An Exploration of People-Plant Relationships to Illumine the Garden Buried Within

The Eden Concept: An Exploration of People-Plant Relationships To Illumine the Garden Buried Within Suzanne Elizabeth Ermert Doctor of Philosophy 2007 University of Western Sydney © Suzanne Ermert 2007 Dedication There have been so many people throughout this scholarly journey who have shared their time, wit, wisdom and experiences with me and without the benefit of each and every one of them, this thesis would have been depleted. My first thoughts turn to my family who have all appeared during the creation of this tome. My never ending love and appreciation go firstly to my husband Andy who, apart from the endless reading, re-reading and tactful editing, has supported and encouraged me throughout the process. Without his unwavering love, understanding and support, completing this thesis would have been a lonelier and less agreeable task, so thank you for your support and your belief in me. Thank you to my two precious bundles of joy, Hayden and Keira, who were born during my candidature and who have been very patient during this journey. You are the very best and most beautiful of distractions and I look forward to spending more time together. Your smiling faces kept me going during difficult stages and you helped to keep things in perspective. So thank you both for your patience and understanding. I love you both very much. I couldn’t have managed to complete this without the help given by my parents and friends. Many, many thanks go to my mother with her constant encouragement and help with childcare, to my father who has inspired me throughout this process – whether he knew it or not – and to my stepmother Julia who unleashed the passion for green men. And finally, many thanks to Joan and Peter, my parents-in-law in England for your kindness and hospitality during our research visits. Acknowledgements This thesis was completed with the support of my Principal Supervisor, Dr Zina O’Leary. Zina has supported, guided and encouraged me to the completion of the thesis. Her energy and zeal for academic excellence is remarkable and her capacity to inspire is amazing. Thank you also to my co-supervisor, Debra Moodie-Bain for your help, your humour and your encouragement during this process. Dr Andrew Broderick has been the most wonderful sounding board and devil’s advocate during this scholarly journey and I would like to acknowledge his enormous contribution to this thesis, as well as the support, feedback and academic excellence he has provided over the years. I would not have reached this stage without his tireless help and encouragement, and am very pleased to be able to acknowledge his assistance within this thesis. Thank you also to former academics from the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury – Dr Judyth McLeod and Dr Mike Steven – who identified and illuminated aspects within this thesis, and encouraged me to explore tangents in the pursuit of a richer account. This thesis would not have been possible without all of my interview participants in both Australia and England who shared their time, knowledge and experiences with me. My questions took them away from their jobs, their hobbies and, more importantly, their gardens, but they still found the time to generously share their impressions, emotions and, especially, their gardens with me. Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. …………………………………………………… Suzanne E Ermert Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH 1 Impacts of nature 4 Research into green connections 7 Outline of the thesis 9 CHAPTER 2 – THE GREENERY AND ‘GOODNESS’ OF THE GARDEN WITHIN 12 People-Plant relationships 12 The art and craft of gardens and gardening 13 The practical and the spiritual within gardens and gardening 20 The people-plant connection in the history of humankind 22 The rise and fall of plants 26 The culture within horticulture 27 Plants in art, literature, architecture & religion 28 The sacredness of gardens 30 Green goodness: the benefits to health through exposure to plants and gardens 34 Restorative effects of nature and the green world 34 Horticultural therapy 36 Conclusion 40 CHAPTER 3 – ENGLAND – THE EARTH-BOUND GARDEN OF EDEN? 42 The popularity of gardens and gardening in England 43 The English identity 46 The people-plant connection within English history 48 Mother Earth – spirit of Nature 48 Viriditas – The legacy from Hildegard von Bingen 52 The veneration of nature and the natural elements 54 Sacred springs 54 Worshipping the green cathedrals 56 Modern day tree veneration 60 The Green Man: Nature’s archetype or the face of God? 63 i The Celts 70 The Celts and the land 70 Celtic religion 71 Old habits die hard 73 The use of mythology and legend in determining the past 74 Storytellers or Fairytalers? 75 The seeds of garden literature and art 76 The ages of the English garden 78 Early English gardens 78 The medieval garden – 800 CE 79 Heavenly horticulture – the monastery garden 79 The English landscape movement 81 The landscapers of England 81 Post-war gardens 85 Conclusion 87 CHAPTER 4 – AUSTRALIA – THE WIDE BROWN LAND 89 The great southern ‘myth’ – fact or fiction 91 Australia – a brief foray into its wide, brown expanse 94 Climatic challenges 96 A brief history of Australian gardens and gardening 99 The first Australian settlement gardens 100 Making a place ‘home’ 101 Survival or splendour 103 Gardens of the twentieth century 106 The Federation garden 106 The post-war gardens 108 Importing invaders 110 Aqua vitae 112 An Australian garden style 114 Backyard bliss 115 The twenty-first century and beyond: the future of Australian gardens 118 Oz Nouveau 118 ii Conclusion 121 CHAPTER 5 – METHODOLOGY 122 The methodology 122 Defining the population sample 124 The population and cultures of Australia 124 Do traditions travel? 127 National identities 128 The definition and manifestation of ‘Englishness’ 128 The Aussie battler – a survivalist mentality? 129 Research population and sample 131 Why the participants were chosen 131 How the participants were chosen 133 Contacting the participants 134 Components of the research 135 Methods of data collection and data analysis 136 Document analysis: gardening publications in Australia and England 137 Data collection 137 Background to the analysis of publications 138 Data analysis of the document analysis 139 Meeting the participants 141 The interview process 141 Interviewing the participant groups 142 The interviews with the professional participants 143 The interviews with the ‘lay’ participants 144 The interview questions 145 Analysing the interviews 146 The supplementary data collection booklet 147 Photo-elicitation: painting a picture with words 147 Emotions 150 The photo-elicited emotional response inventory 151 Analysing the photo-elicitation responses 156 Image preference ratings 156 iii Analysing the image preference ratings data 157 Scale rating statements 157 Analysing the scale rating statements 158 The emotions sphere 159 The arousal matrices 160 Research administration: ethical considerations 163 The plain language statement 163 The consent form 164 Privacy and confidentiality 164 Storage and security of data 164 Conclusion 166 CHAPTER 6 – MAJESTIC OAKS TO SCRIBBLY GUMS: GARDEN & GARDENING PUBLICATIONS IN ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA 168 The literature of gardens and gardening 169 Results of the document analysis for English and Australian publications 169 Results of practical publications 171 Results of philosophical publications 172 Conclusion 174 CHAPTER 7 – THE EDEN CONCEPT: OUR GARDEN WITHIN 175 What is a garden? 175 A garden is… 177 …a place of perfection 179 The plants and plantings of the ‘ideal’ garden 180 The structure and the hard landscaping of the ‘ideal’ garden 186 …a place of activity 195 …a place of attraction 205 …a place of personal meaning 209 What does the garden mean to you? 209 How does the garden make you feel? 213 …a repository for memories 220 …a place for recreation and relaxation 226 iv CHAPTER 8 – THE GLORY OF GARDENING AND GARDENERS 232 What is gardening and what makes a gardener? 232 What is a gardener? 234 The life stages of gardeners 234 The childhood gardener 235 The homemaker gardener 237 The retired social gardener 239 How do gardeners view the garden and plants? 240 What is gardening? 243 Is it the garden or the activity of gardening which evokes emotion? 243 …a process of production 250 Consumptive production 250 Maintenance production 251 What attracts people to gardening? 253 Conclusion 257 CHAPTER 9 – CONCLUSION 258 References 266 Appendices 296 v List of Tables Table 1. A summary of evidence supporting the assertion that contact with 8 nature promotes health and well-being Table 2. Basis of human identification with trees 62 Table 3. Comparison of Average Temperatures and Rainfall for Australia and England 2002-2006 inclusive 97 Table 4. Ancestries within the Australian Population 125 Table 5. Comparison of publications catalogued from 1993 to 2003 in Australia and England with Dewey Decimal numbers 635.9 and 635.09+ 171 Table 6. Types of publications catalogued in Australia and England during 1993-2003 in order of popularity of publication numbers 173 Table 7. The Mean ranking of Australian, English and combined average populations 189 Table 8. Comparison of emotions of the Australian lay participants towards Picture B 194 Table 9. Breakdown of results from Practical and Spiritual concepts into participant groups 197 Table 10. Identifying descriptors of the Emotions Sphere 209 Table 11. External influences behind the emergence of gardeners 234 Table 12. Familial influences behind the emergence of childhood gardeners. Some participants noted more than one influence, e.g.

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