A BRIEF HISTORY OF GARDEN DESIGN

In 1066 the Normans came to Britain and ruled under William The Conqueror. William was keen to ensure that England should stay under his tight control and subsequently set about securing his newly acquired land with the building of many castles. With the advent of the fortification of England there was born a new gardening tradition.

Medieval Gardens
Castles lent themselves well to the keeping of vegetables and to the loving cultivation of a small, compact area. Prior to this the gardening heritage of England and, moreover, the British Isles was largely upheld by the many monastic orders. Monks saw gardening as a wholly righteous past time, giving credence to the Biblical references to the Garden of Eden. Monastery vegetable gardens allowed self-sufficiency, whilst herbs could be used for medicinal purposes. Furthermore, devotional flowers could be grown for use in worship (roses and lilies). The building of castles as more than just garrisons, but residential centres in and around England, further promoted the use of the garden for these purposes. Few castle gardens survive to this day - most are post-medieval, and virtually no original monastery gardens exist, although many gardens have since been built upon the sites of old monasteries.

The rest of the Medieval period saw gardening continue to be practised for its practical purposes. Most gardens were walled enclosures and only at the start of the 16th Century did gardening become truly fashionable after the Kings and Queens of England showed interest in their palace courtyards. It was the impact of the Renaissance upon so many parts of British culture that changed forever the way that the garden was used. Writers on gardening and agriculture began to be far more influenced by contemplative Roman and Greek philosophy.

The First Garden Designers
William Kent
The end of the Civil War in 1649 led to the dispersment of landowners and estate holders, many of whom retired from the towns and cities to give more time to the country estates that they held. William Kent (1685-1748) became the foremost Garden Designer of his time. The best surviving examples of his work remain at Chiswick House, Claremont, Stowe and Rousham, each displaying the influence of more ancient times with statues, temples and caves. Kent said that 'all gardening is landscape painting', whilst Horace Walpole's observation of him was that 'he leaped the fence and saw that all nature was a garden'. Kent was more than just a designer of gardens, having trained as a coach painter. His artistic design talents also led him to design the Royal Barge, which can still be seen at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich.

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown
The progression of Kent's 'Augustan style' is best seen in the work of his then understudy at Stowe. Lancelot Brown (1716-1783) is still today the best known of all England's historical garden and landscape designers. He was born in Northumberland and came to work with Kent at Stowe in 1741. He also practised as an architect and later often designed both houses and gardens together. His style was of meticulously contrived informality and natural beauty. Wide, sweeping and undulating lawns with circular clumps of trees from which could be viewed points of interest such as bridges and monuments, and his use of rounded curves led to comparisons with feminine beauty. Brown's nickname became 'Capability' after his persistent use of the phrase that a site had 'great capabilities'. His designs have adapted to their modern day uses of parks and golf courses, and, as such, many examples remain (Blenheim Palace, Castle Ashby, Harewood House, Moor Park, Stowe, Temple Newsam to name but a few). Most of his designs are still regarded today by many as being the epitome of English-ness!

Brown's designs reached their height of popularity in the 1780's, but in the years that followed his ideas of natural informality became regarded by future designers as somewhat 'un-natural'. Indeed, Brown has also been criticised by some for having often 'swept' away the existing landscape in pursuit of his own ideals.

Humphrey Repton
Sir Uvedale Price, a noted Garden writer, was also influenced greatly by the natural beauty of the land. However, by contrast, he was critical of Lancelot Brown's man-made lakes, the uniform curves and the overall soft smooth finish to his gardens. Instead, Price craved winding old country lanes and wildly romantic scenes. His view was shared by his friend (another great Garden Designer) Humphrey Repton (1752-1818) who, in his book published in 1806, entitled 'Enquiry Into The Change Of Taste In Landscape Gardening', outlined his 'four principles for the perfection of landscape gardening':
1. "…must display natural beauty and hide defects…"
2. "….give appearance of extent and freedom by carefully disguising and hiding boundaries…."
3. "….studiously conceal every interference of art….making the whole appear the production of nature only."
4. "….objects of convenience and comfort, if incapable of being made ornamental or parts of the scenery, must be removed or concealed."


Repton reintroduced terracing and gravel walks to the foregound explaining that 'the avenue is no longer forbidden', along with smaller flower gardens and beds closer to the house. Indeed, Repton's concept of design often dictated that the house itself should become a vision of the landscape that surrounded it. He replaced classical ornaments with romantic structures, such as ruins and broken columns. His combining of the natural beauty of landscapes with utility made him a great and respected designer. His 'red books' were individual client 'volumes' containing maps and illustrations, bound in red leather, which he would leave with his clients. Although much of Repton's work consisted of improving existing landscape (eg improvements to Brown's Ashridge design), he also left a legacy at Sheringham Park which he designed himself with the help of his sons.

The Ashridge red book set out designs for 15 styles of garden, and it is in this proposal of a mixture of styles that he perhaps left his impact on his immediate successors. But it was in another of Repton's achievements, being the settlement of the dispute regarding terracing and the utility thereof, that his successors in great Garden Design were to raise again as an issue.

In the 1840's the use of carpet bedding became extremely popular, especially in circular flower beds, as admired by the write J C Louden. They filled such gardens as those of Chatsworth, Mentmore and Crystal Palace. However, the desire for constant colour often went so far as to offend many garden writers of the time, including Louden. The respected journalistic writer William Robinson took up the cause in his writings, and caused dispute by advocating a move away from terraces near the house, and from formality in general.

Gertrude Jekyll
The dispute was eventually settled once more by another great designer of her time. Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) was an artist at heart. She also wrote for the gardening press and her respected points of view became an authoritative judgement on the issue, after her writings entitled 'A Gardener's Testament' were published after her death in 1932. Whilst taking a middle ground on the subject it was clear that she also sympathised more readily toward her friend Robinson's 'informal' argument.

Jekyll's style was Repton-esque, preferring to link house with garden and vice versa, but she took great influence from Knight and Price as well. With her close friend Edwin Lutyens, she designed beautiful colour-filled gardens led by her artistic eye (such as Hatchlands Park / Heywood Garden / Barrington Court Garden and her home Munstead Wood to name a few). Recent gardens such as at Sissinghurst, Hidcote Manor and Great Dixter are in the style of Jekyll /Lutyens and the style continues to be popular to this day. The 'cottage garden' so loved by Robinson is also still extremely popular in British private gardens today.

Modern Garden Design
Modern garden design has, one might say, been 'hijacked' by private landscapers to fulfil the demand for housing and business property. Some 20th century garden designers have been influenced by 20th century modern and abstract art, such as G A Jellicoe, but for the most part his surrealism has not been so popular.

The 21st century continues to see developments in the use of materials but not a great deal of headway into the new design concepts as offered in the previous century. Garden designers must continue to explore as many of the artistic ideas as offered by the artists around them, in every form, and in every sense. As the writer Tom Turner explains in his book 'Garden Design In The British Isles: History and Styles Since 1650' "The art of garden design prospers when it looks to the fine arts and the world of ideas. It falters when looking exclusively to its own history."