Chatto, Beth: Beth Chatto's Shade Garden

Beth Chatto (1923-2018) was born in Essex and lived there throughout her long life. Thirty years before The Green Tapestry was written, she set about transforming several acres of wasteland at her husband's fruit farm near Colchester into a garden in which she grew a range of plants from Mediterranean sun-lovers to waterside bog plants. Her interest in species plants, fostered by her husband's lifelong study of plant ecology, led her to start her famous nursery of unusual plants.Steven Wooster is a graphic designer and an award-winning garden photographer, whose work has illustrated many successful gardening books including Beth Chatto's Shade Garden, Woodland Garden, The Gravel Garden and The Green Tapestry.David Ward is the Head Gardener at Beth Chatto's Gardens.