Great Gardeners

Although people have been indulging in some form of gardening since the beginning of time, when we think of gardening, gardeners, garden designers and landscape architects, we tend to think of the great gardeners from the 18th century onwards.  Many of the formal gardens around the great houses and stately homes in the UK and Ireland were created around then.

William Kent, who began work in the 1730s was one of the first to be called a landscape architect and his work can still be seen today.  His gardens at Rousham House alone entitle him to be called one of the great gardeners of his generation.  The gardens have remained unaltered and they were one of the first and most influential of the style that was to be called English landscape gardening.  Kent also worked at Stowe House in Buckinghamshire, but here his work is overshadowed by the later designs of Capability Brown.

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is among the most famous of the landscape gardeners and he worked from the 1750s to the 1780s.  Capability Brown set himself up as a landscape gardener in 1751.  His style of bringing a sweeping landscape right up to the house and beyond found favour with many of the owners of the great English houses, who happily destroyed their expensive formal gardens to accommodate this.  Capability Brown's work is still in evidence in many of the English stately homes and when it comes to great gardeners Capability Brown is at the very top. 

Humphrey Repton, who started work in 1778, was a stepping stone between the natural and the formal.  While Repton is associated with the English Landscape movement he re-introduced ballustraded terraces and flower beds close to the house.  Repton, who was Head Gardener at Hampton Court after Capability Brown is said to have been the first to use the phrase 'Landscape Gardener'.

Probably the most famous of the Victorian gardeners was Joseph Paxton whose magnificent gardens at Chatsworth House, owned by the Duke of Devonshire, can still be enjoyed today.  Paxton designed the new conservatory at Chatsworth, as well as The Crystal Palace, which earned him a knighthood.  If you visit Chatsworth House you can see why he should be listed as one of the great gardeners of all time.

Gertrude Jekyll is considered to be the most important and influential garden designer and writer about gardening in the 20th century.  She is particularly remembered for her planting schemes and her partnership with Edwin Lutyens.  Together they were among the leading lights of the Arts and Crafts Movement and this is reflected in many of Gertrude Jekyll's designs and planting schemes.  Jekyll should not only be remembered as one of the great gardeners, but also as one of the great writers about gardening and garden design.