Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden

Entrance to the gardens

Beth Chatto transformed an overgrown wasteland deemed unfit for fruit farming, into a series of informal gardens. As the conditions within the garden vary widely, five distinct areas have been created providing useful examples of working with nature to find the right plant for the right place.

Grasses add height

The world-famous drought-resistant Gravel Garden, created in 1992, began as an experiment to replace sun-scorched grass with a living garden of drought-tolerant plants.

Dark clouds on the horizon

The Gravel Garden, once a car park, was originally planted by Beth and her team as an experiment to test a range of drought-tolerant plants. The garden is famous for the fact that it is never watered, despite being situated in one of the driest parts of the country and having naturally occurring, free-draining soil.

Sedums add contrast – this is Hylotelephium Red Cauli
The seed heads of Phlomis russeliana have an impact here too.
Eryngium ebracteatum; Hylotelephium Red Cauli; Verbena Bampton; Gaura / Oenothera lindheimeri; Pennisetum villosum
I want to know how they keep the gravel weed free.
A lot of the plants in this garden are quite low growing
It serves as an inspiration for gardeners looking to create beautiful and resilient landscapes with minimal water use.

Bench Challenge Anniversary

Way back in 2015 – yes that really is ten years ago – I decided to post photos of the numerous benches sitting in my folders. It seemed that I was not alone and suddenly it turned into the Bench Challenge where I set a particular criterion each month and people joined in posting their bench photos. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of wonderful bloggers through it.

Barrington Court, Somerset in the Gertrude Jekyll inspired garden.

This year I am returning to mark the occasion by posting a bench photo every Sunday. There will not be any particular theme set this year so it’s not really much of a challenge, but if there is anyone out there who still has a bucketful of bench photos and would like to join me, then please do so by adding a link in the comments or a link to my post in yours (a pingback) and I will happily pop along to admire.

Beth Chatto Reservoir Garden

The heavy clay soil of the Reservoir Garden was improved by Beth’s team and replanted in 2017. The garden showcases a variety of ornamental grasses and prairie-style plants offering late season interest with an exciting new display of perennials, accessible via winding pathways.

There are plenty of benches on which to sit and contemplate the garden.

Lots of purple
Asters were a feature of this September garden
And seed heads. Phlomis russeliana are particularly effective
Wild seed heads of the Veronicastrum
Beautiful flowering grasses soften the borders
Purple and Yellow contrasting colours
Lovely prairie style planting

When I visited Beth Chatto’s Gardens in 2016 this area was a complete blank canvas. My favourite zone then was the gravel garden, but this year the Reservoir Garden with its naturalistic prairie planting, grasses wafting in the wind and the pops of colour from the asters, heleniums and rudbeckias intertwined with dramatic seed heads was by far my favourite area. In fact I sat here for a good half hour simply enjoying the peace.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge # 364 |Quiet Moment

Bench Challenge Anniversary

Way back in 2015 – yes that really is ten years ago – I decided to post photos of the numerous benches sitting in my folders. It seemed that I was not alone and suddenly it turned into the Bench Challenge where I set a particular criterion each month and people joined in posting their bench photos. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of wonderful bloggers through it.

Pretty tiled bench in Colchester Park, Essex

This year I am returning to mark the occasion by posting a bench photo every Sunday. There will not be any particular theme set this year so it’s not really much of a challenge, but if there is anyone out there who still has a bucketful of bench photos and would like to join me, then please do so by adding a link in the comments or a link to my post in yours (a pingback) and I will happily pop along to admire.

Room for three

Beth Chatto’s Gardens

No Six on Saturday post from me today, but here is one view of the planting scheme in Beth Chatto’s gardens in Essex. More to come later.

(Please click image to enlarge)

The Reservoir Garden replanted in 2017 so after my visit to these gardens in September 2016. The garden showcases a variety of ornamental grasses and prairie-style plants offering late season interest.