Modern charactersBeth ChattoThe preferred condition of each plant is the fundamental principle behind Beth Chatto's selection of plants. She then designs the shape and form of her planting around the concept of a garden as an outside room. Beth runs the Beth Chatto Gardens which is also a nursery for 'unusual plants' from her home near Colchester. She's won ten gold medals at Chelsea, been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society Victoria Medal of Honour and The Lawrence Memorial Medal, and she's written numerous books. Christopher Lloyd (1921 to 2006)Christopher Lloyd was considered to be an inspiration to gardeners. He was famous for his bold gardening with strong use of shapes and colours that gave interest all year. "There should be a willingness to use new and surprising colour," he once said. Lloyd was born at Great Dixter in 1921. He attended Rugby College followed by Wye College, where he studied horticulture. He later became a lecturer at the college. Lloyd, who wrote many books about gardening, was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society Victoria Medal of Honour and an OBE. Russell Page (1906 to 1985)Russell Page studied painting at the Slade School of Art in London and in Paris before pursuing his passion for plants. He became a professional garden designer in 1928 and, with his background in art and horticulture, became a very influential landscape gardener. Once a business partner with garden designer Geoffrey Jellicoe, Page went on to develop a garden design practice throughout Europe, the middle East, North and South America. His gardens varied from small cottage and town gardens to elaborate layouts such as the Battersea Festival Gardens in 1952. He wrote the book The Education of a Gardener in 1962. Page died in 1982. Alan TitchmarshPerhaps the best-known gardener in the UK, Alan Titchmarsh was the presenter of Gardeners' World from 1996 to 2002 and Ground Force from 1997 to 2002. He was brought up on the edge of Ilkley Moor, Yorkshire, and left school at 15 to become an apprentice gardener in the local nursery. He continued his training at agricultural college and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. From there he became a horticultural journalist and was deputy editor of Amateur Gardening Magazine. He then turned to a freelance career in broadcasting and writing. Alan writes regularly for BBC Gardeners' World magazine and is a gardening correspondent for several publications. Alan has written more than 30 gardening books, including The Gardeners' World Complete Guide to Gardening, as well as four novels. Other programmes Alan's presented include Nationwide, Pebble Mill, Songs of Praise, Titchmarsh's Travels, Chelsea Flower Show, The Proms and the British Isles: a Natural History. Geoffrey Jellicoe (1900 to 1996)Geoffrey Alan Jellicoe was one of the most famous garden designers of the 20th century. He originally trained as an architect at The Architectural Association before winning a scholarship to study the gardens of Italy in 1923. He designed many famous gardens, including one of the last Italian gardens in England at Ditchley Park, the Water Garden at Hemel Hempstead, the Kennedy Memorial in Runnymede, the gardens at Sutton Place and the canal at The RHS Garden Wisley. Dame Sylvia Crowe (1901 to 1997)Dame Sylvia Crowe had an enormous influence on gardening styles during the 20th century. She worked on many projects in Britain and the US, including reservoirs, hospitals and universities. Her 1936 Gold Medal garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show made a big impact on garden design with her use of concrete. She became landscape consultant for the Forestry Commission with her belief that forests should be places of enjoyment and the contours of landscapes should be defined by the groupings of trees. Geoff Hamilton (1936 to 1996)Geoff Hamilton was the longest serving presenter of Gardeners' World from 1979 to 1996.
His horticultural career began as a landscape gardener, before becoming a journalist with Garden News and Practical Gardening. He was one of the first gardeners to start advocating organic methods of gardening. Hamilton's first TV job was presenting Gardening Diary on Anglia TV in the early 1970s. In 1984, he found a Victorian farmhouse in Rutland called Barnsdale with more than five acres of pastureland. This became the new home of Gardeners' World. He was on a charity bike ride in 1996 when he collapsed and died of a heart attack. He was buried in his jeans and boots. Percy Thrower (1913 to 1988)Britain's first celebrity gardener, Percy Thrower, was presenter of Gardeners' World from 1969 to 1976. He changed how people perceived gardening and their gardens, creating the image of gardening as a popular leisure activity. Thrower's career began at the age of 14 when he left school to join his father, a head gardener at Norwood House. Thrower was the presenter of the first gardening series produced by the BBC, The Gardening Club, which established him as a celebrity. The programme was filmed entirely in a studio and, in order to hear Thrower properly, microphones were concealed in soil (radio microphones hadn't been invented yet). He took over Gardeners' World in 1969. The show was shot in the garden of his four-bedroomed bungalow in Shropshire - The Magnolias. In 1976, Thrower broke the BBC 'No advertising' policy and was fired for endorsing fertilisers on TV. |
