Georgian and Regency charactersCharles Bridgeman (1690 to 1738)Royal gardener Charles Bridgeman worked under London and Wise in his formative years. He started the century laying out formal gardens, but began to introduce the odd curved path to wooded and less formal areas of gardens. He created lakes and was the first to use the ha-ha, a hidden ditch which created a subtle divide between landscape where animals roamed freely and the cultivated landscape. He's regarded as the key link between the geometric formality of London and Wise and the informal landscaping of Kent and Brown. Gardens that he worked on included Stowe, Claremont, Kensington and Chiswick. William Kent (1685 to 1748)Described by Horace Walpole as "the father of modern gardening", William Kent was of humble origins, born in Yorkshire to a joiner. He had all-round artistic talent in theatre design, painting, architecture and interior design. Thanks to a wealthy patron, he spent nine years in Italy. Many of the garden buildings he designed used the style of classical Italian architecture. Kent sowed the seeds of the English Landscape movement and advocated an imitation of the spectacular sweeping landscape. Following on from Bridgeman, Kent worked at Stowe, Claremont and Chiswick. He also worked on the original plans for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Rousham House is considered to be the greatest example of his work. Lancelot 'Capability' Brown (1715 to 1783)Brown is the key character of the English Landscape movement. His gardens dominated the gardening style from the 1750s to the 1780s. Originally employed as head kitchen gardener at Stowe, Brown learned a lot from William Kent. Brown was an experienced gardener who knew the habits of trees and shrubs but had no architectural skills. In 1751 he set himself up as a landscape gardener and became known as 'Capability' Brown because of his habit of extolling the capabilities or potential of landscapes he surveyed. His style involved bringing the sweeping landscape right up to, and surrounding the house. This involved huge, ambitious earth-moving projects, creating lakes and hills and exaggerating or changing natural contours. He was the first to subcontract workmen and, being an engaging personality, was a popular choice among landowners. On his advice, many of them destroyed their expensively built formal gardens in favour of a landscape they would never see mature. In 1764 Brown was appointed surveyor of Hampton Court where he lived in Wilderness House. He planted the Black Hamburg grape which still exists, making it the oldest-known vine in Britain. Gardens designed by Brown include Stowe, Stourhead and Claremont. Humphrey Repton (1752 to 1818)Humphrey Repton became a landscape gardener in 1778. His work was a sort of stepping stone between a 'natural' landscape and the return to the formal style.
He's associated with the English Landscape movement but there was also a formal emphasis closer to the house by reintroducing flowerbeds with balustraded terraces directly outside the house that could be used to enjoy the flowers. Repton, who replaced Capability Brown as head gardener at Hampton Court, is considered to be the first person to use the phrase 'Landscape Gardener'. His famous Red Books contained 'before' and 'after' artist impressions of the garden, and detailed notes made when walking with his client in the grounds. Repton's best work can be seen at Attingham Park and Sherringham Hall, but he also worked at Sheffield Park, Tatton Park, Hatchlands, Woburn Abbey and Holkham Hall. Sir Joseph Banks (1743 to 1820)Joseph Banks is one of the key figures of Britain's horticultural past. He went on three major plant hunting expeditions, the most important one being his trip with Cook on The Endeavour to Australia. He paid £10,000 for himself and nine members of staff, including botanical artists and natural scientists to attend, and took with him 150 books. He discovered more than 1,300 plants and was so impressed with the amount of flora in one area of Australia that he named it Botany Bay. Banks became the first director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and was one of the seven original founders of the Horticultural Society in 1804. He funded many plant hunting and exploration trips, including the first voyage to circumnavigate Australia by Matthew Flinders. Banks died at the age of 77, having been responsible for collecting more than 7,000 species of plants. Francis Masson (1714 to 1805)Francis Masson was born in Aberdeen in 1741. He became an apprentice at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew before accompanying Captain Cook at the age of 31 on his voyage to discover Australia. He travelled extensively all around the world, including collecting many flowering plant species from the Cape of Good Hope. He was so dedicated to plant collecting that he risked life and limb when he crept into Cape Town to collect the seed of the arum lily, after being repeatedly told to avoid the town as the Dutch were at war with the British. His main area of interest was discovering colourful herbaceous perennials, many of which can still be found in our gardens today, including the common garden geranium. After dedicating 33 years to collecting plants for Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew he froze to death in North America. Plants he discovered include African blue lily, Agapanthus inapertus, Arum lily, Zantedeschia aethiopicaKniphofia rooperi and Watsonia x longifolia. David Douglas (1799 to 1834)David Douglas was not just a plant hunter. He was also an intrepid explorer and adventurer and there are many stories about him wrestling grizzly bears and living like a native North American Indian. His travels took him mainly to North America in the 1820s and 1830s, where he travelled by foot and canoe collecting seeds and plants to bring back to Britain. Sadly his adventuring was to be the death of him. While travelling through Hawaii he fell into a pit, dug by the locals to catch wild bulls. Unfortunately there was already a captured bull in the pit and he was gored to death. He introduced about 240 species of trees and plants to Britain, including Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum and Mahonia aquifolium. |
