A visit to the Beth Chatto Gardens
During our summer holiday in Essex we had the opportunity to visit The Beth Chatto Gardens just outside Colchester.
We went with the grandparents while Mr Tin Box took Tin Box Dog on a long walk as four-legged visitors aren’t allowed.
I can’t admit to being a plant expert but I do enjoy walking around beautiful places. The horticultural side of our visit was much more up Tin Box Grandpa’s street, but I did find the history and origins of the gardens interesting.
A bit about the gardens
The gardens were established in 1960 on seven acres of wasteland attached to the old Chatto fruit farm. It was an overgrown and inhospitable plot that Beth landscaped and nurtured with unusual plants that adapt to different and often harsh environments.
Beth has made her name in the horticultural world through specialising in plants that thrive in different conditions. In 1975 and after years of lecturing in the Flower Club community she took a stand of her unusual plants to the RHS Hall, Westminster and won a Silver Medal. From 1977 Beth’s unusual plants stall won 10 consecutive Gold Medals at Chelsea. Since then she has written eight gardening books and lectured around the world.
Our visit
The Beth Chatto Gardens are open all year round and there is also a gravel garden, tea room and nursery which you do not have to pay to explore.
The gravel garden has taken inspiration from the Mediterranean with plants used to drought. These are my type of plants – ones that can handle a bit of neglect!
The scene that greets you once you have paid for your ticket is very different. There are lawns, shady trees and borders overflowing with tall green plants.
We visited during a hot week in August so a lot of the spring and summer flowers were already past their best. But that didn’t take away from the serene feeling that comes over you as you are walking through the informal flower beds and around the lakes.
Towards the back there is the woodland garden which is even less formal and gave us some welcome shade. TBT enjoyed looking for rabbits and took a fancy to the garden cat, although I’m pretty sure the feeling wasn’t mutual.
Back up at the front of the gardens by the house is the scree garden that continues the Mediterranean theme with smaller resilient plants in raised beds. There were lots of tactile plants here that Tin Box Grandpa recognised and tried to encourage TBT to feel. She was more interested in running around on the gravel paths that circled the flower beds.
After we’d had our fill of horticulture we visited the tea rooms for a cooling drink while Grandpa had a look around the nursery. He returned with a small bag of goodies for his own garden. Our visit ended with an ice cream as is often the way when we are out with Grandpa!
Need to know
I would say this is a grown ups day out as there was no playground. To be honest this was a bit of a relief as we usually spend most of our time going up and down slides rather than looking around once TBT has homed in on one. With no slide to distract her TBT enjoyed running freely around the gardens and doing forward rolls on the grass.
There was also a wildlife trail for older children to complete as they walked around the gardens.
Admission to the gardens is £6.95 per adult between March and September and £4 from October to February. Under 14s are free.
Disclaimer: we paid for our own entry to the gardens and all views are my own.
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Disclaimer: we paid for our own entry to the gardens and all views are my own.
I love hearing what people think about my blog so feel free to leave a comment below and browse around. You can also find me on Bloglovin’, or follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+ and Pinterest.
It sounds right up your street. It would be great to visit and photograph any season.
It was a lovely day – we got very lucky and the setting was great for giving us some respite from the heat x
It was lovely and chilled out 🙂
I much prefer watching TBT running around freely and exploring. I don't think she missed the slides in this occasion at all 🙂
Grandpa is a bit of a bad influence when it comes to icecreams. That's where I get my cravings 🙂
It sounds like a lovely day out, I love photographing flowers and landscapes so this really would appeal to me.
The gardens look so beautiful and definitely serene. I think it's nice to sometimes go somewhere where there isn't a park so that you can explore without having to stay around the slides and swings for a while. It looks like you all had such a lovely peaceful time here though. What fascinating history and what a beautiful day to come on. Thank you so so much for linking this to #whatevertheweather x
What a beautiful place to spend the day exploring the gardens!
Looks a lovely place to relax and wander. I'm a huge fan of encouraging kids into making their own playground whenever possible (I'm not mean though…we do go lots to proper ones too). Amazing what they can find to entertain themselves sometimes though a kid friendly 'feel' does a lot to help. #countrykids
Beth Chatto Gardens look like a beautiful place to be able to explore, and a great day out with Grandpa. It's a shame that it's much more adult orientated but at least you weren't stuck to a playground as you said you could've been. Grandpa's always love to treat the kids to ice creams don't they? Thanks for linking up with me on Country Kids.
Ooh, you sound like a proper gardener – RHS Magazine – you'd love it 🙂 x
I hate it when I get bough flowers – I know I'm going to kill them. I always think 'I'll water them tomorrow' and never do! X
There's only so many times you can do the slide without sobbing over the amount of money you've paid for the privilege 😉
The looks lovely and I had read about it in the most recent RHS magazine – would love to go – thank you for sharing #whatevertheweather xx
Oh I'm completely with you about the playground, you can never see anything once the kids are there (without a tantrum when you ask them to leave!). I find that they can have so much fun just playing in the gardens running up and down paths and discovering new plants and animals. It sounds like TBT had a great time and of course the ice cream helps too! Totally understand the need for plants that you can just neglect, that's why my indoor plants never survive, I don't tend to water them, at least the outdoor ones can rely on our Scottish rain! 🙂
Thanks so much for linking up to #Whatevertheweather 🙂 x
I love the way plants can transform wasteland into something so beautiful – lovely place to explore (and I'm with you about the playground too! ) #whatevertheweather
I know. It's always a bit sad when we can;t take her with us but I do understand that some dogs aren't as well behaved 🙂 She had a great walk with Mr TB though!
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If you're a Beth Chatto fan you would love it. Especially as you can buy some her plants too. Thanks for popping over.
We did. It was very relaxing x
She's definitely one of those people I'd love to have dinner with. Imagine the stories and the great discussion. Hope you can make it there some time,
What a beautiful place to visit! It sounds like you had a lovely time x
Of course you have to end the day with ice cream! What a wonderful story behind the gardens, Beth must be a lady with such vision! MTM Family would love it here – wandering the different sections. Must make a note for a visit! Thanks for linking up with #MondayEscapes
Such a beautiful place!! Seems like you had fun… sad that Tin Box Dog isn't allowed there 🙁
Thank you for joining #MondayEscapes
I have 2 of Beth Chatto's gardening books and would love to visit her garden – I did not know they were open to the public. I must remember them if I ever find myself in the Colchester area. #MondayEscapes