The History of Garden Design

Until the middle of the 18^th Century garden design was formal, using angular lines and squares.  The Elizabethan Knot Garden was a perfect example.  In 1751 one Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown set himself up as a landscape gardener and the face of gardening design changed forever.  Whenever we think of the history of garden design the name Capability Brown is one of the first to spring to mind.

While previous generations had stuck to the formal garden design our 18^th Century ancestors were very taken with Capability Brown’s idea of  bringing the sweeping landscape right up to the house.  This involved large projects of often creating lakes and hills and more often than not changing the contours of the existing landscape.  People were creating gardens they would never see mature, this was gardening for the next generation and the generation after that.  In 1772 George III employed Capability Brown to remodel part of the gardens at Kew.

When we consider the history of garden design we must pay tribute to Sir Joseph Banks who sailed to Australia on the Endeavor with Cook.  He discovered in excess of 1300 plants and named the area Botany Bay because of the large variety of flora he discovered there.  Sir Joseph Banks became the first Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew and was also one of the original founders of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1804.

Humphrey Repton is another big name in the history of garden design.  He became a landscape gardner in 1778 and his style is somewhere between the landscape movement and formal design.  He re-introduced the theme of flowerbeds close to the house and ballustraded terraces from which the flower beds could be viewed.  Repton is considered to be the first person who used the term ‘landscape gardener’.

Sir Joseph Paxton was the most famous garden designer of the Victorian era and he designed the gardens at Chatsworth for the Duke of Devonshire.  Paxton built the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition in 1851 which earned him a Knighthood from Queen Victoria.

Gertrude Jekyll is considered to be one of the most important and influential designers in early 20^th Century Garden design.  She studied painting and colour theory at the South Kensington School of Art and this stood her in good stead when she started to develop an interest in gardening.  Gertrude Jekyll together with her friend the architect Edwin Lutyens collaborated on many projects.  Gertrude’s knowledge of plants and flair for colour combinations and Edwin’s knowledge of formal use of materials and hard landscaping make for a brilliant combination and their best work can be seen in Gertrude’s house Munsted Wood in Surrey, Lindisfarne Castle and Hestercombe Gardens.

Novelist and gardener Vita Sackville West bought Sissinghurst Castle in Kent in 1930 and she and her husband Harold Nicholson began rebuilding designing the house and gardens.  In 1947 Vita started the ‘Your Garden’ column in the Observer.  Her famous White Garden at Sissinghurst Castle is splendid and well worth a visit.