Category Archives: Garden History
Stilt Hedges at Hatfield House
This is another picture that was cut from the book for space reasons, a nice pair of stilt hedges at Hatfield. Stilt hedges (lines of adjacent trees cut so that it looks like a hedge on trunks) have been a … Continue reading
Filed under Garden History, Notable Hedges, Topiary
Fern Fever – new book on the Victorian fern craze
Ferns are one of those strange types of plants, like mosses, that are truly ancient and undoubtedly fascinating in their own way, but often overlooked in favour of more glamorous cousins. When I come across a patch of ferns in … Continue reading
Filed under Garden History
Hatfield’s Knot Garden and Mazes
This is Hatfield’s knot garden, with its lovely low maze and topiaries. The site of the garden originally lay under a wing of the house which was devastated by a fire in the early 19th century. The brick paths were … Continue reading
Filed under Garden History, Hedge Mazes, Historical Hedges, Notable Hedges
Nietzsche’s thoughts on gardening for future generations
I wouldn’t usually go to Nietzsche expecting gardening advice. But rereading a bit of Human, All Too Human, I came across this quote, which chimes in unexpectedly closely with something I’ve been trying to say in the book: An essential … Continue reading
Filed under Garden History, The Hedge Philosopher
Captain Leyland’s Monster Hedge
Leylandii, also known as the Leyland Cypress, has steadily grown in notoriety through the twentieth century. Planted as a screen, it will grow at an extraordinary speed to create hedges as high as a hundred feet tall. For those who … Continue reading
Filed under Everyday Hedges, Garden History, Gardening Thoughts
Borage the garden gnome
Garden fashion is a strange thing. Perhaps the classic case of a fad that fell from grace, garden gnomes were imported from Germany by Sir Charles Isham to decorate his rockery in the 1840s. Apparently he thought they would encourage … Continue reading
Filed under Garden History, Historical Hedges
