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DESIGN DIPLOMA COURSE

ASSIGNMENT ONE

INTRODUCTION

TUTOR TALK: The Learning Outcomes for this assignment are:

• Identify famous Garden Designers, both British and American, who have influenced history and style

TUTOR TALK: Professional is something that is inspirational. A worthwhile composition is inevitably simple and invariably unique, being tailored to a

specific set of criteria, that in turn is governed by the advantages and limitations of the basic site.

Garden design is essentially solving the various logistical problems associated with what you have to work with, where to position such items as pathways, swimming pools, tennis courts, water features, flower beds and which would be most suited. Good garden design adds these ingredients to create a style in keeping with the site, the house and your client’s requirements.

The whole process of design begins long before you put pen to paper. Your initial job is to find out just what you have and then what you want to achieve based on this initial fact finding. Once this basic analysis is completed, you can then move on to the fun job of preparing the design. However, before we move on to this it is important to look at the historical influences that have taken place over the years to increase your comprehension of how things evolved.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 1 HISTORICAL GARDEN DESIGN INFLUENCES

Gardening styles date back as far as the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Greece and Rome. In this lesson we will discuss the history of garden design and how garden designs of yesteryear influence today. In Ancient Egypt (4000BC-500BC) house and garden were geometrically arranged according to needs which resulted in a very formal planting pattern and style. In ancient Greece (700BC-136BC) every garden had a use which related strongly to the building or structure to which it was connected. Courtyard were popular spaces for growing culinary and medicinal plants. In addition, olives, fruit trees and vegetables grew on adjacent terraces.

In ancient Rome (510BC-476AD) square and oblong colonnaded plots with , pools and pergolas adorned with vines and roses were an essential part of the house itself, serving as a room in the open air for much of the year.

In Norman times, castles were built wherever they went. Unlike the Romans with their forts, which were occupied by troops, Norman castles were social and residential centres inhabited by families. The classic Norman castle is known as a molte-and-bailey, molte meaning a mound forming the site of a defensive camp, bailey being the outer wall of the castle and courtyard enclosed by this. In times of war the inhabitants would take refuge in the bailey. In times of peace, the women residents would use the space for .

Around the seventh and eighth century a new type of Islamic architecture and landscape evolved. Beginning in Arabia and spreading as far as the Islamic faith, it expanded to Persia, India and Spain. The , also called the oasis or , is an embodiment of Islamic ideals and local traditions and varies according to historical and geographical context.

During the fifteen, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Renaissance had a significant impact and a new way of thinking while making the transition from the medieval to the modern world. Beginning in Italy in the fourteenth century this movement spread throughout Europe. Italian design emphasised defined spaces, outward views, and gardens were designed for pleasure. The French were influenced by the Italians, but developed their own style through the use of elaborate water and designs. Both the French and Italians influenced England, though by the end of the eighteenth century they had revolutionised the garden style with the introduction of the . This influence set the standard for the private gardens we know today.

FAMOUS GARDEN DESIGNERS

Here is a list of some of the famous gardeners and garden designers whom you will have to be aware of in your understanding of garden history and style. This list is a random choice of mainly renowned British gardeners from the end of the seventeenth century.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 2 Brown, Lancelot (1716-1783) known as “Capability”: Born in Northumberland. A properly trained horticulturist started his working life in the of Stowe where he stayed 11 years influencing the beginnings of the new landscape style. Eventually became Royal Gardener to George III by 1764.

Crowe, (Dame) Sylvia (1901-1998): A farming childhood in Sussex, always wanted to be a garden designer but took a course in before working in an architect’s office on garden designs. After the WWII set up in practice as consultant in the designing of new towns (Harlow and Basildon and also Warrington and Washington) and in the sitting of power stations and power lines. In 1964 was appointed to work with the Commission. Pioneered the modern interpretation of Landscape Planner.

Farrer, Reginald (1880-1920): Born in Yorkshire, educated at home but later went to Oxford. By 14 had redesigned and built the rockery for his parents and at college built the rockery for St. John’s College. After university he travelled to Japan and adopted the Buddhist religion. In 1914 went on his first plant hunting expedition to Western China and died in 1920 on expedition. Wrote the massive The English published in 1919.

Jekyll, Gertrude (1843-1932): Born in London and lived most of her life in Surrey, was an artist and embroiderer who, due to failing eyesight, changed emphasis to become arguably the most well- known garden designer of the 20th century. Famous for her plantspersonship and sense of colour and plant arrangement, especially in the use of herbaceous borders.

Jellicoe, Geoffrey (1900-1994): Landscape architect famous for his writings about garden history (researched with his wife Susan) as much as his design works. Worked on private gardens and public parks (Hemel Hempstead) and designed many war memorials.

Kent, William (1685 approx.-1748): Architect and landscape designer. By 1735 had become Master Mason, and Deputy Surveyor General by 1737. Seen as responsible for the Palladian Movement and became a friend of Alexander Pope, his masterwork is usually regarded as Rousham but also worked at Stowe.

Le Notre (1613-1700): The greatest name in French Renaissance garden planning. Worked for Louis XIV’s finance minister at Vaux le Vicomte but later for the King on the estate of Versailles even as an old man directing 35,000 labourers on the site from a wheelchair. Trained many subsequent generations of British garden designers.

London, George (1681 approx.-1714): Went to France to study horticulture under Le Notre. Set up in 1681 the 100 acre nursery at Brompton Park which he later partnered with Henry Wise, supplying plants for nearly all the great houses all over England.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 3 Lorraine, Claude (1600-1682): A French landscape painter of the Arcadian Movement. His landscapes contain the elements that influenced the English Landscape Movement initiated by Bridgeman and Kent and developed further by Brown. Reintroduction of classicism and the peppering of the landscape with follies and ruins is due to his work.

Loudon, John Claudius (1783-1843): At 14 went to work in an Edinburgh nursery where he specialised in . In spite of having only one useful arm he established two model , pioneered the idea of agricultural colleges, and worked to improve public parks. In 1822 he wrote the famous Encyclopaedia of Gardening and the eight volume and Fruticetum Brittanicum in 1838.

Lutyen, (Sir) Edwin (1869-1944): Principally an architect, he studied under Peto, his fame principally derived from the time of his partnership with Gertrude Jekyll in creating the great country house gardens of the Edwardian period. His theory that the house should have an effect on the garden and vice versa so there was an integration of style was very successful. He designed the hard, and Jekyll the soft landscaping in these schemes.

Mollet, Claude: Author in 1652 of Theatre de Plans et Jardinage, he was particularly concerned with scale and proportion in the garden plan. He was adamant that perspective was something which could be arranged, particularly when laying out water features. He became First Gardener to Henry IV and worked at Fontainebleau.

Paxton, (Sir) Joseph (1803-1865): In 1823 moved to work at the newly opened gardens of the Horticultural Society near Chiswick House, but two years later to Chatsworth. Between 1835 and 1844 his output was amazing at Chatsworth in waterworks and glasshouses, and in 1851 the Great Exhibition building.

Peto, Harold (1854-1933): Architect and garden designer in the classical Italianate style. His principle was that the garden buildings and ornamentation were more important than the plants. He designed several wonderful water gardens, notably Buscot Park. His own house Iford Manor, near Bradford on Avon, is a good example of his theories.

Price, (Sir) Uvedale (1747-1829): One of the main protagonists of the new Picturesque movement which followed the Landscape movement. His book Essays on the Picturesque written in 1794 developed his theories.

Repton, Humphrey (1725-1808): The last of the famous names of the Landscape movement and the transitional phase to the early Victorian period. Started his career as a landscape designer. He is famous for his Red Books which showed sketches representing the before and after. Widely travelled he made suggestions for redesigning on many of the great houses of the time over a period of thirty years.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 4 Robinson, William (1838-1935): Irish by birth and education, apprenticed as a gardener boy, later went to the Botanic Gardens at Glashnevin at 21 and later at Regents Park Botanics. From 1867 onwards his fame grew with his writing, principally advocating a naturalistic style of planting and the use of native plants in their natural setting. In 1883 he published The English Flower Garden, a very influential book. Often referred to as the “Father” of modern horticulture.

Rose, John (1621 approx.-1677): Travelled to France to study with Le Notre under Earl of Essex (either his patron or employer) and returned to be appointed by Charles II as Keeper of St James Park. Some of his fame derives from the production of the first pineapples to be grown in England and re-established the planting of vineyards in England.

Sackville-West, Vita (1892-1962): In partnership with her husband Harold Nicholson they designed and laid out the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, implementing the plan as a series of Garden “rooms” in which the planting was themed, as at Hidcote.

Switzer, Stephen (1682-1745): Started his early life as a gardener, later went to work for London and Wise helping with the laying out of Blenheim and as kitchen gardener for St James Palace. Published many books on practical gardening, particularly fruit and vegetable production and ran his own nursery.

Wise, Henry (1653-1738): Apprenticed to George London, he later became his partner in the Brompton Nursery and the driving force. He was appointed Deputy Ranger at Hyde Park by William III and Superintendent of the Royal Gardens at Windsor, Kensington and Hampton Court and although London was promoted over him by Queen Anne he produced many designs for the landed gentry and aristocracy over several decades. His work fell out of favour with the development of the new Landscape Movement.

FAMOUS AMERICAN LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS

Here is a list of American landscape designers who have influenced modern garden design.

Church, Thomas (1902-1978): Wrote his book, Gardens are for People in 1955. He designed over 2,000 home gardens, with much of his work in California. He designed public gardens at the University of California at both Berkeley and Stanford, and at Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia.

Downing, Andrew Jackson (1815-1852): Considered the founder of landscape gardening in America, dealing more with American middle-class homes. His emphasis was more on gardening and plants, as he was a nurseryman. He wrote his influential book of 1849, The Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening .

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 5 Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826): In addition to being an architect, statesman, politician, and President, he was an agriculturist, horticulturist, and landscape designer. After designing several estates for friends, he eventually designed his own.

Olmsted, Frederick Law (1822-1903): Most people consider him the founder of . He was influenced by many of the natural landscapes of England and incorporated natural elements into his often urban landscapes. Designed many city parks including the parks of Boston and his most famous, Central Park in New York City.

Steele, Fletcher (1885-1971): One of the more recent influential landscape architects. Although from New York City, he dealt with design for suburban residential gardens in his first book Design for the Small Garden , as well as in several subsequent books. He was especially well known for his criticism of the ubiquitous front in American home landscapes and was a proponent of creating privacy in the garden.

LONDON LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS

Abercrombie, Sir Patrick: An architect, landscape architect and town planner, Abercrombie was responsible for one of the greatest open space plans ever prepared for a capital city, the 1943-4 County of London Plan and Greater London Plan.

Agar, Madeline: Author of a book on garden design, and director of the garden design course at Swanley College. Landscape designers Sylvia Crowe and Brenda Colvin were her students and both became presidents of the Institute of Landscape Architects, now the Landscape Institute.

Bridgeman, Charles (died 1738): Sometimes claimed as an early practitioner of the English landscape style, Bridgeman is best seen as a follower of the Anglo-Dutch baroque.

Brown, Lancelot ‘Capability’: England’s most famous landscape designer gained his nickname from his frequent comment that a place had capabilities. Leading features of his style were serpentine curves, tree belts, sinuous lakes and circular clumps of trees.

Brown, Michael: One of the most accomplished English landscape designers of the 1960s and 1970s.

Chamberlain, Powell and Bon: A well-known firm of architects, responsible for the Barbican development.

Chambers, Sir William (1723-1796): English architect who propagated the taste of Chinoiserie in English gardens.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 6 Colvin, Brenda: In the 1960s, Brenda Colvin and Sylvia Crowe shared offices in Gloucester Place. Both became presidents of the Institute of Landscape Architects, later the Landscape Institute. Brenda Colvin wrote a book on land use and landscape and founded the firm of Colvin Moggridge.

Colvin and Moggridge: Well-known for a range of landscape projects. In London they are landscape consultants to several Royal Parks.

Crowe, Dame Sylvia: Landscape architect to the Forestry Commission, president of ILA and author of a number of books, including Garden design, Tomorrow’s landscape , The landscape of roads and The landscape of power .

Darbourne and Darke: A London firm of architect/landscape architects.

Derek Lovejoy and Partners: One of the largest landscape design practices in Europe, founded by Derek Lovejoy.

Gibberd, Sir Frederick: English landscape architect, architect, and town planner.

GLC Parks Department: From 1967 to 1986 this department was responsible for strategic open space planning in London. Simon Rendel, who worked with Tom Turner on the first edition of the London Landscape Guide, was head of the landscape design section.

Hicks, Philip: English landscape designer, later active in North America.

Holden, Robert: Landscape architect and partner in Holden Liversedge. Wrote a book on International landscape design (1996).

Jacobsen, Preben: Landscape architect, trained in Denmark. Taught at the University of Greenwich 1992-1995.

Jellicoe, Sir Geoffrey: One of the most famous landscape designers of the twentieth century. Taught part-time at the University of Greenwich from 1979-1989. He wrote The landscape of man with his wife, Susan, and the Oxford Companion to Garden s with two other Greenwich staff.

Kent, William (1685-1748): Famous as one of the inventors of the English landscape style.

Lancaster, Michael: Head of landscape architecture at the University of Greenwich from 1975 to 1992. He was joint editor, with Patrick Goode and , of the Oxford Companion to gardens and has written two books on the use of colour in outdoor design, Britain in view and Colourscape.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 7 Land Use Consultants: Well-known firm of landscape planners and designers started by Max Nicholson.

Le Notre, Andre: Designer of Versailles and Vaux le Vicomte. The greatest landscape and garden designer of the seventeenth century.

Liversedge, Jamie: Landscape architect, a teacher at University of Greenwich.

London and Wise: George London and Henry Wise were two important English landscape designers of their time. They worked together from 1688 to 1714, designing in an English version of the Baroque style.

Lutyens, Edwin: A famous architect who often worked with Gertrude Jekyll on garden designs.

Mawson, Thomas: A famous garden designer and first president of the Institute of Landscape Architects. His book The art and craft of garden making was the first book to make a link garden design to the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Paxton, Joseph: A famous nineteenth century designer. Appointed head gardener at Chatsworth as a young man, became world-famous as a designer of the Crystal Palace, built at Hyde Park then moved to Sydenham.

Page, Russell: Once a partner of Geoffrey Jellicoe, Page went on to develop a Europe-wide garden design practice. Wrote Education of a gardener.

Pickering, Maurice: London-based architect and landscape architect.

Repton, Humphrey: England’s greatest landscape theorist and also one of the country’s best landscape designers.

Rowbotham, Rick: Landscape architect, trained at the University of Greenwich.

Shepherd, Sir Peter: Former president of the Landscape Institute. Worked with Sir Patrick Abercrombie on the 1943-5 plan for London.

Tibbalds Monroe: A London firm of planning, architecture and landscape consultants.

Turner, Tom: Landscape architect and town planner, a teacher at the University of Greenwich. He has written books on English garden design (1986) and and environmental impact design (1998).

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 8 BOTANISTS, PLANTSMEN, LANDSCAPERS, GARDENERS, WRITERS

The people described here are part of England’s garden heritage.

Abel, Dr Clarke (1780-1826): Visited Peking in a diplomatic mission, reported the Chinese elm and introduced the ornamental apricot and the shrub abelia to Britain.

Aberconway, Henry Duncan, 2nd Baron (1879-1953): Encouraged by his mother, Laura, the first Lady Aberconway, he developed the magnificent gardens of Bodnant in North Wales over 50 years from 1901. Subscribed to many plant hunting expeditions and hybridised rhododendrons and other plants, many of which have gained worldwide fame.

Abercrombie, Thomas: Established a nursery at Hackney. His first book Every Man his own Gardener, was published in 1767, but fearing it might be a failure, he paid Thomas Mawe, gardener to the Duke of Leeds, to put his name on the title page, although Mawe is alleged to have contributed nothing.

Abraham, Robert: Builder of the pagoda at Alton Towers in Staffordshire in 1827.

Adam, Robert (1728-1792): Developed a characteristic style in planning, decoration and furniture.

Addison, Joseph (1672-1719): Renowned writer on gardens.

Ahmed II, Sultan (1703-1730): Turkish sultan with a love for gardens.

Aislabie, John (d. 1742): One of the first to bring natural landscape into the garden, but unlike Capability Brown, he contained it behind large yew hedges. His grand design for the gardens was to include the ruins of Fountains Abbey, but he had to make do with the view.

Akbar, Emperor (1556-1605): Akbar the Great, Mogul emperor of India and garden lover. Buried in a garden tomb at Sikandra near Agra.

Alberti, Leone Battista (1404-1472): Early Renaissance architectural author and garden designer. Designed the Florentine Palace of Giovanni Rucellai in 1446. He wrote Del Governo della Famiglia and De re aedificatoria extolling the virtues of rural life.

Aram, Peter: Is associated with the original formal garden layout as head gardener at Newby Hall in North Yorkshire at the end of the seventeenth century.

Babur, Emperor (1483-1530): Garden-making Mogul emperor. His tomb is in a garden, Bagh-i Babur in Kabul.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 9 Backhouse, James (1794-1869): York nurseryman, botanist and Quaker missionary, he travelled the Highlands of Scotland in search of rock plants. Toured Australia in 1813 and South Africa in 1838- 1840, collecting seeds and bulbs. His journals are full of botanical descriptions and are in the library of Friends House, Euston Road, London. Begonia sutherlandi flowered for the first time in Britain in his nursery in 1867.

Bacon, Sir Francis (1561-1626): English philosopher whose notes outlining a scheme to make a four-acre exist in the British Museum. His essay Of Gardens , published in 1625, a year before his death, remains as a delightful monument to his enthusiasm.

Banks, Sir Joseph (1744-1820): President of the Royal Society for over 40 years, Joseph Banks was a wealthy amateur scientist who accompanied Captain Cook on his 1768-1776 expedition to the Pacific. He financed the botanical side of the expedition to the tune of ten thousand pounds. Appointed horticultural and botanical advisor to Kew Gardens in 1771, Sir Joseph was patron of plant collectors Francis Masson, William Kerr, James Bowsie and Alan Cunningham. Species associated with him include the name banksii.

Barry, Sir Charles (1795-1860): A leading architect who designed the Houses of Parliament (London), the house and terraces at Cliveden, Buckinghamshire, and laid out the at Harewood House, Yorkshire (1840s).

Bartram, John (1699-1777): Chief Botanist of the American colonies and was founder in 1728 of the Philadelphia at Kingsessing. The first native American botanist, he was responsible for introducing many American trees to Europe. Although he never visited Britain, in 1765 he was appointed botanist to King George III. Bartramia , a genus of mosses, is named in his honour.

Beaufort, Duchess of: Particularly interested in exotics.

Beauharnais, Josephine de (1763-1814): Empress Josephine gathered a famous nineteenth century collection of roses at the Chateau de Malmaison.

Beaumont, Guillaume: Designer of the late seventeenth century exotic garden at Levens Hall, Cumbria, between 1690 and 1720.

Blaikie, Thomas (1751-1838): Chiefly noted for the fact that he laid out the gardens of Malmaison for the Empress Josephine. He was sent abroad in 1775 to search for rare alpine plants in Switzerland. Made the original plan for the remarkable garden at Bagatelle. Also renovated Park Monceau in Paris in 1786.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 10 Blackburne, John (1694-1786): One of the most influential plantsmen in the North of England in the eighteenth century and was the first to fruit pineapples in Lancashire. His name, and that of his daughter Anna, is commemorated by the fan palm Sabal blackburniana.

Blomfield, Sir Reginald (1856-1942): In his book Formal Garden in England (1892) he urged a return to simpler architectural formalities of Renaissance and seventeenth century gardens.

Bramante, Donato (c.1444-1514): Renaissance architect and garden designer.

Bridgeman, Charles (d. 1738): Created gardens that used the glass-clad shape of the land itself. The invention of the ha-ha is attributed to him.

Candolle, Augustin-Pyramus de (1778-1841): Swiss professor of at Montpelier in 1808. Published Plantarum Historia Succulentarum, Astragologia and other works.

Cane, Percy (1881-1976): An artist, architect and writer over many years and in 1930 founded and edited the quarterly journal Garden Design . He wrote Garden Design of Today (1934), The Earth is My Canvas (1956) and The Creative Art of Garden Design (1967).

Clusius, Carolus (Charles de L’Ecluse) (1526-1609): Planned Europe’s earliest botanic garden in the Hortius Botanicus in Leiden, Holland. As Prefect of the Royal Medicinal Garden in Prague, he started a collection of tulips from seed. He subsequently became Prefect of the botanic garden in Holland.

Colenso, William: A missionary printer who, on an overland walk in the mountains of North Island of New Zealand in 1841-42, collected over 1,000 botanical specimens new to science. Species associated with him include the name colensoi .

Compton, Bishop Henry (1632-1713): The first great patron of botany in North America, sending botanically trained missionaries to the Indians.

Compton, Major Edward (d. 1977): Descendant of Bishop Henry Compton. He is quoted as saying of the fine house with uninspiring garden that he inherited in 1920 at Newby Hall in Yorkshire, that it was “…a lovely picture but no frame”. He set about creating a garden of superb perspective and content.

Copijn, Hendrik (1848-1924): Dutch landscape architect who designed the gardens of the Wilhelminapark (Utrecht) and Kasteel Haarzuilens.

Crowe, Dame Sylvia (1901-1997): Her design was used at Cottesbrooke Hall.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 11 Cunningham, Allan (1791-1839): Explored extensively in Australia. On his travels he took a bag of peach stones and seeds of other fruits and trees, planting them wherever he thought they might be of benefit to future travellers. He became superintendent of Sydney Botanic Garden, replacing his brother who was killed by Aborigines in 1835.

Danvers, Henry (1573-1644): Patron of Oxford University’s first in 1621.

Delavay, Father Jean Marie (1838-1895): The first European botanist in western China. He discovered many garden plants in Yunnan. A magnolia and silver fir bear his name.

Don, George: Collected in West Africa and South America between 1820 and 1830.

Douglas, David (1799-1834): Employed by the Horticultural Society to travel to America’s west coast and father vast quantities of seed from species hitherto unknown in the UK, including the Douglas fir and Sitka spruce. Plants he introduced include Ribes sanguineum, Garrya elliptica, Clarkia, Godetia, Gaillardia, Lupin, Collinsia, Mimulus, Eschscholtzia and Penstemon.

Duchene, Achille, Jean Henri (1866-1947): French architecte paysagiste who specialised in restoration of classical French gardens.

Duchesne, Antoine Nicholas (1747-1827): French botanist and writer.

Du Perac (1532-1604): Artist and Grand Architect du Roi to Henry IV of France in 1582.

Elwes, Henry John (1846-1922): Co-author with Augustine Henry of the great book Trees of Great Britain and Ireland .

Emes, William (1730-1803): His designs, in the landscape style, were used at Belton House, Lincolnshire.

Euphorbus: First century AD Greek physician-in-ordinary to King Juba of Mauretania whose name was given by Dioscorides to the genus Euphorbia.

Evelyn, John (1620-1706): Translated the most noted French gardening books, and author of Kalendarium Hortense. Evelyn’s Diary is full of references to gardens.

Farrand, Beatrix (1872-1959): Her designs were used at Dartington Hall and her beautifully documented city garden of Dunbarton Oaks, Washington DC.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 12 Farrer, Reginald (1880-1920): Botanical writer and plant-hunter, he became interested in rock garden plants. He brought his personality to the page with My Rock Garden and The English Rock Garden. In 1919 he visited Yunnan with Euan Cox, who introduced J.coxii, the coffin-tree juniper. Plants discovered by him include Gentiana farrerii, Cypripedium farrerii and Viburnum fragrans.

Fish, Margery (1888-1969): Author of We Made a Garden. Through her books, broadcasts and lectures she became a popular and influential plantswoman.

Forestier, Jean Claude Nicholas (1861-1930): Designed many gardens in Spain and also worked in the USA and South America. Forrest, George (1873-1932): The greatest of all collectors of rhododendrons, introducing hundreds of species from China and Tibet including R.giganteum and R.sinogrande. Also specialised in primulas and introduced a beautiful silver fir and a snakebark maple, both called forrestii.

Forster, Johan Reinhold: Sailed on Cook’s second expedition aboard Resolution as naturalist, accompanied by his son George as artist. He wrote Characteres Generum Plantanum, De Plantis Esculentis, A Voyage Round the World (1777) and four other books.

Fortune, Robert (1812-1880): Went to China in 1843 and introduced many essential garden plants to the western world. His trees included the false larch, the Chinese plum yew, the umbrella pine and the Cryptomeria. In 1848 he returned to China and sent seeds and plants of the tea tree to India, thereby becoming the founder of the India Tea industry. In China he obtained the double yellow rose named after him. Garden plants introduced by him include Forsythia viridissima, jasminium nudiflorum, anemone japonica, Dielytra spectabilis, Kerria japonica, the white-flowered wisteria.

Fraser, John (1750-1811): Gave up his business to become a plant collector. Some of the best known shrubs were introduced by him, among these Magnolia fraserii, Rhododendron catawbiense and Pieris floribunda.

Gerard, John (1545-1612): Produced the earliest catalogue of the contents of an English garden, Catalogus arborum fruticum et plantarum , dated 1596 (British Museum). He refers to the medicinal uses for herbs.

Gilpin, William Sawrey (1762-1845): Author of Practical Hints for Landscape Gardening (1832).

Graveraux, Jules (1894-1916): Known for his vast collection of roses in Paris and the help he gave in the planting of the roseraie in the garden at Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne.

Haast, Sir Julius von: Explorer and geologist, founder of the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand. Species associated with him include the name haastii.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 13 Hanbury, Sir Thomas (1832-1907): With his eminent botanist brother Daniel, he created the celebrated garden of La Mortola. On the death of G.F. Wilson in 1902, he bought his Oakwood Experimental Garden at Wisley and the following year presented it in trust to the Royal Horticultural Society.

Hanmer, Sir Thomas: His gardening manual (1659) remained in manuscript until 1933, when it was published under the title The Garden Book of Sir Thomas Hanmer . It contains the earliest gardening calendar written in English. Had a celebrated garden at Bettesfield, and was chiefly interested in tulips. One of the most popular tulips of the seventeenth century Agate Hanmer , was raised by him.

Henry, Augustine (1857-1930): Sent over 15,000 dried specimens to Kew Gardens, of which about 500 were new species. Wrote his great book in 7 volumes, Trees of Great Britain and Ireland . Lilium henryi, Cypripedium henryi and Emmenopterys henryi are named after him.

Herbert, Hon. William (1778-1845): MP, poet, classicist. Cultivated bulbous plants and experimented in hybridisation. His name is commemorated in the genus herbertia.

Hooker, Sir Joseph D. (1817-1911): Returned to England from the Himalayas in 1850 with the magnificent Sikkim rhododendrons. He introduced the Himalayan birch and reported amongst other trees, the biggest of all magnolias, Magnolia Campbellii.

Hooker, Sir William Jackson (1785-1865): One of the world’s great botanists, became the first Director of Kew Gardens. Published part one of his Handbook of the New Zealand Flora in 1864 and part two in 1868.

Jahan, Shah (1591-1666): Builder of the Taj Mahal at Agra in India, a sepulcher for his deceased Persian Queen Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1631. The domed white marble building is raised on a terrace which overlooks both the great formal garden and the river Jumna on the other side.

Jekyll, Gertrude (1843-1932): Her book Wood and Garden (1899) had an enormous influence on the English and the world’s attitude to gardens. She saw beauty in natural effects and collaborated in garden design with architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. Her planting designs were used at Broughton Castle in Oxfordshire, Manor House Upton Grey, Lindisfarne Castle in Northumberland, Hatchlands in Surrey and Knebworth in Hertfordshire.

Jellicoe, Sir Geoffrey (1900-1996): Joint author with J.C. Shepherd of the classic Italian Gardens of the Renaissance. Other books were The Landscape of Man (1975) and Baroque Gardens of Austria.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 14 Johnston, Major Lawrence (1871-1958): Creator of Hidcote Manor Garden in and various plant varieties including Verbena Lawrence Johnston and Hypericum Hidcote. He collected many plants from Africa and China on a plant expedition in 1927.

Jones, Inigo (1573-1652): English architect and painter who laid out gardens at Lincoln’s Inn and at Wilton House.

Kennedy, Lewis: Worked for his father’s nursery about 1812 at the garden of Malmaison for Josephine Boneparte. From 1818 until 1868 he created the remarkable formal garden at Drummond Castle in Perthshire.

Kent, William (1685-1748): As a garden architect he was specially noted for his treatment of water. The gardens he laid out are said to resemble Claude’s landscape paintings. The chief gardens he laid out were Stowe, Claremont (Esher) and Rousham House, described by Horace Walpole as the most engaging of all Kent’s works.

Kirk, Sir John: Accompanied Livingstone when he discovered Lake Nyassa and sent plants home from tropical Africa. At his own expense he made and maintained a botanical garden at Zanzibar.

Kabori Enshu: Early seventeenth century Japanese gardener and tea-master who is remembered for his shakkei, borrowed scenery, technique of garden design.

Kniphof, J.H. (1704-1763): German doctor and botanist after whom the southern African genus Kniphofia was named.

Ligorio, Pirro (1520-1583): Designed Villa d’Este and garden at Tivoli and the Ovation , for Cardinal d’Este, between 1550 and the 1580s.

Linnaeus, Carl (1707-1778): The Swedish Professor of Medicine and Botany, who in his definitive works Genera Plantarum and Species plantarum, classified each plant by using two words in Latin form instead of adopting the descriptive phrases that had been in common use among the botanists and herbalists of his day.

Lobb, William: Associated with the Monkey puzzle tree ( Araucaria imbricata ), the Wellingtonia (Sequoia gigantea ) and Berberis darwinii.

London, George (d. 1714): A pupil of John Rose and for a time gardener to Henry Compton, Bishop of London, at Fulham Palace. Laid out formal gardens at many English estates. In James II’s reign joined in founding the celebrated Brompton Nurseries.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 15 Lorimer, Sir Robert (1864-1929): A distinguished Scottish restoring architect hose garden designs in the Arts and Crafts tradition were used at Earlshall, Hill of Tarvit and his home at Kellie Castle.

Loudon, John Claudius (1783-1843): Journalist and encyclopedist, made the first complete record of hardy trees then known and their implications for horticulture in 1822 in his Arboretum et Fructicetum Britannicum, shortened in 1842 to 1,200 pages as Trees and Shrubs of Great Britain. Said to have coined the expression gardenesque style.

Ludlow, Frank (1895-1972): With George Sherriff, is known for his discovery of rhododendrons and primulas on expeditions to Tibet.

Lutyens, Sir Edwin Landseer (1869-1944): Associated with the design of Great Dixter garden with Gertrude Jekyll. Designed the house and garden at Bois des Moutiers near Dieppe, the gardens at Hestercombe in Somerset, Castle Drogo in Devon, Knebworth House in Hertfordshire and many other houses and gardens.

Mackenzie, Osgood (d. 1922): Creator of Inverewe Garden in the Scottish West Highlands.

Mackenzie, Murdo (d. 1983): Scottish gardener at Ilnacullin in Glengarriff.

Marot, Daniel (1661-1752): French designer who is associated with the magnificent Het Loo and the Great at Hampton Court laid out for Prince William of Orange (1650-1702) and Princess Mary II (1662-1695). He achieved a high degree of unity by using similar designs in different ways in stucco ceilings, garden , wrought ironwork, silk wallhangings, garden urns and ceiling paintings.

Masson, Francis (1741-1805): The first professional plant collector sent out on behalf of Kew Gardens. He made collections in the Cape of Good Hope including many of the Erica and Stapelia species.

Masson, Georgina: Author of Italian Gardens (1961), a comprehensive history of the principal gardens of Italy since early times.

Mawson, Thomas (1861-1933): Designed garden at Wightwick Manor.

McEacharn, Captain Neil Boyd Watson (1884-1964): From 1931 created the botanical gardens of Villa Taranto, beside Lake Maggiore.

Menzies, Archibald (1754-1842): The first botanist to see the colossal conifers of the Pacific coast. The Latin name of the Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, commemorates him.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 16 Miller, Philip (1691-1771): Curator of Chelsea Physic Garden for sixty years, and made the garden the finest of its kind in Europe. His massive Gardener’s Dictionary , enlarged by Thomas Martyn, was the standard work on gardening in Europe and America for a century.

Mollet, Andre (d.c. 1665): From a family distinguished as gardeners for three generations and the first garden writer to advocate planting great avenues of trees. After the Restoration, Charles II appointed Mollet head gardener at St James, and under him the place was transformed in accordance with the French ideas, i.e. the great avenues planted and the canal made.

Monet, Claude (1840-1926): An accomplished botanist and a keen gardener. Starting in 1883, he transformed his garden at Giverny, France, into the subject for many of his immortal paintings.

More, Sir Thomas (1478-1535): His Chelsea home had one of the most noted gardens in England, occupying the site of what, until 1876, was Chelsea Park, now the Elm Park estate. A great avenue in his garden led to the river side where he kept his eight-oared barge for it was by river he went to Whitehall and the city. His name is always associated with rosemary.

Le Notre, Andre (1613-1700): The most celebrated gardener of the seventeenth century, was an architectural genius. His influence was supreme in every country in Europe, and he was chiefly responsible for the abolition of the Gothic types of pleasances, replacing them by vast gardens with impressive avenues, canals, etc. He laid out the gardens at Vaux le Vicomte and Versailles. Chatsworth and Wrest in England are after his style.

Nesfield, William Andrews (1793-1881): Nineteenth century artist and garden designer. Associated with rose gardens at Kew Gardens, Inverary Castle in Argyll, Balcaskie in Fife, Castle Howard in Yorkshire and the yew hedge maze at Somerleyton Hall in Suffolk.

Page, Russell (1906-1985): English author of The Education of a Gardener . His garden designs were used at Leeds Castle and Port Lympne in Kent, the Frick Gallery in New York and The Donald M. Kendall at Pepsi Cola’s World Headquarters in Purchase, New York. His work is also to be found in France, Italy and Spain.

Paxton, Sir Joseph, MP (1803-1865): One of the greatest gardeners of the nineteenth century, his designs may be seen at Somerleyton Hall in Suffolk, the formal Italian gardens at Tatton Park in Cheshire, Sheffield Botanical Gardens in Yorkshire, and Lismore Castle in Co Waterford.

Peto, Harold Ainsworth (1854-1933): Was one of the most successful landscape designers of the Edwardian period and re-introduced the Italianate style into British gardening. In the South of France he designed several villas and their gardens, such as Villa Sylvia and the Villa Rosemary.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 17 Plat, Sir Hugh: One of Queen Elizabeth’s courtiers. He was an enthusiastic gardener and it was obvious from his books, The Jewel House of Art and Nature, Floraes Paradise (1608) , Garden of Eden (1655), etc., that he visited many of the famous gardens of his time. His herb gardens were his chief hobby, for his most attractive book, Delights for Ladies , treats entirely of herb recipes. He was also one of the first to suggest means of protecting exotic plants.

Pliny the Elder, Gaius Plinius Secundus (23-79): Roman writer, the author of the encyclopaedic Natural History.

Repton, Humphrey (1752-1818): He succeeded Capability Brown as head gardener at Hampton Court and was the first to assume the title of landscape gardener. His Red Books are valuable evidence of the types of gardens he destroyed, and the landscapes created in their places. Author of Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1803).

Robert, Hubert (1733-1808): French painter, architect and garden designer. With Richard Mique, designed Le Hameau for Marie Antoinette in the park at Versailles in the 1770s.

Robinson, William (1838-1935): His The English Flower Garden of 1883 was reprinted almost annually for over 25 years. Earlier in 1870 he published Alpine Flowers for Gardens and The Wild Garden. Born in Ireland, he was the leader of the new landscape school of gardening. They turned parks into gardens and taught the nation to appreciate hardy plants and herbaceous borders at their true value.

Rock, Joseph: Born in Vienna, he collected for the Arnold Arboretum in Tebbuland, which he described as a garden of Eden with an enormous variety of plants. A beautiful mountain ash bears his name.

Roper, Lanning (1912-1983): An American garden designer whose designs were used at the formal gardens at the RHS garden at Wisley, Claverton Manor, Fairfield House, and the herb garden at Scotney Castle in Kent.

Rose, John: Studied under Le Notre and succeeded Andre Mollet as head of the royal gardens. Made great efforts to re-introduce the culture of the vine. His book on the subject, The English Vineyard Vindicated, was a standard work.

Sachs, Julius von (1832-1897): Transformed the study of and was possibly the greatest of all plant experimentalists. The author of a history of botany which influenced, at the time, people’s ideas of the subject.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 18 Sackville-West, Vita (1892-1962): English poet, novelist and journalist who from 1930, with her husband Sir Harold Nicolson, transformed the romantic garden and buildings at Sissinghurst Castle in Kent.

Schultz, Edward Wier (1860-1951): His designs were used at Cottesbrooke Hall.

Sherriff, George (1898-1967): With his friend Frank Ludlow and later with his wife Betty, made several plant hunting expeditions to south-east Tibet and Kashmir.

Siebold, Philip von (1796-1866): A Bavarian who went to Japan in 1823 as a doctor at the Dutch trading post of Deshima. With Zuccarini he published Flora Japonica in 1833. He documented his collections at the Leiden Botanic Garden in Holland where a in his memory may be found. Siebold is a name familiar from plants such as clematis and hosta sieboldii.

Solander, Daniel C.: Accompanied Sir Joseph Banks on Captain James Cook’s first expedition in the Endeavour (1768-1771).

Soseki (Musokokushi) (1275-1351): Probably the most important figure in Japanese medieval garden design. His work marked the real watershed between the traditional and Pure Land forms of gardens and the later gardens that developed under the influence of Zen and the tea ceremony. His gardens include the pond and waterfall at Tentyuji in Kyoto, the small garden at Toji-in in Kyoto and the moss gardens at Saiho-ji in Kyoto.

Springer: Dutch landscape architect.

Spruce, Richard (1817-1893): Born at Ganthorpe in North Yorkshire and when 19 published A List of Flora of the Malton District naming 485 species. In his early twenties he was invited to go to the Pyrenees to study plant life and returned with a specimen of every known plant growing there and 73 which had never been found there before, 17 of which were unknown. In 1848 he went to the Amazon and spent 15 years collecting flowers, plants and mosses. He listed over 700 species, collecting 500 of them himself of which 400 were new to botanists.

Sutherland, Dr Peter (1822-1900): First discovered Begonia sutherlandii and after whom the plant was named by J.D. Hooker in the Botanical Magazine in 1868.

Tersteeg: Dutch landscape architect.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 19 Tradescant, John (1608-1662): Many best known garden plants are associated with the name Tradescant, an East Anglican family of Dutch origin. In 1607 John Tradescant the Elder married at Meopham, being then in the service of Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury and Lord Treasurer of England. Amongst fruits his name is particularly associated with Tradescant’s Cherry which is figured in the collection of paintings of fruits known as Tradescant’s in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Also at Oxford in the Ashmolean Museum is their collection of all things strange and rare.

Thomas, F. Inigo (1866-1950): His designs were used at Athelhampton garden in Dorset.

Turner, Richard (1798-1881): Designed the Palm House at Glasgow Botanic Garden (1834), the curvilinear glasshouses at Glasnevin (1843-1869), and the Palm House at Kew (1844-1848) in collaboration with Decimus Burton.

d’Urville, Dumont: Executive Officer and Botanist in the French voyages of discovery in the South Seas of 1822 and 1826 aboard the corvette Coquille, renamed Astrolabe, and commanded by Duperrey.

Vanbrugh, Sir John (1664-1726): English playwright and architect of Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Stowe in Buckinghamshire, and Claremont in Surrey.

van Lunteren: Dutch landscape architect.

van Nost, John (1686-1729): The greatest maker of garden ornaments of the early eighteenth century.

Vignola, Giacomo da (1507-1573): Italian architect who designed the Renaissance garden at Villa Lante in 1564.

Walling, Edna Margaret (1896-1973): Garden designer in the style of Gertrude Jekyll. Born in Devon, England, she went with her family first to New Zealand then settled in Australia. In the 1920s she developed a village with English gardens at Mooroolbark. She wrote for Australian Home Beautiful and the books Gardens in Australia (1943), Cottage and Garden (1947) and A Gardener’s Log (1948).

Ward, Frank Kingdon (1885-1958): Travelled widely in the Himalayas and published several readable accounts of his experiences in the 1920s including The Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges and The Romance of Plant Hunting. He collected unusual primulas, lilies, rhododendrons and gentians. He studied the distribution of the Meconopsis in Tibet.

Wattez: Dutch landscape architect brothers.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 20 Willmott, Ellen (1858-1934): Known for her garden at Warley Place in Essex, part of which became a reserve for the Essex Naturalists’ Trust in 1978, though little of her garden remains. She became renowned for her knowledge of plants, her patronage of plant hunters, notably Ernest Wilson, the book she published on roses and her prickly temperament. She developed the garden at Baccanegra on the Italian Riviera.

Wilson, Dr Ernest Henry (1876-1930): One of the most famous plant hunters who discovered over 3,000 species. Among the 1,000 new shrubs he introduced to Europe is the easily grown and popular Lilium regale. His trees include the paperbark maple, the giant dogwood and Magnolia wilsonii.

Wise, Henry (1653-1738): Henry Wise was superintendent of the royal gardens at the 1701 recreation of the King’s Privy Garden for William III at Hampton Court. In partnership with George London, he is associated with aspects of the design of gardens at Studley Royal, Castle Howard and Newby Hall in Yorkshire and at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire and Chatsworth in Derbyshire.

FAMOUS INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS ON GARDENS

Here are some examples of international experts on gardens and garden designs.

Dan Pearson: Trained in horticulture at Wisley and Kew and developed a fascination for naturally occurring plant communities. Their balance and aesthetic has informed the style and ethos of his own gardens. He began designing professionally in 1984 and now enjoys an international practice.

His method is to first understand the client and the sense of place involving a detailed assessment of conditions and plant suitability. His gardens reveal a painter’s eye for colour and form, an innate understanding of sense of place and a philosophy that is more rewarding to garden with, rather than against nature. Recently described as the leading designer plantsman in Europe today, he has written a number of books including, The Garden, A Year At Home .

Professor Robert Perry: A landscape architect and Professor Emeritus from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, California, he is recognised as an expert in the use of native plants and water conserving garden design. He has written two award winning books and is currently writing on native plants of the western U.S.A. In 1998, he was elected Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects for his long-standing commitment to water conservation and sustainable landscaping.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 21 Fumiaki Takano: A landscape architect and principal of Takano Landscape Planning Co. Ltd. in Hokkaido, Japan. He is a recognised expert in contemporary landscape design deeply rooted in historical and cultural site characteristics. He has also specialised in developing designs with citizen participation. Planning and designing of children’s playgrounds is a strong interest and he has won many prizes in this field. He has lectured at various universities in the U.S.A. and enjoys an international practice. In his private life Takano enjoys horseback riding in jumping competitions.

Norihoro Kanekiyo: A landscape architect and principal of Takano Landscape Planning Co. Ltd., in Hokkaido, Japan, he is a recognised expert in ecological planning and design. He specialises in the diversified planning and organizing processes for developing parks and ecologically oriented projects working closely with government, citizens, specialists, and students. This is considered a new movement with major citizen participation in government works.

Penelope Hill: Writes about gardens and landscape architecture design and has a Masters degree in landscape architecture, history and theory from Harvard University. Prior to her landscape studies in America, she read Mandarin Chinese at London University then lived and worked in Hong Kong and China for ten years as a financial journalist. She has now returned to the greener pastures of Hampshire, England, where she lives with her husband and spends many happy hours in her garden. Her new book Contemporary European Garden Design was published in September 2002.

TUTOR TALK: Well done on your studies so far. This is a good point to take a brief break before we move onto a discussion of the Victorian Era and some different styles of

gardens.

THE VICTORIAN ERA

The famed English garden designer used the term gardenesque to describe his garden style which is said to refer to a place where the science of gardening and botany enriched the rather sparse quality of the landscape style.

One of the major influences of the gardenesque in Australia was publication by Loudon of his works in 1838, The Suburban Gardener and Villa Companion. This influence and gardeners who had been trained in the British Isles, were to give gardening in Australia a clear direction, effects of which are still felt today. A look at some of Australia’s botanic gardens or great private gardens, shows elements of the tradition of gardenesque, similar to many of the gardens created in Britain. Sydney and Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens, for example, are revered as a fine blend of landscape and gardenesque style.

Gardenesque was not a crowded style with plants carefully placed to allow for maturity.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 22 The 1862 edition of Adamson’s Australian Gardener states that permanent shrubs should be planted out so as to form a good contrast, and at distances apart sufficient for their natural habits to be clearly displayed and to keep the ground from having a naked appearance.

The spaces intervening between these should be filled with good flowering and fast growing plants which can be cut in or removed altogether as the advanced growth of the shrubs may render necessary. Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) had a profound influence during this period, both directly and indirectly, through articles and books, often illustrated by her own photographs and drawings. Her books were concerned with garden ornaments and flower decoration in the home, also the principles of planting, colour grouping and garden design. All her work was based on her own experiences and indicated meticulous attention to detail.

TUTOR TALK: Useful further reading on the influence of Gertrude Jekyll can be found in these publications:

• Gertrude Jekyll by Sally Festing — Viking 1991. • Gardens of a Golden Afternoon. The story of a partnership: Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll by Jane Brown Allen, 1982.

THE SHAKER GARDENS

The Shaker movement began in Manchester, England in 1758 and ended in America in 1774.

In 1776 they bought their first piece of land at Waterfiet near Albany, New York and as they prospered through a seed business, communities were established in New England, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, each owning thousands of acres of land. The gardens were essential food factories for the Shakers and were laid out for maximum productivity and efficiency to ensure everyone would be well fed.

The Shakers were meticulous at recording everything about their gardens. The almanacs recorded both their spiritual and working lives and frequently drew comparisons between the state of their souls and the state of their gardens. The elements of Shaker design that can be applied to today are lack of clutter, natural materials, and rich colours. A thorough tidy up must be a starting point. Throw away the rusty wheelbarrow which is beyond repair, take down the dilapidated trellis, discard the mountain of plastic pots, renovate or discard neglected and broken tools that have accumulated in the shed. There is nothing useful or beautiful about junk.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 23 The Shaker’s search for beauty through utility led to the development of a style of architecture and furnishing that has long had an influence on our modern homes, but few are aware of just how influential they have been. The principle of the Shakers were careful planning, thorough preparation, and choosing the most productive plants. The use of natural materials, a subtle palette of colours and a certain rustic sophistication make the Shaker garden an orderly oasis.

THE MODERN GARDEN

Garden design in the twentieth century ranged from Victorian era examples to the age of “land art”. The greatest artists and architects played an active, although sometimes private, part in the history of the modern garden. From groups such as de Stijl and the Arts and Crafts Movement to the architect Le Corbusier, the sculptor Isamu Noguchi, the artist Paul Klee and landscape artist Dan Kiley, major designers have been engaged in a quest for the perfect modern garden. These and others took new ways of thinking about landscape and garden design into the twenty-first century.

JAPANESE GARDENS

Influenced by the Chinese in 607 AD, a garden was created in front of the Imperial Palace in the new capital at Nara for the Empress Suiko. This garden, with its islands and lakes, was designed to be as much like the Chinese Tang dynasty prototype as possible. The scenery of the earliest prototype is dominated by islands and ponds. Zen artists later made small temple gardens which encouraged enlightenment through the art of contemplation. Zen ideas of simplicity and natural aesthetics dominate Japanese gardens.

As the centuries passed, the Japanese garden evolved from the landscaping of gardens and developed into an original art form to become an important part of the Japanese culture. The art of the Japanese garden is closely associated with the art of architecture and the stone arrangements which are an integral part of the comprehensive art of gardens.

In addition to trees and bamboo the main elements of a traditional Japanese garden are:

1. Ponds, waterfalls, wells and bridges. The pond is the fundamental element of the Japanese garden. It represents the sea, pond, river or lake in nature. The bank of the pond is usually bordered by stones. A fountain is symbolic of a waterfall, and to the Japanese, this is a picture of human existence with its cycle of birth, life and death.

2. Stepping stones and garden paths were originally incorporated so visitors would not have to walk over mossy ground. The stones are precisely placed according to their shape and style.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 24 3. Stone water basins and stone lanterns. There are two types of stone basins, the ornamental variety which are kept near the veranda, and the raised basin, which is usually kept near a fence for aesthetic appeal. The stone water basins are made of natural or lightly washed stones.

4. There are three types of fences, the short fence which extends from the house into the garden, an inner fence, and an outer fence. The outer fence is the first fence you see as you approach the garden, serving as a protective outer wall. Bamboo fences are very popular as outer wall materials. Inner fences emphasise lightness and act as partitions. The main materials used are bamboo, wood twigs, and small trees.

CHINESE GARDENS

Traditional Chinese gardens go back almost 2000 years to the Han Dynasty though most Scholar’s Gardens date back to the more recent Ming and Qing dynasties. A scholar or an administrator retiring from the emperor’s court to commune with nature, write poetry or entertain guests in his later years would have built a Scholar’s Garden. It would have been an enclosed private garden always associated with a house, which, without its garden, would not have been considered whole.

This garden is enclosed by walls, a series of pavilions, eight in all, and covered walkways. These are all organised in an irregular manner to create, in addition to the two major courtyards, a series of six others of varying sizes. The art of the is closely related to Chinese landscape painting. It is not a literal imitation of a natural landscape, but the capturing of its essence and spirit.

The parallel could be drawn to a Chinese hand scroll painting which, as it unrolls, reveals a journey full of surprises and meditative pauses. The enjoyment of the garden is both contemplative and sensual. It comes from making the most out of the experiences of everyday life, and as such, architectural elements are always a part of a Scholar’s Garden. The painter’s eye must be used to lay out the many architectural elements, with the wall becoming the paper the rockery and plant are painted on. The structures playfully rise and fall, twist and turn and even “leave” the garden to take advantage of and even create a great variety of beautiful scenes.

To paraphrase, the fifteenth century garden designer Ji Ching, the garden is created by the human hand, but should appear as if created by heaven. China has a long tradition of garden design and the Chinese consider gardens a serious art form, with their objective to attain in their design the balance, harmony, proportion and variety considered essential to life. These are achieved through a combination of such natural elements as rock, water, trees and flowers.

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 25 The Chinese garden is divided into three categories, the imperial garden, the private garden, and the natural scenic site. The earliest imperial garden dates back to the late Shang dynasty, 1600-1027 BC. The first private garden, known also as a literati garden, appeared during the Northern and Southern dynasties, 420-589 AD. Natural scenic sites were large scale gardens built against the backdrop of naturally existing mountains, valleys and lakes which were used as the pleasure grounds of the imperial house and nobility.

A common feature of Chinese garden design is the waterside pavilion, together with covered corridors. These covered walkways fall into two categories, those which connect buildings, and those which are built by the shore of a pond or a lake. As with waterside pavilions, corridors often have windows or scenic openings. Often the most exquisite elements of a Chinese garden can be found in its detail. Such is the case with the footpaths imaginatively patterned with coloured pebbles into a variety of designs along the ground.

TUTOR TALK: Visiting gardens yields many pleasures, but more especially you will have a mission in mind. Your mission will be to evaluate man’s ingenuity of how

buildings are assembled and how plants, paving, water and land are formed to create the gardens. Also how things were done at various periods in history, from where the ideas came, and what influenced the design process.

TUTOR TALK: Well Done! You have now completed assignment one. At the back of

assignment two you will find the questions relating to this lesson. Complete and return them to the College for marking.

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Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 26

STUDENT NOTES: Please use the space below for recording what you consider to be any pertinent information or notes. You may find it helpful to refer back to it later on!

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 27

STUDENT NOTES: Please use the space below for recording what you consider to be any pertinent information or notes. You may find it helpful to refer back to it later on!

Garden Design Diploma Course – Assignment One – Page 28