Beth Chatto's Woodland Garden : Shade-Loving Plants for Year-Round Interest

by Chatto, Beth; Wooster, Steven

• ISBN13: 9780304363667
• ISBN10: 0304363669
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Cassell

Summary

"Superb. The reader walks with Chatto...through a remarkable garden."--"The New York Times" "Chatto teams with award-winning photographer Steven Wooster to dramatically chronicle...more than 500 plants."--"Booklist" "[Chatto] is blessed with an unrivaled knowledge of plants."--"Chicago Sun-Times" Legendary gardener Beth Chatto takes us on an intimate tour of her verdant English woodland garden, explaining how she transformed what was once a barren, derelict site into a lush maze of paths where attention-grabbing plants thrive all year long. Along the way, she offers a wealth of practical information and shows off more than 200 species designed by nature to flourish in dry shade. With an unrivalled knowledge of how to make things grow even in adverse conditions, plus an artist's eye for color, form, and shape, Chatto helps anyone meet the challenge of turning inhospitable spaces into truly magnificent gardens.

Table of Contents

Introduction	7	(5)
Plan of the Beth Chatto Gardens	12	(3)
Starting the Wood Garden	15	(18)
Trees and shrubs for shelter	19	(4)
Evergreen shrubs for the understorey	23	(5)
Leaf-losing understorey shrubs	28	(5)
Awakenings	33	(22)
The first daffodil	34	(2)
Uplifting snowdrops	36	(6)
February sunshine	42	(2)
The woodland floor	44	(1)
Early scents	45	(4)
Lenten Roses	49	(6)
Spring Enchantment	55	(32)
A medieval tapestry	56	(4)
Accidental effects	60	(2)
Flowering shrubs	62	(4)
Robust ground coverers	66	(2)
Graceful narcissus	68	(4)
The Long Shady Walk	72	(3)
April highlights	75	(4)
American woodlanders	79	(8)
Early-Summer Profusion	87	(34)
Quaint aquilegias	90	(1)
The Little Grassy Wood	91	(3)
Beneath ancient oaks	94	(5)
Leafy carpets	99	(3)
Elegant ferns	102	(5)
Proud astrantias	107	(1)
Fleeting peonies	108	(4)
Flowering shrubs	112	(5)
Maintaining balance	117	(4)
High-Summer Tapestries	121	(28)
Ground-cover carpets	123	(6)
Pillars of blossom	129	(5)
Handsome cow parsleys	134	(2)
Dramatic foliage	136	(5)
Late-summer shrubs	141	(8)
Autumn's Sunlit Openings	149	(24)
Wandering anemones	153	(3)
Glowing berries	156	(6)
November highlights	162	(4)
Letting in the light	166	(7)
The Depths of Winter	173	(12)
Beauty in leaves	175	(2)
Regular winter maintenance	177	(8)
Shade-Tolerant Plants	185	(29)
Trees, shrubs and climbers	186	(1)
Hardiness zones	187	(1)
Perennials and bulbs	188	(24)
Ferns	212	(1)
Grasses and grass-like plants	213	(1)
Mechanical equipment for tree surgery	214	(1)
Further reading	214	(1)
Rainfall figures	215	(1)
Index	216	(8)
Acknowledgements	224