wants done. Most of them seem to involve tuna.

Until next time. Rob

Welcome to the sixth in our new series where Head Gardener Åsa and Head of Horticulture Steve share their expert advice ...
19/08/2026

Welcome to the sixth in our new series where Head Gardener Åsa and Head of Horticulture Steve share their expert advice on tackling your gardening and garden design dilemmas.

'Dear Problem solvers ( we hope…)

My dilemma is that I decided to have a mound at the bottom of the garden … trying to hide the ugly building behind it. It is not that high but a friend said we would not get anything to grow on it because it would kill plants off at the top as they thirsted for water.

I am a gardener who likes insects, not too much formality and organic growing as much as possible. A couple of years ago I bought some plants from you and they are thriving very very happily.

We are based in Teddington which has underneath everything else London clay.

If you have any suggestions for the mound? We’ve actually bought a roll of duet which I thought we could cover it with before doing anything else.'

-Kitty

Head Gardener Åsa
First of all, I don't think you've created a problem at all. Looking at the photo, I actually think the mound has the potential to become one of the nicest features in the garden. It already softens the view of the dark building and, once it's planted up, it will draw the eye towards the planting rather than the structure behind.

A mound will dry out more quickly than flat ground because water will naturally run down the slope and the top is slightly more exposed to sun and wind.

That doesn't mean it won't grow beautiful plants. It simply means choosing species that enjoy free draining conditions, particularly towards the top of the mound.

Continue reading here: https://www.bethchatto.co.uk/discover/our-blog/guides/gardening-dilemma-part-6.htm

All in-person tickets now sold out!A huge thank you to everyone who has bought a ticket for this year’s symposium. We’re...
18/08/2026

All in-person tickets now sold out!

A huge thank you to everyone who has bought a ticket for this year’s symposium. We’re so excited to welcome you all and it’s lovely to see such a fantastic response.

Your support means a lot to us, and importantly, all money raised goes towards the work of the Beth Chatto Education Trust, helping us continue to inspire, educate and share Beth’s approach to gardening with future generations.

If you missed out on an in-person ticket, don’t worry – livestream tickets are still available, so you can join us from wherever you are.

And if you’d like to be added to the waiting list for in-person tickets, just click ‘Notify me when back in stock’ on the ticket page and we’ll let you know if any tickets become available.

Thank you again – we can’t wait to see you next week!

Find the ticket page here: https://bcet.bethchatto.co.uk/symposium-tickets/

Our Plant of the Week - Phyla nodiflora 🪴Found across tropical and subtropical regions of the world, phyla comprises jus...
17/08/2026

Our Plant of the Week - Phyla nodiflora 🪴

Found across tropical and subtropical regions of the world, phyla comprises just five species, with only a select few hardy enough to be grown outdoors in the UK. Its clusters of tiny flowers resemble miniature lantanas, which is no surprise as both belong to the verbenaceae family.

The rounded flower heads, made up of tiny tubular blooms in shades of white, mauve and orange, are highly attractive to bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects. Its creeping, mat-forming habit also provides valuable shelter for invertebrates, including beneficial predators such as ground beetles, while helping to conserve soil moisture.

An excellent choice for growing between paving stones or as a groundcover among small bulbs, Phyla nodiflora thrives in a warm, sunny position with well drained soil. Small oval leaves cover prostrate stems, creating a dense carpet that comes alive with flowers from midsummer into late summer. Although it dies back over winter, it reliably returns in spring.

Native to South America, Turkey tangle frogfruit is not only useful and wildlife-friendly but also boasts one of the most memorable common names in the plant world.

Position: Full sun
Flowering period: July | August
Height: 5cm
Spread: 20cm
Soil: Light, well drained soil

Shop here: https://www.bethchatto.co.uk/a-z/o-r/phyla/phyla-nodiflora.htm

This week in the garden with MalinWith only two weeks to our grand symposium, we have been working hard to get the garde...
15/08/2026

This week in the garden with Malin

With only two weeks to our grand symposium, we have been working hard to get the garden ready to host 500 people! We also want our outreach projects to be at their best for this, and so we went over to Chattowood for a monthly maintenance session.

We were happy to see how great the plantings were looking considering the weather, especially in comparison to the areas of the estate that have lawn. The lawn was looking extremely dry and yellow but our sand plantings were offering so much structure, texture and colour.

The best doers over there were Salvia ‘Blue Spire’, and Oenothera lindheimeri - both covered in flowers. Lavender, santolina and cistus are all providing lovely mounds and grasses like Stipa gigantea, Stipa tenuissima and calamagrostis tie the plantings together. The cardoons, Cynara cardunculus had lost a bit of its bright purple colour but was still rising tall and giving nice structure in the beds.

The hot and dry weather creates a hard crust on the sand which makes it harder for w**ds to germinate. This doesn’t mean it’s w**d free but pulling them out of the sand is an easy job. We also deadheaded some of the lavenders that had finished flowering -it looks neat to cut them back to tighter mounds. We look forward to seeing some of you at the symposium and hope that you come over to see these plantings at Chattowood!

Find out more about Chattowood and our other projects here: https://www.bethchatto.co.uk/projects/

This week in propagation 🪴It's getting hot in here, so take off all your membrane! Well, that's one of the jobs we've be...
14/08/2026

This week in propagation 🪴

It's getting hot in here, so take off all your membrane! Well, that's one of the jobs we've been up to this week down in the growing department. It was just one of those tasks we couldn't wait until winter for, so out with the old and in with the new. It gave us an opportunity to check on hygiene in those hidden places, and assess any areas where drainage could be improved. The team were all superb, but a special mention to Olly, who at only 16 has the insight and skill of someone who's been working a horticultural estate for 50 years! Well done, mate!

When Olly wasn't in the polytunnel, he was over with Greg in the shade tunnels, checking the health of our stock shade plants. Both guys have been working closely with Richard, who has been incredible leading stockbed operations this summer.

I wandered into the seed tunnel at one point to find an excited Emily, who was very pleased with the progress of the Eryngium venustum babies. Known as Mexican sea holly, this handsome species has narrow, evergreen spiny foliage. Creamy-white flowers on branching stems add to its arid look. We have a gorgeous one in our Scree Garden enjoying the full sun and a well drained soil.

Emily, Emma and Jess headed over to the Reservoir Garden, seed hunting. Collecting treasures such as Scabiosa columbaria subsp. ochroleuca, Glycyrrhiza yunnanensis, Ligusticum lucidum. The team also propagated the very cool Woodwardia prolifera, pinning those little plantlets and now we wait for the magic! Em also found some time to prick out a host of Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii, a real favourite here at Beth Chatto's.

Em also ran two cuttings classes - just one of the brilliant classes we host here at Beth's. Em's classes allow you to get hands-on, learning propagation the Beth Chatto way, of that cuttings, bulb-chipping and more!

In other news, Annie has created some stunning display benches over on the nursery, where we have a few more gorgeous iris for sale too, including, 'Langport Storm', with its cloudy, grey-lilac colouring, and red-orange, storm-sun patch. A beauty!

Until next time.
Rob

There's another opportunity on Friday 21st August to walk around the garden with our expert Dr Chris Gibson. You'll find...
12/08/2026

There's another opportunity on Friday 21st August to walk around the garden with our expert Dr Chris Gibson. You'll find that even in drought, they'll be plenty to find.

Book a ticket:
https://www.bethchatto.co.uk/education-trust.htm

BETH CHATTO SYMPOSIUM 202627TH-29TH AUGUSTSPEAKER LINEUPLina LiubertaiteStarting from zero in 2013 with beginner gardeni...
11/08/2026

BETH CHATTO SYMPOSIUM 2026
27TH-29TH AUGUST
SPEAKER LINEUP

Lina Liubertaite
Starting from zero in 2013 with beginner gardening courses, Lina has built one of the most influential garden and landscape communication platforms in Lithuania. She is the founder of Geltonas Karutis, a multidisciplinary initiative combining education, editorial content, community of gardeners, and professional garden tours. Over the past decade, her work has reached tens of thousands of gardeners and professionals through live courses, online programs, and a growing members’ club.

Lina also represents a broader shift taking place in Central and Eastern Europe: a transition from purely utilitarian gardening - focused on food production for the family - toward contemporary, sustainable landscape design rooted in ecology, aesthetics, and cultural identity.

She is the founder and organizer of the annual Garden Style landscape design conference (Vilnius), attracting around 800 attendees and hosting internationally renowned speakers such as Nigel Dunnett, Cassian Schmidt, Annie Guilfoyle, James Hithmough, Noel Kingsbury, and others.

In parallel, Lina is the creator and host of a national television garden show on LRT, Lithuania’s public broadcaster, now in its 5th season.

Find out more about our speakers, panelists and facilitators here: https://www.bethchatto.co.uk/symposium/symposium-2026/speakers.htm

Address

Beth Chatto, Clacton Road
Colchester
CO77DB

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

01206 822007

Website

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