Kirjahaku

Excellent new edition of a gardening classic - with a new introduction by Monty Don'Compulsively readable. Once you have it, don't let anyone else borrow it' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

First published as Beth Chatto's Woodland Garden by Cassell in 2002, this Pimpernel Classic edition includes an afterword by David Ward, Head Gardener at Beth Chatto's Gardens."Most gardens have dark areas - a north-facing border, an area shaded by a hedge, fence or house wall, a bed in the shade cast by shrubs or trees with greedy roots - and for many gardeners these are a challenge, and often a trial. Fortunately there are plants adapted by Nature to a vast range of conditions and, by choosing suitable plants, we can transform almost any problem site into something beautiful."In this book legendary plantswoman Beth Chatto shows how the problem of shade in a garden can be turned to advantage. She tells how she transformed a dark, derelict site into a woodland garden that is tranquil and serene yet full of life and interest in every season. She describes, too, a wealth of plants that will thrive in shady beds and borders and on walls.

Thirty years after Beth Chatto first created her now famous gardens, The Green Tapestry was published, in which Beth took her readers on a conducted tour of her gardens while explaining her planting choices and experiences in making a garden with perennial plants. Now, a further thirty years on, although Beth is no longer with us, the gardens continue to demonstrate her ethos of sustainable planting, which, with climate change an ever more pressing issue, could not be more relevant today.In Beth Chatto's Green Tapestry Revisited, David Ward and Åsa Gregers-Warg, who worked alongside Beth for many years and still work at the gardens today, have updated her guide to her gardens, adding new text where areas of the garden have been substantially remodelled and replanted since the first edition, in particular the Gravel Garden, the Woodland Garden and the Reservoir Garden, with an updated directory of Beth's favourite perennial plants.Beth's gardens at Elmstead Market were, in many ways, ahead of their time. Beth's knowledge as a plantswoman, derived in part from her husband Andrew's research into plants in their natural habitats, also came from her own extensive practical experience. She set out to garden using only those plants that thrived in the available conditions - damp or dry, sun or shade. It was her talent for observation, her enthusiasm for learning, and her never-ending interest in the foliage, form and texture of her preferred perennials, as much as in their flower colour, that made her a unique voice in British gardening.Illustrated with specially commissioned photography by Steven Wooster, who was Beth's preferred photographer of her gardens, this new edition is a timely tribute to Beth's work. Julia Boulton, Beth's granddaughter and the CEO of Beth Chatto's Plants and Gardens, hopes that it will inspire a new generation of gardeners to plant in tune with nature and create their own exquisite 'green tapestry' of perennial plants suited to their own conditions.

Legendary gardener and plantswoman Beth Chatto describes how she transformed a piece of wasteland into a lush and blooming garden in this beautiful book, filled with helpful tips and practical advice.The story of how Beth Chatto created her gravel garden on 'possibly the driest, and the most windswept, piece of soil in England' has a message of hope for gardeners everywhere. At the outset she promised herself: 'This garden was not to be irrigated in times of drought. Once established the plants must fend for themselves or die.' The results, eloquently described by the author and beautifully portrayed in Steven Wooster’s specially commissioned photographs taken through the seasons, testify to the triumphant outcome of the adventure.Showing how her principles can be applied on any scale, this book is an essential read for any gardener facing water shortages and poor soil. Rich with hard-won tips and expressed in Beth Chatto’s matchless style, this is a gardening classic.

Superb new edition of the gardening classic - with a new introduction by Monty Don'Invaluable to those who want to plant a trouble-free, all-year-round garden with minimum care - or watering' FLORA

A superb gardening classic - a must for all gardeners and would-be gardeners'I return to Beth Chatto's books constantly. For those who are new to her work, you are entering into a life-long relationship with a wise friend and gardener' Monty Don

In this engaging and fascinating exchange of personal letters, two of the most influential gardeners of all time compare notes on successes and failures in their two very different gardens. As Christopher Lloyd and Beth Chatto convey their gardening experiences, share gossip and discuss life and nature, the horticultural expertise of these two long-established friends and distinguished gardeners gives these inspirational letters a life of their own. Beth Chatto’s garden in East Anglia is a place of pilgrimage for plant lovers, while Christopher Lloyd was one of the major figures in twentieth century gardening, transforming the gardens of his home Great Dixter in East Sussex.Friday 16 February Dear Beth, Today was straight out of my idea of heaven – the first such day this year and the first time that all the winter crocuses have opened wide, in appreciation. Armed with my kneeling pad, I dropped to my knees to savour the honey scent of C. chrysanthus ‘Snow Bunting’. Rosemary Alexander, who spends more and more time at Stoneacre (the National Trust property near Maidstone, which she rents), expressed doubts on whether it wouldn’t be better to concentrate on snowdrops, seeing that crocuses spend so much of their time in an obstinately closed state, loudly proclaiming ‘this isn’t good enough for me’. I can see her point, of course. […] Tuesday 20 February Dear Christo, What a good thing you enjoyed your crocuses when you had the chance! Today we are blanketed in snow once more, with a wild north wind hurling stinging dry snow horizontally past the windows. Your way of having crocuses (and many other bulbs) naturalized in short grass is a far more effective way of growing them than in conventional borders. Left to seed themselves in little knots and ribbons of colour they appear like embroidery across a carpet before something else takes over the design. […]