After a June with no rain, good soakings during the first few days of July have brought the garden back to life, made lush and green by that which falls from the sky rather than being reliant on unsustainable, artificial watering.

And the other wildlife too, insects in abundance  – more bees and butterflies than I have seen all summer: the warmth and the recent rain have brought the season back into some semblance of ‘normality’. The plants this week doing the heavy lifting of feeding the hordes of pollinators were Lavandula, Eryngium and Teucrium: good for wildlife, drought-tolerant, beautiful (and therefore good for us) – they tick all the boxes! No words, just let the pictures speak for themselves…

But absolute maestro of our floral show was Buddleia crispa on the side of Beth’s house. Six species of butterfly visiting included four or more lovely, pristine Painted Ladies, one of the welcome stars from the south of any summer garden.

#RewildYourMind and #LetNatureintoyourLife: nowhere better to do that than the Beth Chatto Gardens! Visit Beth Chatto’s Plants and Gardens for more information.

It was the first of our new Marvellous Moth mornings in Beth Chatto Gardens. It was early June, the start of the peak season for moths, in terms of both number and variety. Usually! But this year, the seasons have other ideas. The perfect storm: a cold north-easterly airflow for the last six weeks has delayed Spring by several weeks, on top of last summer’s record high temperatures and drought which fried the larvae of many insects, all coming after eight post-war decades of pesticide profligacy … perhaps it is not surprising that the contents of the moth trap we ran the night previously were very meagre.

Of course there were some, but almost all were at the brown end of the normally diverse moth colour spectrum. Most common was the Treble Lines, followed by Common Swift; other species included Heart & Club, Rustic, Vine’s Rustic, Marbled Minor, Flame Shoulder, Small Fan-footed Wave and Light Emerald. In total, a paltry 13 species, totalling some 30 moths. We tried!

But star of the trap show was the single Cockchafer, a lovely large beetle…

Not wishing to dwell on doom and gloom, there are very good reasons why this event was not hugely productive. And the good news is that with luck and a successful breeding season, insect populations can bounce back very quickly, providing the environment is still there for them. And if the habitats are not there in a garden like Beth Chatto’s, essentially organic with a wide range of plants from all over the world providing nectar, pollen and leaf resources, then the planet is in very dire straits.

The other good news for our band of eight visitors is that a shorter time emptying the trap gave us more time to walk and enjoy free-range insects and other wildlife in the garden, first around the main garden in the solitude of that precious hour before the gates opened, and then later around the Beth Chatto Education Trust’s conservation area, away from the public gaze.

Before the influx of visitors, the birds are much more in evidence, and today included Song and Mistle Thrushes, singing Chiffchaffs and Chaffinches, and a fly-through Kingfisher. Several day-flying moths included the Mint Moth, Nettle Tap and disco-dancing parties of male Gold-barred Longhorn-moths…

… while the butterflies were Holly Blues, three displaying couples of Speckled Woods, and a single, resplendent Green Hairstreak, the very first one we have seen this year of a butterfly that often puts in its first showing as early as late April.

As far as other insects are concerned there were several leaf-beetles and hoverflies, Dock Bugs (and their beautiful golden eggs), Two-spotted Malachite-beetles, three species of damselfly, and a whole host of other bits and pieces, including galls (caused by a microscopic mite) on Lime tree leaves, and the interesting case of a case-bearing moth larva.

For other caterpillars we were looking at the Mullein leaves, holes in which are made by the beautiful larvae of the Mullein Moth. While much effort and many poisons are expended in lots of other show gardens to present a vision of leaf perfection to the public, in our garden those holes and the mobile adornments are a badge of honour, a sign that our garden is seeking to work with nature and not against it.

And once again, the highlight of this part of the event was a beetle, this time a confiding Wasp Beetle, a dramatically coloured yellow-and-black wasp-alike, its colours evolved to try and dissuade a hungry predator to try and turn it into a meal.

Otherwise we were looking at the plants that were delivering for bees and other pollinators, chance to plan purchases in the nursery to make our own gardens better places for wildlife: Sicilian Honey-garlic, Peruvian Squill, Rock Crane’s-bill, Giant Fennel, Tassel Hyacinths, foxtail-lilies, spurges and a whole lot more…

Do keep an eye on the Beth Chatto website Courses & Workshops – Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens if you might be interested in joining us for one of the Marvellous Moths events we have tentatively planned over the rest of the summer. We cannot promise more moths, but we would be surprised if there were not greater numbers and variety, and irrespective, an insect-themed educational wander round the gardens in the still of the morning before the gates open to the public is always a precious moment.

There comes a time in any year when the passage of Spring suddenly accelerates into a headlong tumble into Summer. Today was that day in the garden. Held back for so long by the April cold winds and gloom, today the celebration of life and the new season was palpable. Aided by the stilled air and the humidity which culminated in some very spiky showers and ferocious grumbles of thunder, bird song was everywhere, from warbly Wrens and Blackcaps, through wheezing Greenfinches and tinkling Goldcrests, to a stately Song Thrush and the most beautiful of all, several joyful Blackbirds.

Insects, for the first time this year, were everywhere. Six species of butterfly included lots of Orange Tips and our first Speckled Wood and Holly Blue of 2023. But much more of interest, many of which again were the first we have spotted this Spring, from bugs…

… to damselflies, a tiny first-instar bush-cricket nymph, a scorpion-fly and Alder-flies…

…. and a whole array of spiders, beetles, wasps and flies.

But more than the creatures, today’s walk was full of the sights, sounds and smells of a world reawakening from its slumber. Plants, floral vistas and whole landscapes vibrant in the sporadic sunlight, the spring oak greens rendered especially dramatic by the smoky blue backdrop of thunderclouds.

Spring is likely to be telescoped this year as a result of its late start and the heat that seems to be heading our way from Iberia: enjoy it while you can. And where better to do so than in the Beth Chatto Gardens. A place for plants and for people, but also a haven for well-being and wildlife!

Spurges (Euphorbia) are one of the staples of gardens such as Beth Chattos that pride themselves at being water-wise. With their often acid-green inflorescences, they form many a backdrop, but too rarely take centre-stage. But they do have much of interest, not least because they are all so easily recognisable as close relatives with a wholly unique flower structure, called a ‘cyathium’ (one for the pub quizzers and crossword buffs). Here in the garden we have half a dozen or more forms flowering right now, with a whole range of others to come throughout the summer season.

Within the bowl of the cyathium lie not only the naughty bits but also the nectar glands, often distinctively coloured and/or shaped, and which are important features for the identification to species.

And along with the pollen-bearing stamens, the nectar glands are the source of sustenance for insects. Given their open inflorescences, with no way of restricting access to potential pollinators, spurges help support a vast range of insects, as shown today with hoverflies, other flies, pollen beetles, ladybirds and mini-miner bees all basking in the largesse.

The temperature was still on the chilly side, so there were in fact rather few insects around although lungwort was drawing in those species with long-enough tongues to get deep into the flowers and find the nectar. Queen bumblebees and Dark-edged Bee-flies were prospecting,  but most numerous were the Hairy-footed Flower-bees, with jerky flight and relatively high-pitched buzz, the larger, almost black females often being shadowed by a smaller, gingery male… Spring in the air!

Otherwise, the (mostly) blue grape-hyacinths and squills and yellow mahonias seemed to be the preferred forage sources for Honeybees…

But as can be seen from the photos below, there are many more nectar and pollen sources waiting in the wings for the burst of insect activity which should be on its way very soon. For insects, it is a case of ‘Right Plant, Right Place, Right Time’; given the endlessly variable interplay between the floral availability, insect emergence and weather conditions, this is where gardens like Beth Chatto’s (and indeed any garden that is not poisoned with pesticides, manicured to death or choked under plastic grass) come into their own.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that green space and nature are good for health, heart, soul and mind. Never more needed than after our first bout of Covid: as soon as we felt able, it was out to feel the recuperative effects of Spring, even if lingering post-viral fatigue made it feel like wading through treacle…

Bulbs of course are at their best in the gardens now and for the next month:

But other perennials are starting to add their form and colours to Nature’s palette:

So too the early-flowering shrubs, each wafting its own unique scent into into the air.  ‘Well-scented’ is the order of the season: given the expected temperatures, they do have to throw whatever they can into their attraction to pollinators.

And of course, in doing so giving us the chance to explore the effects of Covid. The good news is that any olfactory damping seems to be over, with only the spicy aroma of Witch-hazel proving difficult. But I find that a bit evanescent and elusive at the best of times…

Despite still-freezing overnight temperatures a few insects were out, from ladybirds nestling in the Euphorbia heads to Honeybees raiding the open nectar-vats of Winter Aconites. And, true to its name, a male Spring Usher moth…

Otherwise, it was time to appreciate the less flouncy and blowsy garden features. Lichens are never better to see than when there are no leaves on the trees…

… and the various natural adornments we love to see, from fascinating leaf-distortions on Bergenia, to the signs of vital natural senescence on Red Oak …

—and returning to the Bergenia, the slug munch-holes that we (as a garden that sells itself as ‘ecological and sustainable’) should wear as a badge of pride!

A month has passed since my last visit to the gardens, and on the face of it nothing has changed – today the scene was again sprinkled with the fairy-dust of frost…

It is not that many years ago that we could have reasonably expected to experience a whole month of freezing temperatures, but this winter the intervening weeks have been unseasonably warm, although it is interesting to note this hasn’t been enough to offset the mid-December deep freeze. Here is a Witch Hazel today, with (on the right) the very same individual three years and five days ago…

Of course this is NOT evidence, as some would like to claim, that ‘global warming’ is a lie, just that weather and climate are two very different things.

Midwinter is monochrome, or at least it presents a subdued colour palette. But with searching, beacons of winter colour can be found to lift the spirits…

… and the first few flowers are starting to appear, even if looking a little floppy from the heavy frost of the past two nights.

It was still cold, so no insect activity to report, but birds were active: a Kingfisher on the Reservoir pond, Redwings, Fieldfares and Siskins in the treetops, and Robins and tits all in song. A Great Tit repeatedly investigating a dead Globe-artichoke head, that which all too many gardeners get rid of because convention sees it as untidiness. Whether for seeds or spiders hiding therein, it illustrated one of our hopes for this year, that we as a species can start to overcome our obsession with tidiness … it most certainly is not a virtue, especially during the planet’s sixth Great Extinction.

Now is the time to let light into your life and embrace the coming Spring. And Beth Chatto’s  is as good a place as any to do that. Fortunately it reopens from its winter recess tomorrow!

Beth Chatto was, of course, a gardener ahead of her time. Inspired by her ecologist husband Andrew, she pioneered sustainable horticulture, neatly captured by the aphorism ‘Right Plant, Right Place’. Simply, if you plant the plant where it wants to be, then the less you will need to do for it, in terms of inputs.

The culmination of this approach is the Gravel Garden in the Beth Chatto Gardens. A naturally droughty site, it was planted with Right Plants – tolerant of drought, visually attractive to us and, almost universally, attractive to visiting insects, providing nectar and pollen resources throughout the year. The only inputs these plants have received are just a bucket of water as they were planted and what the skies have produced in this semi-arid corner of Essex. Little water and no chemicals: that is ecological gardening, enjoyed by thousands of people and a myriad of insects each year. Over its 20-year existence it has experienced deluges and droughts, increasingly so with climate breakdown, and still it thrives.

So when a local opportunity arose to spread this word in a practical way, Beth’s grand-daughter Julia and all the Garden team were well-placed. Just a few hundred metres down the road, a developer Lanswood had permission for a new housing estate, and they called it ‘Chattowood’….taking that name, they could hardly refuse to cooperate!

It was agreed that at the entrance to the estate, the estate landscaping and front gardens would be planted in the ‘Beth’s Gravel Garden’ style. What’s more, it was further agreed that those front gardens would be retained as part of the estate fabric and be looked after by the management company, so giving assurance that the initial investment in ecology would not be wiped out at the whim of a new householder.

With plans, supervision, help and plants from the Garden, in April 2022 the gardens were created. First the topsoil was stripped and taken away: a good move as plants that need fertile loam will also need water, fertilizer and pesticides to keep looking good.  30cm of local sand then laid on top, and the potted plants planted in, each with their last bucket of water. And apart from sporadic hand-weeding, that’s it.

I first visited in late June when, despite the very dry preceding months it was looking wonderful – and buzzing! Salvia, Gaura, Verbena, Lavandula, Buddleia, Santolina and many more blooming away, feeding the masses and starting to fill the space.

A plan was hatched for me to assess the value of these gardens for insects, in comparison with the conveniently situated next door estate, a place of new-laid turf, a few robust hedging plants and ‘lollipop’ trees. Then came the record-breaking heatwave and intensified drought. I deferred my surveys until the climatic turmoil subsided, and managed to return in mid-August. It was still warm and dry, but not too extreme either for the insects or for me to be out… Very pleasingly, almost all the new plants had survived, even though some had lost their flowers earlier than would have been expected in a more normal summer. A second set of visits in September came after the drought broke, but as the season was fading so fewer insects were evident.

I opted for simple walk-past census of the gardens, which at a very slow pace took some 15-20 minutes. Any longer and the survey would have been more subject to the issues of double-counting. Insects were assigned to major groups; only those which are readily identifiable at a glance were identified down to species level. A similar length of time was spent searching for insects in the front gardens and public areas of the adjacent estate immediately after each Chattowood survey.

A table of the results for anyone interested is available here: Chattowood survey. As hoped (and expected), the Chattowood plantings attracted a greater number of individuals and species of visiting insect. The headline summary of 120 insects recorded in Chattowood versus just 6 in the adjacent estate for the same observer effort is very telling, 20 times more insects in the purpose-planted garden areas.

Here are a some of the insect highlights (admittedly not all taken here and this year: I was too busy counting!)

Another significant point was that half of the insects recorded in the adjacent development were attracted to ‘weeds’ (specifically Bristly Ox-tongue) that dared to push their way through the drought-scorched turf. Needless to say, those flower resources were not available due to mowing after the second visit.

It will be interesting to continue this study next summer, in hopefully more normal weather conditions. It may then also attract some interest or comment from the houses that will no doubt be occupied by then. Although a very simple survey, it has produced hard data in favour of this planting approach from a biodiversity perspective. It would also be interesting to look at other measurables from the project, including costs, public perception and approval, including saleability of the new houses.

Chattowood – a tribute to Julia’s vision and persuasiveness, the hard work of the Beth Chatto and Lanswood teams, and a vision of a sustainable future for gardens and housing developments, especially living in the global greenhouse. What an antidote to the ecopathic trend for ‘plastic grass’ and the like…!

[ Also published on BNA website, see here]

Update for 2023

Monitoring of the Chattowood front gardens was continued for a second summer in 2023. Only those gardens which were originally planted in in April 2022 were included in the comparison ie those which have additionally been planted since then and were thus less mature were not surveyed.

Methodology was exactly the same as last year (see appendix, last year’s report above) except that surveys were undertaken at approximately monthly intervals throughout the summer, rather than just in August and September.

The results tabulated below indicate a similar picture to 2022, except that the imbalance between the Chatto-style gardens and the adjacent traditional front gardens was less marked. There were 233 insects counted in our gardens compared with 28 adjacent, a eight-fold difference, compared with the twenty-fold difference in 2022. The full results are available here Chattowood survey 2023. As far as the plants are concerned, I noted at different times in the season the following all being one of the focal points of interest to insects: Bergenia, Lavandula, Teucrium, Salvia yangii, Gaura and Verbena.

I would suggest that the reduced differential compared with 2022 is due to two factors:

1. the early months of summer 2023 were notoriously poor for insects everywhere, and it is very difficult to demonstrate differences in value to insects when there are simply almost no insects to record, and the very few found next door assumed a magnified importance in relative terms.
2. Since 2022, some of the front gardens in the adjacent comparison site have had a degree of positive planting, with for example Lavandula and Escallonia in a couple of them. Those plants (plus the occasional lawn ‘weed’) were responsible for attracting most of the insects next door.

I therefore have no concerns that the Chatto-style planting is having reduced attractivity to insects and that this in any way invalidates our faith in this approach to gardening in new estates. Indeed, I would expect the gap to close still further (subject to vagaries of the weather) as the ‘adjacent gardens’ continue to be gradually diversified.

Update for 2024

The results tabulated here Chattowood survey 2024 indicate a similar picture to previous years, except that the imbalance between the Chatto-style gardens and the adjacent traditional front gardens was less marked in both 2023 and 2024.

High-level comparison between the years:

I would suggest that this reduced differential is due to two factors:

1. For reasons perhaps related to spring/summer weather (dull, damp, often breezy) and the lack of frosts in the previous winters, the early months of summer 2023 and most of summer 2024 (until September) were notoriously poor for insects everywhere. It is very difficult to demonstrate differences in value to insects when there are simply almost no insects to record: the very few found next door assumed a magnified importance in relative terms.
2. Since 2022, some of the front gardens in the adjacent comparison site have had a degree of positive planting, with for example Lavandula and Escallonia in a couple of them. Those plants (plus the occasional lawn ‘weed’) were responsible for attracting most of the insects next door.

I therefore have no concerns that the Chatto-style planting is having reduced attractivity to insects and that this in anyway invalidates our faith in this approach to gardening in new estates. Indeed, I would expect the gap to close still further (subject to vagaries of the weather) as the ‘adjacent gardens’ continue to be gradually diversified.

It is also interesting to note the arrival of ground-nesting insects in the older Chattowood sand gardens, I suspect as a crust has developed on the surface, so the holes don’t collapse. Three species at least have colonized this summer, Bee-wolf Philanthus triangulum, Ivy Bee Colletes hederae and Sand Wasp Ammophila sabulosa. The first two are not too surprising given that they have undergone significant spread from southern regions in recent decades due to climate change, but the Sand Wasp has always been here, just restricted to heathlands. It is common on the Suffolk coast, and also around Tiptree/Layer Breton and Fingringhoe Wick, but I have never seen it closer (Cockaynes Reserve would be a good candidate). Clearly, these creatures must be moving around our landscape searching for spots they can thrive.

Cathy Butcher also reported finding earthworm casts on the pure sand in autumn, and fungi growing out of it. Both are significant, indicating that organic matter is collecting in the upper layers (perhaps related to the crust that allows bees and wasps to nest). The bare sand is developing an ecology: what lies beneath the surface is adding complexity and life.

A wonderful day to rediscover the Beth Chatto Gardens after my femoral-nerve-induced absence: cobalt blue skies, barely a whisper of a breeze and really quite warm for mid-October….

The last blooms of summer mingled with the autumn specialities, all providing food for the numerous bumblebees and Hornets patrolling the borders.

Autumn colours though were a bit more subdued than we hoped for, no doubt because there has hardly been a sniff of a frost. After such a worryingly ridiculously hot summer we can perhaps hope for the equinoctial fires to be well stoked – but of course that is always uncertain, depending on what comes first: foliage-painting frost or leaf-stripping wind…

But one thing that can be guaranteed is the low angle of the sun, there to throw everything into relief; shadows and light, whether coloured or not, bring out the best of the garden…

And of course, the wildlife. It may be late in the season but life is still out there. All very expected, from Red Admirals and a laggard Holly Blue, to Common Darters and Willow Emeralds taking the opportunity for a meal and a mating before their world is closed down by winter. Always a poignant moment, wondering ‘will that be the last one I see this year’, never knowing until the moment has passed.

There are few better places to spend a fine autumn day…and this year it is open until mid December! Plan your visit to the Gardens (bethchatto.co.uk)

Conditions were pretty much perfect for mothing in Beth Chatto’s Garden: a very warm day became humid by night, at least until a cooling breeze sprang up. And it showed in the numbers – some 65 species of moth in and around the trap, as compared with last year a couple of weeks earlier when we found 44 species. But abundance-wise there was little obvious difference, except that the stars of the show, the hawk moths, were fewer.

Indeed three Elephant Hark-moths were the only representative of their family; other perennial favourites included Buff-tip and Black Arches.

The two most localized species nationally were Festoon and Beautiful Hook-tip, both reflecting the abundance of large old Oak trees in and around our garden.

Otherwise it was a mix of the colourful – Brimstone, Yellow-tail, Burnished Brass and Rosy Footman …

… and the more subdued – Peppered Moth, Nut-tree Tussock, Dwarf Cream Wave, Common Footman,…what wonderful names they have!

But even the subdued, like this Dagger, can be fascinating as they meld into their backgrounds…

Micromoths too. While generally smaller and posing greater identification challenges, some are very distinctive, including Twenty-plume Moth and Bee Moth.

See here for a full list of what we found : moths BC July 2022

And then there is the bycatch, in many ways just as interesting. Other insects are attracted to light , such as this nymphal Oak Bush-cricket, Summer Chafer and the bug Oncopsis flavicollis.

Credence to the idea that some nocturnal insects are attracted to light thinking it is water was given by the fine Great Diving Beetle which was nestled beneath the trap.

And of course when there are insects gathered, there are also predators attracted too…

All in all, a very pleasant couple of hours before the heat started to build.

A prefect day in May, and the Beth Chatto Garden was teeming with life…

Let the Feeding and Breeding commence! First the feeding: the plants may largely be non-natives, but they still supply nectar and pollen to the needy:

It was particularly exciting to see my first Painted Lady of the year. Vast numbers were reported moving through France a week ago, and this was (hopefully) in the vanguard of a substantial invasion this summer.

And this plump caterpillar munching a rose  was that of a Copper Underwing moth:

On the breeding front, Red Mason Bees were provisioning their nest holes, and love was in the air for damselflies and Speckled Wood butterflies (look carefully and you can see a second pair of antennae).

And all around the garden, insects of every description basking in the knowledge (or so I like to think) that they are as safe here from the insidious barrage of deadly pesticides as anywhere in our landscape.

And of course there was also a flower or two(!) and fantastic foliage, all helping to support this abundance of life. Come and visit the garden and find it for yourselves….

It may be barely mid-February, but such has been our winter (or lack thereof) so far that Spring was already well under way in the Beth Chatto Gardens today. After a frosty start, a day of glorious sunshine warmed the world up and brought out the insects – bumblebees, Honeybees and hoverflies – adding to last week’s tally in similar weather of Peacock and Brimstone butterflies and even a day-flying Pipistrelle Bat! Today’s star attractors were the already fading flowers of Winter Aconite.

But there were plenty of other flowers coming out as well, each adding to Nature’s restaurant, which will keep rolling on through the seasons…

What connects all of the above? The fact that they are not native to Britain, examples of the way that any gardener can ‘improve upon Nature’ by adding nectar and pollen to the menu outside the peak season. But there are a few native plants as well, from planted Spurge-laurel to the guerrilla nectar providers like Red Dead-nettle springing up in more neglected corners.

But it is not all about the flowers! A garden like this benefits from the fruits and tussocks of seasons past, somewhere safe for the insect army of garden helpers to sleep through the winter. If only more gardeners  were able to let go of the sterile idyll of overtidiness …

And then of course the new-sprung leaves, rich in colour and intensified by the low February sunlight …

Such tranquil delights on our doorstep, and the great news is that the gardens awaken from their winter slumber next week and reopen to visitors. Give it a go: let Spring into your life! More details from Entrance – Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens