Outhouse recently visited Beth Chatto’s famous garden in Colchester, UK – Chatto was a renowned garden designer and horticulturalist, and her gardens speak to an absolute love of the green medium that we share. It shows that truly outstanding gardens are a partnership between thoughtful design and the ongoing art of the gardener in sustaining and developing the design vision.
Despite our different climates, Beth Chatto’s garden features many plants that we would recognise from gardens in Sydney – cardoons, foxgloves and bergenias are among the plants in the first photo above, and these are cracking plants with contrasting forms that would work well in all but the smallest Sydney gardens. Understanding these plants and the climatic difference between Sydney and Colchester gives us an idea of how to adapt them to our gardens – bergenia and foxgloves are better suited to part shade here, whereas cardoons demand full sun and sharp drainage due to our higher rainfall.
Looking at how plantings are composed also allows us to apply the same ideas, even without being able to use the same plants – using contrast of form and colour, repetition and rhythm, and massing of plants means we can guide both the eye and circulation through the garden to desired focal points.
More garden visits will be posted in the coming weeks, so keep an eye on our website!
