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History of gardening (view source)

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[[Image:Edinburgh-landscape-architecture.jpg |thumb|right|Central Edinburgh, well known to [[Gilbert Laing Meason]] is a fine example of the approach to landscape and architectural composition developed during the [[Scottish Enlightenment]] period. The circular tower (left central) is the tomb of [[David Hume]], designed by [[Robert Adam]]|300px]]
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''This entry concerns the history of ornamental gardening considered as an amenity of civilized life, as a vehicle for style, for conspicuous show and even an expression of philosophy.''
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The term [[landscape architecture]] was first used by [[Gilbert Laing Meason]] in his book ''On The Landscape Architecture of the Great Painters of Italy'' (London, 1828). Meason was born in Scotland and did not have the opportunity to visit Italy. But he admired the relationship between architecture and landscape in the great landscape paintings and drew upon [[Vitruvius|Vitruvius']] Ten books of architecture to find principles underlying the relationship between built form and natural form.  
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''See also subsistence [[gardening]], the art and craft of growing plants, considered as a circumscribed form of individual [[agriculture]].''
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'Landscape architecture' was then taken up by [[John Claudius Loudon]] and used to describe a specific type of architecture, suited to being placed in designed landscapes. Loudon was admired by the American designer and theorist [[Andrew Jackson Downing]] and 'landscape architecture' was the subject of a chapter in Downing's book ''A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, Adapted to North America'' (1841).  
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Though cultivation of [[plant]]s for food long predates [[history]], the earliest evidence for ornamental [[garden]]s is seen in [[Egypt]]ian [[tomb painting]]s of the [[1500s BC]]; they depict [[Egyptian lotus|lotus]] [[pond]]s surrounded by rows of [[acacia]]s and [[Palm tree|palm]]s. The other ancient gardening tradition is of [[Persians|Persia]]: [[Darius the Great]] was said to have had a "[[paradise garden]]" and the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] were renowned as a [[Wonder of the World]]. Persian influences extended to post-Alexander's Greece: around [[350 BC]] there were gardens at the [[Academy]] of [[Athens]], and [[Theophrastus]], who wrote on [[botany]], was supposed to have inherited a garden from [[Aristotle]]. [[Epicurus]] also had a garden where he walked and taught, and bequeathed it to [[Hermarchus]] of [[Mytilene]]. [[Alciphron]] also mentions private gardens.
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This led to its adoption by [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and [[Calvert Vaux]]. Olmsted and Vaux gave a different slant to the meaning of 'landscape architecture', using the term to describe the whole professional task of designing a composition of planting, landform, water, paving and other structures. Their first use of this term was in the winning entry for the design of [[Central Park]] in New York City. Olmsted and Vaux then adopted 'landscape architect' as a professional title and used it to describe their work for the planning of urban [[park system]]s. Olmsted's project for the [[Emerald Necklace]] in Boston was widely admired and led to the use of 'landscape architecture' as a professional title in Europe, initially by [[Patrick Geddes]] and [[Thomas Mawson]].  
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The most influential ancient gardens in the western world were the Ptolemy's gardens at Alexandria and the gardening tradition brought to Rome by [[Lucullus]]. [[Wall painting]]s in [[Pompeii]] attest to elaborate development later, and the wealthiest of Romans built enormous gardens, many of whose ruins are still to be seen, such as at [[Hadrian's Villa]].
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Landscape architecture has since become a worldwide profession, recognized by the [[International Labor Organization]] and co-ordinated by the [[International Federation of Landscape Architects]]. Three remarkable histories of the landscape architecture profession were published in the 1970s.
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Byzantium and Moorish Spain kept garden traditions alive after the 4th century. By this time a separate gardening tradition had arisen in China, which was transmitted to Japan, where it developed into aristocratic miniature landscapes centered on ponds and separately into the severe Zen gardens of temples.
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A first comprehensive history of landscape architecture, as distinct from the [[history of gardening]] was written by Norman T Newton with the title ''Design on the land: the development of landscape architecture'' (Belknap/Harvard 1971). The book has 42 chapters. The first three chapters are on Ancient Times, The Middle Ages, and The World of Islam. The last three chapters are on Urban Open-Space Systems, Variations in Professional Practice and the Conservation of Natural Resources. This reflects the development of landscape architecture from a focus on private gardens, in the ancient world, to a focus on the planning and design of public open space in the modern world. Since kings used to be responsible for the provision of [[public goods]] (irrigation, streets, town walls, parks and other [[environmental good]]s) the distinction between public and private was not quite the same in the ancient world as it is in the modern world.
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In Europe, gardening revived in Languedoc and the Ile-de-France in the 13th century, and in the Italian villa gardens of the early Renaissance. French parterres developed at the end of the 16th century and reached high development under [[Andre le Notre]]. English landscape gardens opened a new perspective in the 18th century.  
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A second comprehensive history of landscape architecture was published, in 1973, by George B Tobey, with the title ''History of Landscape Architecture''. It extends from 5,000,000,000 BC, through the development of agriculture and towns to the design of gardens, parks and garden cities. This represents a broader view of landscape architecture than that of Newton and would have been well suited to Newton's title 'Design on the land'.
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The 19th century saw a welter of historical revivals and Romantic cottage-inspired gardening, as well as the rise of [[flower garden]]s, which became dominant in home gardening in the 20th century.
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A third comprehensive history of landscape architecture was published by Geoffrey and Susan Jellicoe in 1975 with the title ''The landscape of man: shaping the environment from prehistory to the present day'' (Thames and Hudson, 1975). The book has 27 chapters and is more comprehensive than its predecessors, geographically, artistically and philosophic
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20th century gardening expanded into city planning.
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ally. Like Bannister Fletcher's ''History of Architecture'', the book has introductory sections (eg on environment, social history, philosophy, expression, architecture, landscape) and then a series of examples with plans and photographs. Many of the examples are parks and gardens but the book also includes the layout of temples, towns, forests and other projects concerned with 'shaping the environment'.
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{Note: this section on the History of Landscape Architecture could and should be enlarged to include country-specific sections, eg History of Landscape Architecture in America and History of Landscape Architecture in Australia. It is suggested that instead of attempting a history of 'design on the land' since the dawn of history, there is a focus on the modern (post-1500)period} and on making a [[collective landscape]]. This would avoid overlap with the [[History of gardening]]}.
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<!--'this introductory capsule of world gardening needs improvement-->
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[[Image:Eoliagar.jpg|thumb|center|699px|The Eolia Italian Garden, in Waterford, Connecticut]]
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==The historical development of garden styles==
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===Ancient Near East===
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* [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]]
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==See also==
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====Assyrian hunting parks and Persian paradise gardens====
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*[[History of gardening]]
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* Assyrian/Persian [[paradise garden]] or enclosed hunting-orchard.
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====Egyptian temple courts====
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* [[Royal family|Royalty]], most likely that found in [[Egypt]], was probably also very instrumental in the development of the garden, much as royalty and the privileged classes throughout the centuries have continued to influence the design and actualization of gardens.
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===Hellenistic and Roman gardens===
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* Hellenistic gardens.
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It is curious that although the Egyptians and Romans both gardened with vigor, the Greeks did not own private gardens. They did put gardens around temples and they adorned walkways and roads with statues, but the ornate and pleasure gardens that demonstrated wealth in the other communities is seemingly absent.  Part maybe that blank areas in the historic landscape were assumed just that : blank.  No one bothered to look for pollen or evidence of gardens.  Part maybe that the modern technology is only just emerging, but the predominance of knowledge is that they just did not bother with gardens.
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* [[Roman gardens]] had many characteristics in common with contemporary gardens. The garden was a place of peace and tranquillity, a refuge from urban life, and was invested with religious and symbolic meanings. Ornamental horticulture became highly developed during the development of Roman civilisation. The administrators of the Roman Empire (c.100 BC - AD 500) actively exchanged information on agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, hydraulics, and botany. Seeds and plants were widely shared. The Gardens of Lucullus (Horti Lucullani) on the Pincian Hill on the edge of Rome introduced the Persian garden to Europe, about 60 BC.
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* [[Byzantine gardens]]
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===Islamic gardens===
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* [[Turkish gardens]]
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* The developed [[Persian garden]], which evolved into the [[Mughal garden]]s of India.
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* Islamic [[Spanish gardens]].
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===Chinese and Japanese gardens===
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* 'Hill-and-Pond' gardens of China and Japan.  Both Chinese and Japanese garden design traditionally is intended to evoke the natural landscape of mountains and rivers.  However, the intended viewpoint of the gardens differs: Chinese gardens were intended to be viewed from within the garden and are intended as a setting for everyday life.  Japanese gardens, with a few exceptions, were intended to be viewed from within the house, sort of like a [[diorama]]. Additionally, Chinese gardens more often included a water feature, while Japanese gardens, set in a wetter climate, would often get by with the suggestion of water.  (Such as sand or pebbles raked into a wave pattern.)  Traditional Chinese gardens are also more likely to treat the plants in a naturalistic way, while traditional Japanese gardens might feature plants sheared into mountain shapes.  This contrasts with the handling of stone elements: in a Japanese garden, stones are placed in groupings as part of the landscape, but in a Chinese garden, a particularly choice stone might even be placed on a pedestal in a prominent location so that it might be more easily appreciated.
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* [[Zen garden]] of Japan.
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===European gardens: Medieval ===
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* [[Medieval gardening]]
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* Medieval enclosed garden of northern Europe ''[[Hortus inclusus]]''.
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====European gardens: Italian Renaissance====
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* The [[Italian Renaissance]] inspired a revolution in gardening. Renaissance gardens were full of scenes from ancient mythology and other learned allusions. Water during this time was especially symbolic: it was associated with fertility and the abundance of nature.
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* Terraced [[Italian garden]] of the Renaissance.
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[[Image:VillaPetraia.gif|thumb|The Medici Villa Petraia, near Florence, laid out by [[Niccolò Tribolo]], epitomizes the Italian garden of the early Renaissance, before the grander architectural schemes of the 16th century]]
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====European gardens: French Baroque====
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* Baroque French gardens of André Le Nôtre and followers.
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Characterized by a centrally positioned building, elaborate parterres, radiating axis, fountains, basins and canals.
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Gardens of this typology are also designed with an interest in mathmatics and science. Perspective is highly designed for to create a sense of power for the owner.
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====European gardens: Anglo-Dutch gardens====
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* Anglo-Dutch formalgardens
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====Landscape gardens====
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* English [[Landscape garden]] and its imitators, called '[[English garden]]s.'
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====Romantic gardens====
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====Picturesque gardens====
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===='Gardenesque' gardens====
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The 'Gardenesque' style of English garden design evolved during the 1820's from Humphry Repton's Picturesque  or 'Mixed' style, largely under the impetus of [[J. C. Loudon]], who invented the term.
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In a Gardenesque plan, all the trees, shrubs and other plants are positioned and managed in such a way that the character of each plant can be displayed to its full potential. With the spread of botany as a suitable avocation for the enlightened, the Gardenesque tended to emphasize botanical curiosities and a collector's approach. New plant material that would have seemed bizarre and alien in earlier gardening found settings: Pampas grass from Argentina and Monkey-puzzle trees. Winding paths linked scattered plantings. The  Gardenesque approach involved the creation of small-scale landscapes, dotted with features and vignettes, to promote beauty of detail, variety and mystery, sometimes to the detriment of coherence. Artificial mounds helped to stage groupings of shrubs, and [[island beds]] became prominent features.
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====Pattern gardens: revived parterres====
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===="Wild" gardens and herbaceous borders====
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The books of [[William Robinson (gardener)|William Robinson]] describing his own "wild" gardening at Gravetye Manor, Sussex, and the sentimental picture of a rosy, idealized "cottage garden" of the kind pictured by [[Kate Greenaway]], which had scarcely existed historically, both influenced the development of the mixed herbaceous borders that were advocated by [[Gertrude Jekyll]] from the 1890s. Her plantings, which mixed shrubs with perennial and annual plants and bulbs in deep beds within more formal structures of terraces and stairs designed by [[Edwin Lutyens]], set the model for high-style, high-maintenance gardening until the Second World War. [[Vita Sackville-West]]'s garden at [[Sissinghurst Castle Garden|Sissinghurst Castle]], Kent is the most famous and influential garden of this last blossoming of romantic style, publicized by the gardener's own gardening column in ''[[The Observer]]''. In the last quarter of the 20th century, less structured [[Wildlife gardening]] emphasized the [[ecology|ecological]] framework of similar gardens using native plants.
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===Modern gardens===
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* Romantic idealized English [[cottage garden]].
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* Contemporary gardens.
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==Historic gardeners==
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''The following names, roughly in historical order, made contributions that affected the history of gardens, whether as botanist explorers, designers, garden-makers, or writers. Further information on them will be found under their individual entries.''
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*[[Theophrastus]]
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*[[Lucullus]]
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*[[Tiberius]]
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*[[Pliny the Elder]]
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*[[John Tradescant the elder]] and [[John Tradescant the younger|his son of the same name]]
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*[[Carolus Clusius]]
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*[[Andre le Nôtre]]
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*[[Thomas Hill]]
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*[[John Evelyn]]
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*[[George London]]
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*[[Henry Wise]]
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*[[William Kent]]
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*[[Capability Brown|Lancelot "Capability" Brown]]
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*[[Humphry Repton]]
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*[[Andrew Jackson Downing]]
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*[[Frederick Law Olmsted]]
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*[[Loddiges|George Loddiges]]
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*[[John Loudon]]
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*[[Joseph Paxton]]
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*[[William Robinson]]
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*[[Gertrude Jekyll]]
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*[[Constance Villiers-Stuart]]
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*[[Lawrence Johnston]]
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*[[Edwin Lutyens]]
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*[[Vita Sackville-West]]
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*[[Russell Page]]
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*[[Luis Barragan]]
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*[[Gustav Ammann]]
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*[[Lawrence Halprin]]
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*[[Roberto Burle Marx]]
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*[[Sylvia Crowe]]
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*[[Gerard Antoni Ciołek|Gerard Ciołek]] (1909-1966)
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==Notable historic gardens==
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*[[Alhambra]]
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*[[Arkadia]], Poland
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*[[Baranów Sandomierski]]
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*[[Bomarzo]]
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*[[Central Park]]
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*[[Chateau Fontainebleau]]
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*[[Chateau of Marly|Marly-le-Roi]]
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*[[Chateau Villandry]]
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*[[Chatsworth]]
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*[[Dumbarton Oaks]]
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*[[Ermenonville]]
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*[[Fountains Abbey]]
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*Gardens of [[Suzhou]]
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*[[Giverny]]
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*[[Hadrian's Villa]]
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*[[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]]
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*[[Het Loo]]
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*[[Hidcote Manor Garden]]
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*[[Krasiczyn]]
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*[[Kuskovo]]
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*[[Łazienki Park]], [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]]
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*[[Muskauer Park]]
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*[[Nieborów]], [[Poland]]
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*[[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]]
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*[[Pavlovsk Garden|Pavlovsk]]
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*[[Peterhof]]
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*[[Saxon Garden]], [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]].
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*[[Shalimar Gardens|Shalimar]]
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*[[Sissinghurst Castle]]
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*[[Sofiówka]], Ukraine
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*[[Stourhead]]
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*[[Stowe, Buckinghamshire|Stowe]]
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*[[Summer Garden]]
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*[[The Summer Palace]]
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*[[Vaux-le-Vicomte]]
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*[[Villa d'Este]]
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*[[Wilanow Palace|Wilanów]]
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== References ==
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*[[J. S. Berrall]]. ''The Garden: An Illustrated History''
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*Ciolek, Gerard.  "Ogrody polskie" [Gardens of Poland]. Revised edition of the 1954 publication under the same title, updated and expanded by Janusz Bogdanowski. Warszawa: Arkady (1978).
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* Carroll, Maureen. "Earthly Paradises: Ancient Gardens in History and Archaeology" (London, British Museum Press 2003)
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* Engel, David.  ''Creating a Chinese Garden'', Timber Press, 1986.
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*[[E. Hyams]]. ''A History of Gardens and Gardening'' (1971)
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*[[Tom Turner]]. "Garden history: philosophy and design 2000 BC to 2000 AD" (Spon, London, 2005)
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== See also ==
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*[[Garden design]]
 
*[[Landscape architecture]]
 
*[[Landscape architecture]]
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*[[Landscape planning]]
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*[[Landscape Institute]]
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*[[Museum of Garden History]]
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* [[Australian Garden History
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Society]]
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== External links ==
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* [http://www.gardendigest.com/timegl.htm Gardening History Timeline]
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* [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/history/egypt/default.html Horticulture in ancient Egypt]
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* [http://www.gardens-of-tuscany.net Gardens of Tuscany]
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[[Category:Landscape]]
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[[Category:Gardening]]
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[[Category:Landscape architecture]]
 
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