Beth Chatto's Garden Notebook - Inspiring Gardening Journal for Plant Lovers | Perfect for Garden Planning, Plant Tracking & Nature Journaling

The author writes about England. I live in Florida. Although many plants aren’t available here, and I’m in a very different growing zone, many of her principles are right on target. To her credit she uses scientific names of plants. Color pictures would have been nice as I’m not as familiar with nomenclature as I should be. It’s a good read for anyone planning to install a garden in a dry area using drought tolerant plants.Beth Chatto is an inspiration to all gardeners, love to read about the person side of her nursery and her life. Written from her heart. I will be re reading this a lot through my life... Jsince I am a Christopher Lloyd fan and he was a friend of Chatto I thought this book would be equally interesting. It is not. In fact there's a lot of non-garden related chitter chat I could have done without. I will donate the book to GoodwillSweet read for a gardener!!Beth Chatto's GARDEN NOTEBOOK is a delightful and instructive read for advanced gardeners, nursery folks, landscape designers, and/or horticulture majors. Thomas Fischer, Executive Editor of Horticulture Magazine updated the Latin nomenclature for the 1998 edition. Amateur or new gardeners will probably enjoy the book, even if they stumble over many of the plant names. Chatto includes many interesting personal notes about herself, her family, and other folks-including the odd visitor to the nursery.Chatto operates the Nursery for Unusual Plants at Elmstead Market, Essex, England. At the time she wrote her book she had been awarded the Royal Horticulture Society's Victoria Medal and had won many gold meadows at the annual Chelsea Flower Show (the largest in the world) held every May in London. Folks who have seen the film GREEN FINGERS with Clive Owen and Helen Mirran can appreciate the work involved with an exhibition at Chelsea.GARDEN NOTEBOOK was based on Chatto's observations and activities over the course of one calendar year in the 1980s. Sooner or later, every garden writer uses the annual cycle as an organizing principle, but Chatto's book is quite original. Unlike many writers for whom gardening is a hobby, Chatto is the consummate professional nursery gardener-one who gardens herself and maintains stocks and seeds for others. Over the course of a year, she manages her nursery and prepares for her entry in the Chelsea flower show. She says she begins to think about the next show as far as a year ahead. Many plants must be prepared for a climax showing on a particular date, and as anyone who gardens knows timing is everything. Temperatures, light, and many other factors affect outcomes. Chatto uses all sorts of tricks to speed up and slow down the development of the plants she intends to show in May.I enjoyed Chatto's narrative about the "running of a nursery for unusual plants" more than her discussion about the prep work for Chelsea, meeting the Queen, or visits by illustrious people like Elizabeth David (for whom Chatto prepared lunch and shares her menu and recipes with the reader). Nursery owners (not to be confused with the managers of solely profit-based garden center factories carrying only best-selling lines) have quite a challenge. In addition to the many ordinary tasks any gardener faces, the nursery owner must stay abreast of current developments in the seed and plant world; determine the suitability of various plants for the area served; train staff to recognize plants and learn about their proper care and feeding; as well as a miscellany of other chores. Chatto has been able to operate what is clearly a successful enterprise; participate in a seed bank; work for the preservation of endangered plant species; write several books; and enter Chelsea year after year and win medals. She says she is very reliant on her staff, but it takes talent to train and retain a good staff. She also maintains good connections with other nursery folks around the world. She deserves her medals for Chelsea and more. If you enjoy this book, I also recommend A YEAR IN OUR GARDENS by Nancy Goodwin and Allen Lacy.I'm so glad I purchased this gem of a book! I have to say this is not just one of the best books I've read so far this year but possibly one of the best I've ever read! I help my friend (who is a self-employed gardener) with potting his bedding plants during the Spring for his car boot sales in May and June and so have just recently begun to show an interest in gardening and plants. I bought this book on an impulse and I'm so glad I did, I just couldn't put it down. I loved reading about a year in the life of Beth working at her garden and nursery near Colchester. It's also filled with some beautiful drawings which just adds to the enjoyment of it. Thank you Beth very much I highly enjoyed this and didn't want it to end!This is such a great read, whether you've been to Beth Chatto's wonderful garden and are already a big fan, or even if you've never heard of her before today.Beth Chatto started a nursery and garden with her husband in 1960, on land in Essex he used to farm for fruit. It has become one of the most famous spots in England due to her wonderful books, which preach a message of planting according to the situation you have, not according to what you wish was there. This forethinking message might seem familiar to us today, but in her own time it was revolutionary and influential - if you have a damp garden, or a dry garden (she had bits of both) accept it and work with what you have instead of against it.This is not to say that her style of gardening is somehow lacking the colour and texture of more extrovert planters. She is an expert plantswoman and walking round her garden you stop every ten metres to take a photo or wonder at a plant.This book is a whole year's worth of diary, detailing her love for her grandchildren, her delight in her potting compost mixer, and her interesting visitors, ranging from the Japanese work experience boy to nosy parkers who don't believe she actually is Beth Chatto. And that's before you get started on any of the writing about plants, which is just delightful.I mostly read this book on the tube and it was completely involving, I often totally forgot where I was, I was so lost in Essex and her brilliantly-put insights and thoughts on gardening. 100% enjoyable, and a great gift for any gardener.Great book to read when your a novice gardener, giving good tips and information as well as the story behind Beth's own gardenAs a gardener, I found this book really dull, sorry to say. Just being honest! Not a criticism, just that it was very descriptive so was as boring as listening to myself talk about everyday gardening, yawn! Trying to get a refund or sell! I'm sure the gardens are beautiful though.. sometimes gardeners are best doing gardening and not talking about it.I like the little book and will use it throughout the year. a good little reference book. I will read it all through too.