Dear Friend and Gardener - The Association of Gardens Trusts

Dear Friend and Gardener
Letters on Life and Gardening
Christopher Lloyd
and Beth Chatto
New illustrated edition
introduced by Fergus Garrett
9780711234611
Hardback
£20.00
October 2013
Published by Frances Lincoln
In this engaging and fascinating exchange of letters in the last decade of the 20th century,
Christopher Lloyd and Beth Chatto, two long established friends and distinguished gardeners,
compare notes on successes and failures in their two very different gardens, share gossip and
discuss life and nature.
Beth Chatto started her garden from scratch in 1960, tackling
the dry conditions and flat, exposed landscape of East Anglia.
It is now a place of pilgrimage for plant-lovers and a story of
triumph over adversity. Refusing to rest on his (considerable)
laurels, Christopher Lloyd (1921–2006) delighted and
surprised visitors to historic Great Dixter in Sussex, with
successful experiments such as transforming the old rose
garden into a hotbed of brightly coloured tender perennials.
The authors’ expert eyes and minds on matters horticultural, as well as their closely observed
details – of the night sky, flowers, foliage, birdlife and personal adventures – give these
inspirational letters a life of their own and carry the reader rapturously from beginning to end.
First published in 1998, this new illustrated edition of Dear Friend and Gardener contains a new
introduction by Fergus Garrett
‘It is this book, I suspect, that many gardeners would most like to find at the ends of their
beds when they wake up on Christmas morning.’ Independent on Sunday
‘The letters . . . crackle with ideas, tips, stories bartered back and forth. These are both
writers who get their hands dirty. Trust them.’ Times Literary Supplement
‘This is a wonderful book, a celebration of friendship, optimism, hard work, gaiety,
doggedness, and the possibilities of sudden and unexpected revelation.’ Country Life
Frances Lincoln | 74-77 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF
T: 0207 284 9300 | E: [email protected] | www.franceslincoln.com
Dear Friend and Gardener
Letters on Life and Gardening
Christopher Lloyd and Beth Chatto | Hardback | £20 | October 2013
- ABOUT THE AUTHORS -
BETH CHATTO is a well-respected plantswoman, garden designer and writer. She describes
the experiences of creating the Beth Chatto Gardens from scratch at Elmstead Market in Essex
in The Dry Garden (1978), The Damp Garden (1982) and Beth Chatto’s Shade Garden (2008).
Today’s wonderful and mature planting is beautifully captured by photographer Rachel Warne
in A Year in the Life of Beth Chatto’s Gardens. Beth’s knowledge of gardening on inauspicious
sites is virtually unequalled. She holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of
Honour and an honorary doctorate from Essex University for her services to horticulture. She
was awarded an OBE in 2002.
CHRISTOPHER LLOYD (1921–2006) is one of the major figures in 20th-century gardening who
transformed the gardens of his home Great Dixter in East Sussex. He authored a host of classics,
including The Well-Tempered Garden (1970), The Adventurous Gardener (1987), Gardener
Cook (1997), Christopher Lloyd’s Gardening Year (1999), and Exotic Planting for Adventurous
Gardeners (2007). On his death in 2006, Christopher Lloyd was described as ‘the best informed,
liveliest and most innovative gardening writer of our times’. He was awarded an OBE in 2000.
FERGUS GARRETT has been Head Gardener of Great Dixter since 1992 and worked closely with
Christopher Lloyd during the garden’s most exciting developments. After Christopher’s death
in 2006, Fergus became Chief Executive of the Great Dixter Charitable Trust, and he continues
to manage and lecture on Great Dixter and gardening. Fergus first worked at the Beth Chatto
Gardens as a student more than 20 years ago and has remained a close friend of Beth’s ever
since. In this edition Fergus writes a new introduction.
- ALSO RELEASING FROM FRANCES LINCOLN THIS AUTUMN THE NEW
ENGLISH GARDEN
THE GARDENS OF
VENICE & THE VENETO
Tim Richardson
Photography by
Andrew Lawson
Jenny Condie
Photography by
Alex Ramsay
DREAM PLANTS FOR
THE NATURAL GARDEN
THE ALLOTMENT
PLANNER
Piet Oudolf and
Henk Gerritsen
Matthew Appleby
Foreword by
Alys Fowler
Hardback
£40.00
September 2013
Paperback
£20.00
October 2013
Frances Lincoln | 74-77 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF
T: 0207 284 9300 | E: [email protected] | www.franceslincoln.com
Hardback
£35.00
October 2013
Hardback
£14.99
November 2013