Beth Chatto

Beth Chatto OBE VMH (née Betty Diana Little; 27 June 1923 – 13 May 2018) was an English plantswoman, garden designer, garden writer, journalist, lecturer, and author of numerous books. She was awarded in 1987 the Royal Horticultural Society's Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) and was appointed in 2002 Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

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Quotes

Trachystemon orientale can produce a lush effect under trees—it is much too coarse for small gardens but can be splendid where something elephantine is needed. The flowers come before the leaves; rather naked-looking pink stems of blue borage-like flowers in early spring are followed by huge hairy leaves, handsome in the right setting.
- The Dry Garden. Dent. 1978. p. 78. ISBN 9780460043175. (189 pages)

Concerning whether to irrigate or not, of course I do not disapproved of all watering. That would be hypocritical, since we must irrigate the nursery crops and do water parts of the garden, such as the Wood Garden, in very dry times. But my thinking on the subject is based on the assumption that water is our most precious commodity as the world population continues to explode, and modern demands for water are often in excess of actual need. Combine this with the likelihood of hotter and drier summers to come, then surely we must be prepared to reconsider some of our gardening practices.
- "Letter to Christopher Lloyd, dated Friday 19 January". Dear Friend and Gardener: Letters on Life and Gardening. Frances Lincoln, 2013. pp. 17–19. ISBN 9781781011416. (quote from p. 17; letters between Beth Chatto & Christopher Lloyd; 320 pages with introduction by Fergus Garrett; 1st edition 1998)

Diascias make a blaze of rose-pink, both Diascia rigescens and D. vigilis, while D. barberae ’Blackthorn Apricot' is an orange-pink, salmon, perhaps. It now looks well beside the grey-leafed Sideritis syriaca with its spires of pea-green calyces hiding tiny lemon-yellow flowers, or with the distinctive Sedum aizoon ’Euphorbioides', a plant I much admire.
- Beth Chatto's Gravel Garden: Drought-resistant Planting Through the Year. Viking Studio. 2000. p. 176. ISBN 9780670892600. (185 pages; photographs by Steven Wooster)

Beth Chatto, who died last year, was singularly forward-thinking and knowledgeable, and her gardens and nursery near Elmstead Market in Essex have been a continual draw to enthusiasts for half a century. Catherine Horwood’s authorised biography, Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants (Pimpernel, £30), based on diaries, notes and conversations, is a faithful, workmanlike account of a truly remarkable plantswoman and artistic gardener (as well as a very nice person) who emphasised the importance of understanding ecology in growing plants successfully, and whose naturalistic Chelsea Flower Show exhibits in the 1970s and 1980s were a revelation.
- Ursula Buchan, (November 7, 2019) "A tribute to the grandes dames of gardening — Beth Chatto and Penelope Hobhouse. Chatto, who died last year, was a truly remarkable plantswoman, while Hobhouse’s knowledge of garden history is second to none". The Spectator.

The distinguished nurserywoman Beth Chatto, who has died aged 94, was one of the most influential horticulturists of the past 50 years. Well known and respected for the nursery of unusual plants she started in Essex in 1967, she was also an inspirational writer and lecturer whose great theme was the importance of providing garden plants with an environment as close as possible to their native habitat.
During the 1970s, she won 10 successive gold medals at the RHS Chelsea flower show, where she introduced ecological ideas into garden design, demonstrating the possibilities of natural plant groupings, while also achieving the highest aesthetic standards. In those days nurseries arranged their plants for maximum visual impact regardless of differing plant needs. Chatto’s approach was a revelation and immediately established her significance as a guide to better and more environmentally friendly gardening techniques. She stressed the importance of looking at the whole plant, foliage as well as flowers, and judging the quality of a plant by observing it throughout the seasons.
- Penelope Hobhouse, (14 May 2018) "Beth Chatto obituary. Influential gardener and writer who emphasised the importance of choosing the right plant for the right place". The Guardian.