Elmstead Market Essex hotels:

The Beth Chatto Gardens began in 1960 when the site was an overgrown wasteland between two farms. Faced with all kinds of difficult conditions Beth and Andrew Chatto set out to find homes for many of the plants they wished to grow. With dry and damp soil in both sun and shade, they were able put into practice the underlying principles of what is now referred to as "Ecological gardening". A backdrop of ancient oaks have been joined by other more ornamental trees including Dawn Redwoods and Swamp Cypress, rarely seen Pin Oak and many flowering shrubs. This permanant structure is underplanted with moisture loving perennials, which burst into life during early spring and come into their own from late spring onwards, such as Candelabra primulas, Trollius and Water forget-me-nots. The pond margins are home to,amongst others Iris and flowering rush. Many late flowering herbaceous plants are to be seen as the season goes on, Astilbes and Persicaria though to Rudbeckia.