Great British gardeners : from early plantsmen to Chelsea medal winners / Vanessa Berridge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berridge, Vanessa, 1955- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gardens--Great Britain--History.

Gardens.

Gardening--Great Britain--History.

Gardening.

Gardeners--Great Britain--Biography.

Gardeners.

History.

Great Britain.

Genre:

Biographies.

History.

Physical Description:

320 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour), portraits (some colour), facsimiles ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Stroud, Gloucestershire : Amberley, 2018.

Summary:

The British have always been a nation of gardeners. Our gardening history began even before the Romans, who brought Mediterranean plants which still flourish across Britain. Gardening grew in the sixteenth century and a distinctively British style became a major export in the eighteenth century. Today, the annual Chelsea Flower Show is an international festival, and our garden designers are in demand all over the world. This book traces the history of British gardening over 450 years through the stories of twenty-six key figures, showing what drove them, and their role in the evolution of Britain's gardens. Their work reveals changes in taste and society down the centuries.

Contents:

Part I The Early Plantsmen

Chapter 1 John Gerard (1545-1612) - Barber-surgeon, gardener, herbalist and rogue p. 14

Chapter 2 The Tradescants - Royal Gardeners, planthunters, nurserymen and antiquarians p. 23

John Tradescant the Elder (c.1570-1638)

John Tradescant the Younger (1608-1662)

Part II A Growing Concern

Chapter 3 George London (d.1714) and Henry Wise (1653-1738) - Royal gardeners and nurserymen p. 36

Chapter 4 Thomas Fairchild (1667-1729) - Nurseryman, early hybridiser and author of The City Gardener p. 45

Chapter 5 Philip Miller (1691-1771) - Gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden and author of the Gardeners Dictionary p. 54

Part III The Great Designers

Chapter 6 Charles Bridgeman (d.1738) - Transitional designer between formality and informality; gardener to royalty and aristocracy p. 66

Chapter 7 William Kent (1685-1748) - Mercurial genius who dominated English design in the early eighteenth century p. 75

Chapter 8 'Capability' Lancelot Brown (1716-1783) - Landscape gardener par excellence p. 85

Chapter 9 Humphry Repton (1752-1818) - Would-be inheritor of Brown's mantle and creator of the Red Books p. 98

Part IV The Industrial Age

Chapter 10 John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843) - Garden designer, journalist, author, educator and populariser of gardening p. 110

Chapter 11 William Andrews Nesfield (1794-1881) - Army engineer, watercolourist and high Victorian garden designer p. 122

Chapter 12 Sir Joseph Paxton (1803-1865) - Head gardener at Chatsworth and visionary designer of Crystal Palace p. 132

Part V The Flower Garden

Chapter 13 William Robinson (1838-1935) - Father of the English flower garden p. 146

Chapter 14 Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) - Artist, craftswoman and gardener p. 157

Chapter 15 Lawrence Johnston (1871-1958) - Creator of Hidcote Manor garden p. 169

Chapter 16 Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962) - Novelist, poet, columnist and creator of Sissinghurst p. 180

Chapter 17 Margery Fish (1892-1969) - Re-inventor of the English cottage garden p. 192

Part VI Classical and Modern

Chapter 18 Russell Page (1906-1985) - Master of modern formality and author of The Education of a Gardener p. 204

Chapter 19 Rosemary Verey (1918-2001) - New traditionalist and exporter of English romanticism to America p. 214

Chapter 20 Penelope Hobhouse (1929-) - Writer, international garden designer and National Trust chatelaine p. 224

Chapter 21 John Brookes (1933-2018) - The man who made the modern garden p. 234

Part VII The Later Plantsmen

Chapter 22 Christopher Lloyd (1921-2006) - Mastermind of the legendary flower garden at Great Dixter p. 244

Chapter 23 Beth Chatto (1923-) - Advocate of the right plant for the right place p. 254

Chapter 24 Tom Stuart-Smith (1960-) - Multiple Chelsea gold medal winning designer of modern, sustainable gardens p. 264.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781445672403

1445672405

OCLC:

1049915386