Beth Chatto's Plants & Gardens

About the garden

The Beth Chatto Gardens were established in 1960. Once an overgrown wasteland with poor gravel soil and boggy hollows, the area has been transformed into an informal garden that harmonises with the surrounding East Anglian countryside. 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.

A short walk onto the cool, emerald-green grass of the Water Garden feels like stepping into another climate. In stark contrast to the hot, arid Gravel Garden, this area features lush, moisture-loving plants. The Woodland Garden was developed after the great storm of 1987 and the remaining trees – mostly 100-year-old oaks – were underplanted with shade-loving plants from temperate regions worldwide. More recently, the former Reservoir Garden has been redeveloped into an exciting new display of perennials, accessible via winding pathways.