The Passionate Gardener

                Gardens have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Now you may think that a silly statement to make since it is more than likely that most children grow up with a garden in their back yard, or at very least have one in a park nearby. But it is the rare child whose mother is so enthralled by plant and garden design that the spent many a weekend of their childhood at plant stores or garden design shops, a large percentage of the books in their library are garden related, and our summer chores were not contained to the house but garden as well. These exposures lead to a certain resentment of plants and gardens present throughout my childhood. I am afraid to admit that my siblings and I would also mock my mother’s passion and excitement because we did not understand how anyone could be so excited about a plant. So when I told my mother that I was going to be taking a garden class she was far to giddy for my comfort level. Nevertheless, I was actually quite excited to learn about the history of gardens through Europe and the ages.  What I did not expect was to discover what it was the inspired my mother’s garden that I had grown up tending and slowly watched take form. Therefore, to choose a garden style in this class that has resonated with me personally is very difficult. However, if I had to choose it would be the Arts and Crafts style. 

                   

 

Renaissance Axis Example: connecting house and garden

Baroque Knot Garden

                    Throughout the semester I noticed the axis through the garden that has been present since the first organized garden of the ancient Egyptians. I noticed how the Renaissance connected the house and the garden with this main axis. I had seen hints of a small section in my mother’s garden in the knot gardens of the Baroque style which she used for the outline of her herb garden. But none of these really “screamed” the garden style that I was used to like that of the Arts and Crafts style, notably, the style of Gertrude Jekyll. Her lush flower boarders dictated by color theory took me back to my garden at home where there are sections during the spring and summer where I cannot see the dirt due to the thick planting. However, my connection to her work was only strengthened by her partnership with Edward Lutyens. Through their combined design the house and the garden flowed together. There was often axis from the house connecting the two. Lutyens often created a very formal geometric framework in the garden which Jekyll filled with plants and flowers to create lushness. Within the formal design there was an exuberance and abundance of planting. It was wonderful for me to see the root of the garden design that I love so much. When I asked my Mom what designer had inspired her she told me about Penelope Hobhouse. I had never heard of her, but after looking at some of her designs I cannot help but believe that she too was inspired by Jekyll and Lutyen’s garden designs.

Hobhouse Design

Hobhouse Design

Sources:

http://thegallopinggardener.blogspot.dk/2009/09/wonderful-welsh-gardens-aberglasney.html

http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/books_reviews/andrew_wilson

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAyksHH5NQcM1hfaHNaMxD5Op9mIf5BPWhS9wEaprmLGPoYzr2nehPpeLyl3DIV-DzZpywvM40UyYMQBo8vr3MkI0B1i7xCh67mEU8IqzO0_WYKO9NDUZI1_3lKyZv4ww89eXT4LZVvQQ/s1600-h/knot_gardendclandscape6.jpg

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/italian-renaissance-garden-j-lai.html

Jekyll and Lutyens

When they started working together, the works of Edward Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll become very complementary. Strictly speaking, Lutyens was the master architect and Jekyll was the master gardener. However, in reality they worked together on almost everything in their designs together. Of course each had their own specialties in which they were most talented, but they always helped each other out. Lutyens knew that he was very good, but he was also smart enough to know that he needed help when it comes to the siting of his houses, on the general treatment of the grounds, and especially with the detailed plantings of the gardens. Since there was such close collaboration, the result was a closely knit home and garden.  Jekyll believed that “‘the connection must be intimate, and the access not only convenient but inviting’”. The architecture and structure of the  house flowed into the garden with geometrical shapes and inviting landscape. However, without Jekyll’s plantings and beautiful use of color theory in her planting, the houses and gardens would have seemed somewhat harsh. However, with her large and somewhat wild flower boarders the garden softened out the edges of the geometrical shapes created by the walks, steps, terraces, walls, house, and water features.

Upton Grey

The first work that Jekyll and Lutyens did together was Jekyll’s home. Jekyll had purchased the property of Munstead a few years before she decided that she was going to renovate the house. She decided that she wanted Lutyens to design her house. In his usual fashion, Lutyens designed the house to blend in with the theme of the local houses by using only local material. If the area had houses made with brick then his design was with brick. In the case of Munstead wood it was built with locaol Bargate stone, lined inside with brick, with a tiled roof. An example of the connection between the house and garden was the shallow stepped staircase that lead up to a long oak-beamed gallery (the oaks were found locally) that covered the central courtyard. In the garden Jekyll used color theory to express different color themes in her flower boarders, or herbaceous boarder. She considered height, texture, color, and flowering time. 

Herbaceous Boarder

As previously mentioned, Jekyll’s plantings soften the somewhat harsh geometrical shapes of Lutyens’ design. An example of this would be the plantings around the sundial at Pendor House at Buckinghamshire. Lutyens design involved concentric circles of connected semi-circular flower beds. If you look at the design is looks very geometric. However, when looking at Jekyll’s plantings, she does not fill in every inch with flowers and she often goes outside the lines to soften the edges.  Jekyll and Lutyen’s continued the very successful friendship and partnership for the rest of Jekyll’s life until her death in 1932. 

Lutyen's design

Jekyll's Plantings

 Sources:

 Lecture 19 from European Garden art "Munstead Wood et al. Case Study"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munstead_Wood