Image: West Dean Gardens. Credit: West Dean Gardens

May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them. To celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re going to share some of the most influential women within horticulture and their stories.

For hundreds of years, women have owned and grown some of the most popular gardens that we still see today. Here are just a few legacies left by influential women in horticulture!

Beth Chatto


Image: Beth Chatto. Credit: Beth Chatto Gardens

Beth Chatto was a garden designer, author, and planting enthusiast. She won 10 gold medals in a row at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, named several plants, and honed her signature wildlife-friendly planting style. It’s highly popular today, but back then it was quite unusual. According to the RHS, one judge wanted to disqualify her because ‘all her plants were weeds’.

To this day, her garden in Colchester showcases her signature style. Established in 1960, the once-overgrown wasteland is now an informal oasis, featuring seasonal plants that settle in nicely within the East Anglian backdrop. The garden is over 60 years old and was once the home of the Chatto family. In 2002, Chatto was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. She sadly passed away aged 94 in 2018 and was named an RHS Iconic Horticultural Hero posthumously in 2019.

Vita Sackville-West


Image: The White Garden at Sissinghurt Castle Garden. Credit: National Trust

Born in 1892, Vita Sackville-West is well known for her influence on Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent. In fact, this garden is considered one of the most famous gardens in the world. Vita and her husband restored the gardens and the Tudor-style home after they purchased it in 1930.

Her style featured formal displays and romantic planting schemes. Her White Garden alone has inspired thousands of gardeners across the globe. Vita was not only a gardening inspiration, but also a novelist and a poet, writing about the Kentish countryside. She even wrote gardening books.

Gertrude Jekyll

Image: Manor House Garden, Hampshire. Credit: Gertrude Jekyll Garden

Gertrude Jekyll is another horticultural inspiration who’s held in high esteem for her design work in a multitude of English gardens. With herbaceous planting schemes of hot and cool tones and a partnership with architect Edwin Lutyens, she produced over 100 gardens in over 25 years.

She wrote ten books in ten years and wrote many articles on gardening. Her relaxed gardening style is still popular, and it’s a true testament to how timeless her designs have become.

She wasn’t always a gardening mogul, however. She started her career later in life, after being instructed by her doctors to give up her passions, such as painting. You can visit a whole range of gardens to this day that were designed or influenced by her planting style. Knebworth House, Kedleston Hall, RHS Wisley, West Dean Gardens, and Hartland Abbey, to name but a few!