Championing historic gardens
The Historic Gardens Foundation is a small, dynamic NGO that champions important places across the globe. It operates through a worldwide network of garden enthusiasts and a handsome 50-page journal, … Continue reading
Anglo-chinois gardens
It can be hard to grasp the shift in France from the great classical, geometric gardens of Le Nôtre and his followers to the so-called anglo-chinois style which swept the … Continue reading
Stourhead: the wrong kind of history?
Stourhead is one of the finest examples of an English landscape garden. Inspired by politics, travel, literature and painting, the eighteenth century English landscape movement introduced a radical new style of naturalistic garden … Continue reading
Preserving Seaton Delaval Hall
There are a plethora of possible treatments available for historic properties. Experts talk about preservation, conservation, safeguarding, protection, restoration, adaptive re-use, repair, stabilisation, maintenance, rehabilitation, reconstruction. It can seem baffling. … Continue reading
Historic restoration as mille-feuille
It may be the only time that historic garden conservation has been compared to a flaky French pastry. But use of the term mille-feuille was not the only unusual thing … Continue reading
A million first steps
As you might expect, the British Library has an extraordinary wealth of archive material, including much that is essential study for the serious landscape historian. Its strap line, with some … Continue reading
Restoring decadence
Decadence is defined as moral or cultural decline as characterised by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury. In terms of Mughal design, Safdarjung’s Tomb in Delhi is a fine example … Continue reading
Plant Hunting in Kashmir
I am delighted this month to have co-authored an article in Soiled and Seeded, a splendid on-line garden magazine that aims to provide “a rich and eclectic source of ideas, learned practices, history and … Continue reading
400 years of Le Nôtre
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of André Le Nôtre, and the great designer is being honoured with an exhibition at the Tuileries in Paris and at … Continue reading
The Shakespeare of gardening
The year 2016 will mark three hundred years since the birth of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, and plans are being put in place to celebrate this greatest of England’s landscape designers. … Continue reading
Mughal gardens, Kashmir
One of the best and most beautiful expressions of Mughal culture is its gardens. Sadly, few examples survive, but among the finest are the terraced gardens in the Kashmir valley. … Continue reading
Gardens of Power and Passion
I wrote here about the fascinating experience of working on a television history of French gardens, presented by Monty Don. The programme, called Gardens of Power and Passion, will air this … Continue reading
The Unexpected Joys of Quarrying
One of the pleasures of landscape history is the often surprising places where information can be found. Trainspotters’ model drawings, last wills and testaments, records from a convent, romantic novels, … Continue reading
Monty Don’s French Gardens
One of my more exciting projects over the past few months has been providing consultancy advice to a forthcoming BBC TV programme on the history of French gardens, presented by … Continue reading
Flowers or gravel?
How flowery were 17th century French parterres? That was the question put to me last week by the head gardener in charge of one of Le Nôtre’s most beautiful designs. … Continue reading
A mysterious French designer…
Search the internet for Elie Lainé and you’ll readily find that he was a once-celebrated nineteenth century French landscape designer. You’ll learn that he worked on big projects in at … Continue reading
Early Mughal myths
Ask a garden-lover what they know about Mughal gardens and the likelihood is that, pretty soon, they will say something about them being paradise gardens, a foretaste of the celestial … Continue reading
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