In the last few years, I became very interested in English gardens, and I tried to visit as many as possible during the summer/autumn months when the weather is more pleasant. Since I don’t have a car anymore, I would have to plan ahead and constantly check the weather forecast. I am no expert in gardens nor gardening, but I do enjoy visiting different gardens which enables me to gain more understanding. Besides, being surrouneded by plants, trees and flowers does make one feel uplifted and it is a good way to de-stress from living in the city.
The iconic Gravel garden
One of most renowned and respected gardeners of our times is Beth Chatto OBE (1923 – 2018), an award-winning plantswoman, garden designer, author and lecturer. Her Beth Chatto Gardens near Elmstead Market in Essex is considered as one of most inspiring gardens in the U.K. In 1960, she started to work on an overgrown wasteland of brambles, parched gravel and boggy ditches, and eventually transformed it into an informal but wonderful garden using a large collection of unusual plants that could thrive under different conditions.
From London, I took a train to Colchester, followed by a bus ride to Elmstead, which was fairly easy. It was sunny and not too hot on the day – perfect for strolling around the gardens. Since the garden is family-run, the entrance fee is lower than gardens run by the English Heritage or National Trust. There is also a tearoom and nursey selling a wide range of plants.
Lunch at the tearoom
The garden is divided into five main areas: Gravel, Water, Woodland, Reservoir and Scree. The most famous one is the car park-converted Gravel Garden (which is never watered), originally set up by Beth and her team as an experiment. Despite the poor, free-draining soil, it features a spectacular display of drought-tolerant plants. As I was walking around, the garden reminded me much of Derek Jarman‘s garden at Prospect Cottage; interestingly, I later found out that it was Jarman who inspired Chatto to work on this garden after an encounter with him at his Prospect Cottage in 1990.
Gravel garden
The lushest gardens of all is the Water garden, which includes a series of ponds and moisture loving plants. I love the lotus ponds and beautiful trees in this garden.
Water garden
Scree garden showcases a large collection of easy aplines
Reservoir garden is an open sunny area, redesigned recently in the Beth Chatto style showcasing many colourful flowers and plants
The most serene one is the Woodland garden, which is full of shade-loving bulbs, perennials and shrubs planted underneath a dense canopy of tall oak trees. I felt like I have enetered a natural woodland as I walked around this garden.
Woodland garden
It was quite amazing to find five distinct gardens within one garden and they all blend well together. What I love about these gardens is the organic feel; they are not over-designed and showy… this is certainly one of the most authentic and enchanting gardens that I have visited in the U.K. Since it is not far from London, I would want to return again in the future.