Episode list

Month Don uncovers the extraordinary stories behind Britain's 17 th century gardens.

The eighteenth century ushered in a new era of gardening in a move away from the formal to show man's control and power and in many cases his philosophy and religion in the previous century, to embracing nature. One such manifestation is the landscape garden, where vast expanses of grass were used as vistas to natural or in many cases man-created "natural features" such as lakes, creating as a whole an idealized view of the countryside. It served practical purposes in rather than human gardeners finely clipping and pruning, livestock often acted as mowers in grazing in the fields. In discussing this era, Monty highlights the works of garden designers William Kent, Lancelot "Capability" Brown, and Humphry Repton.

The nineteenth century was marked by the introduction of the use imported plant species into gardens. The trend was the result largely of two people. The first is Joseph Banks, Director of Kew Gardens early in the century, he who transformed what was ostensibly a landscape garden typical of the previous century into a true botanical garden. While he himself was a plant hunter in traveling abroad to discover new plants, he spurred others to do the same. The second is Queen Victoria's consort Prince Albert, who took an active role in the plant selection, largely trees, for the gardens of which he had control. This trend was assisted by the industrial revolution of the era and the general want to find solutions for problems, including how to keep plants alive in their transportation from overseas, and how to cultivate non-native species in Britain, especially of what are considered tropical plants. These advances led to gardens accessible for the masses, both in terms of access through the creation of public parks and gardens, and writing about British gardening trends in inexpensive trade magazines.

In his journey through time, Monty has reached the twentieth century. In a combination of industrialization and urbanization, what happened with British gardens was that they were being used as oases from the proverbial smoke and concrete of cities. While technology allowed the cultivation of a diversity of plants, including non-native ones, the focus on the botanical nature of the plants themselves in the nineteenth century gave way to the plants as a means of design, especially in the use of color, as gardens were treated as canvasses, often gardens designed as tableaux to present different pictures from a number of vantage points. Arguably, two items affected the development of the British garden the most during this century. The first is upheaval in the form of the two world wars, and the dispensation of the allotment gardens which were designed to be more utilitarian in the times of need than aesthetic. The second is the onset of the television age. While the allotment gardens brought gardening to the masses, most specifically the urban middle class, television showed them what they could do with their gardens.