A Garden A Day E-Book

Ruth Chivers

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Serie: A Day
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 317

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

An exploration of gardens through the ages and across the globe in 366 daily entries, from the ancient hanging gardens of Babylon to a vegetable plot on the International Space Station. In this fascinating and beautifully illustrated collection, garden writer Ruth Chivers presents a garden for every day of the year. It's a sumptuous journey through garden history, design, horticulture, literary inspiration, folklore and poetry. From Sissinghurst to Versailles, from the medieval poem 'The Romance of the Rose' to the latest horticultural details of a rewilded garden, from imaginary gardens in literature to the real gardens that inspired Van Gogh and Orwell, here are absorbing garden stories for the whole year. Botanical paintings sit next to historic plans and the very best garden photography. The entries are annotated with intriguing facts and inspiring ideas, telling the stories of gardens past, present and even future. A true celebration of gardens, A Garden A Day is a beautiful and essential book for any gardener that brings home the wonder of these spaces to all of us.

Leseprobe

A GARDEN A DAY

Bright planting at Charleston (see here) in East Sussex, England.

CONTENTS

Introduction

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Index

Acknowledgements

Picture Credits

Arundel Castle’s Tulip Festival (see here) is celebrated in April and early May.

INTRODUCTION

The importance of easy access to nature has been highlighted in recent years. Having your own slice of nature in a garden outside your home is a valuable resource. Gardens have been created in different ways across the major global cultures since ancient times. As cultivated outdoor spaces, they are universally places for reflection and recreation, safe havens from the outside world beyond their boundaries – a world that is beyond control.

Selecting gardens for this book prompted exploration of a number of underlying questions including: What is a garden? What are gardens for? What makes a garden? Why do we make gardens?

All gardens are artificial – even those that look the most naturalistic are created by interventions with nature. The basic raw materials to make any size or type of garden are simple: stone and water, with trees, grass and other plants dependent on climate and location. Using these same ingredients in different proportions results in a remarkable diversity of garden styles that are influenced by cultural legacy and history. Allocating gardens to different categories broadened research and selection beyond boundaries and borders, both real and metaphorical.

Des Gouttes de Pluie by Spanish artist Samuel Salcedo is at Les Jardins d’Etretat (see here).

The Lost Gardens of Heligan (see here) retain an air of mystery.

Prospect Cottage garden (see here), Derek Jarman’s legacy, is defined by colourful plants, flintstone details and driftwood against the shingle expanse of Dungeness, Kent.

Apart from well-known gardens, other aims were to include fictional gardens, artists’ and writers’ gardens, historic and modern gardens, gardens where significant events have taken place, and to acknowledge the contribution of plant hunters. While all gardens are ephemeral in one sense, their ability to inspire creativity is long-lasting and their flexibility means they can be used in ways that reflect changing times. The aim was to make most entry dates reflect the stories behind a garden and also (where practical) to follow seasonal changes of appearance that are most apparent in many gardens.

For hundreds of years, gardens have been acknowledged as healing spaces that inspire mental well-being, as well as places for all ages to play. I aimed to separate the enjoyment and pleasure of being in a garden from the physical activity of gardening, which may be therapeutic for some, but is not everyone’s choice for connecting with the natural world in a beneficial way – and leaves out those without their own gardens or access to a shared community growing space. Visiting a garden and spending time in a cared-for outdoor space brings the same uplifting benefits and improves mental health without the responsibilities of ownership.

The timeless quality of Villa Vignamaggio (see here) makes the perfect backdrop to any garden scene.

RHS Garden Bridgewater, Salford, Manchester, England (see here)

Gordon Castle Walled Garden (see here) has plenty of space for an abundance of colourful flowers alongside edible produce.

Enclosed gardens have a particularly enduring appeal. For many centuries and across different cultures, they have represented paradise on earth. ‘Paradise’ has its roots in a Persian/Iranian word modified by the ancient Greeks to ‘paradeisos’, translated as ‘enclosed park’, and the term is still used today by people creating their own private versions. Walls were essential in gardens of the ancient world to keep the dangers of the natural wild world out and create a safe, private haven within. But gardens of all types inspire positive emotions and can console and comfort in dark and stressful times.

Gardens are about the people who created them and the reasons why they made them look as they do. I have tried to reflect this in this book, and to also focus on the idea that gardens are for people to enjoy.

1ST JANUARY

AN ENGLISH CALENDAR (1938), EVELYN DUNBAR

The Garden Personified

New Year’s Day has only been celebrated on this day in Britain since 1752, when the country finally adopted the ‘new’ Gregorian calendar of 1582 to bring the country in line with most other European countries.

Making plans for the seasons ahead is a constant with gardeners. Artist Evelyn Dunbar was also a skilled gardener. This large painting resembles a calendar in a medieval book of hours; each month is personified according to general gardening tasks and events. Female figures are allocated to months where work is lighter, with more floral displays, while men are burdened with the months where gardening requires more utilitarian tasks, perhaps displaying the artist’s gentle sense of humour. Seasons have been personified since ancient times. Each affects a garden’s appearance, but nature dictates their arrival and end, rather than fixed calendar dates.

The gardening year ‘proper’ does not really start until later, but in the depths of winter it is good to look ahead to a joyful spring and beyond.

Evelyn Dunbar’s An English Calendar (1938) was the painter’s largest piece to date.

2ND JANUARY

ALHAMBRA AND GENERALIFE, GRANADA, SPAIN

Magnificent Castle Gardens

The Alhambra and Generalife comprise a whole hilltop of planted terraces, courtyards and water gardens. This series of Islamic representations of earthly paradise demonstrates the horticultural skills of the Moorish dynasty that ruled this part of Spain from the 13th century to the late 15th century. The last Moorish ruler of Spain, Boabdil, surrendered to Castilian forces on this day in 1492.

The famed Court of the Lions (Patio de los Leones) takes its name from stone lions supporting the fountain at the centre of the traditional Islamic chahar bagh – a design defined by rills of water that divide the courtyard into four quarters. It is a calm, cool space in intense summer heat.

The central fountain inside the Court of the Lions, as seen from inside the intricately carved colonnades.

3RD JANUARY

WILD GARDEN, WINTER (1959), JOHN NASH

A Garden in Watercolour

Artist John Nash captures the stark beauty of his wintry garden at Bottengoms, Essex, in this watercolour. Twisted tree trunks take on sculptural qualities, bare branches become delicate tracery and ice shimmers on the frozen pond. Nash was a keen gardener and plantsman, inspired by landscape and nature. He was known for his botanical studies of wild and garden flowers and was a judge at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. His short memoir The Artist Plantsman recounted his childhood love of gardens and plants; commissioned work included English Garden Flowers, and illustrations for Plants with Personality and The Curious Gardener.

Nash was an official war artist in both the First and Second World War, as was his brother, Paul Nash.

Wild Garden, Winter, (watercolour on paper, 1959), John Nash. John had no formal art training but was encouraged by his brother, Paul.

4TH JANUARY

20 FORTHLIN ROAD, LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND

The Garden that Birthed The Beatles

Paul McCartney moved to this home in his early teens. The ordinary-looking terraced house played a pivotal role in McCartney’s early career, including when he met John Lennon. McCartney’s family lived here for nine years, during which McCartney and Lennon wrote songs and rehearsed here (see here).

Gardens are bound up with a sense of home. Front gardens signal the everyday changes of season and weather. They are part of every departure and homecoming, however ordinary or extraordinary those events may be.

Paul McCartney’s home and front garden as it was when he lived there in the 1960s.

5TH JANUARY

TWELFTH NIGHT (1601–2), WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Hiding in a Box

Maria: Get ye all three into the box-tree: Malvolio’s

coming down this walk. He has been yonder i’ the sun

practising behaviour to his own shadow this half-hour.

TWELFTH NIGHT, ACT II, SCENE V

Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night or What You Will is a love triangle comedy. A garden presents excellent opportunities for concealment in places where conversations can be overheard.

Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Fabian hide in a ‘box-tree’ to observe the reactions of the pompous, disagreeable Malvolio to a forged letter written to trick him into thinking Olivia is in love with him. Evergreen box – Buxus sempervirens – has been planted in gardens since ancient times, particularly as hedges and for creating topiary shapes. It provides year-round structure, and opportunities for concealing anything that needs to be hidden.

This 1968 cover of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night shows Malvolio amongst the box hedges.

6TH JANUARY

GOTANJYOU-JI TEMPLE, TAKEFU, JAPAN

A Modern Zen Garden

Shunmyo Masuno designs gardens as part of his practice as a monk, following the tradition of Zen priests, who express part of their ascetic practice through the art of landscape design. At Gotanjyou-ji temple in 2009, he designed a modern garden based on classical principles of Japanese garden design as a tribute to Keizan Zenji, a 13th-century Zen priest.

All elements invite reflection. Organically shaped moss-covered mounds define the ground. Plant and rock placement is considered. One large upright rock represents Keizan Zenji, whose spread of Zen teaching throughout the country is symbolized by the gravel stream.

This exceptional contemporary garden respects the traditions of Japanese garden design. It invites reflection, while its paths make a functional link between buildings.

7TH JANUARY

HP (HEWLETT-PACKARD) GARAGE, PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, USA

Garden Birthplace of Silicon Valley

This garden and garage were dedicated as the birthplace of Silicon Valley in 1989. Fifty years earlier, David Packard and his wife rented an apartment in the small house, chosen specifically because it had a garage. Friend Bill Hewlett moved into the garden shed. The two men worked together part-time and the garage became their development lab and workshop. Many products were developed here, including their first, an audio oscillator.

Their partnership was soon formalized into Hewlett-Packard Company and moved into larger premises close by. The garage became a California Historical Landmark in 1987. It remained privately owned until the HP company bought the entire site in 2000. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Many businesses start in gardens, but not all go on to achieve a global presence.

The garage where Silicon Valley was born is now part of a private museum viewable only from the sidewalk and driveway.

8TH JANUARY

HODSOCK PRIORY, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, ENGLAND

A Snow-White Blanket

There’s something about snowdrops that turns many people into galanthophiles, as enthusiasts for the delicate little flowers are called. The ordinary form, Galanthus nivalis, emerges through snow and the general leaf and twig debris of winter to carpet expanses of ground with pure white flowers with a touch of pale green at their centres.

Hodsock Priory is a historic country house that has never been a priory, despite its name. The garden is estimated to have some four million snowdrops. Combined with yellow aconites and lilac-rose cyclamen, they turn swathes of ground into a beautiful carpet of winter colour.

Hodsock Priory’s 2ha (5ac) of garden and around 5ha (12ac) of woodland are blanketed by snowdrops in January and February, and bluebells in April.

9TH JANUARY

‘COUNTRY GARDENS’, ENGLISH FOLK TUNE

‘In an English Country Garden’

Australian-born composer and musician Percy Grainger arranged this old English folk tune in 1918. The tune was collected by Cecil Sharp, founding father of the revival of English folk dance and song. ‘Country Gardens’ was Grainger’s most famous work, his calling card and an essential item on his concert programmes. His arrangement broke its publisher’s record for 75 consecutive years. It was written when he was living in the USA; having moved there in 1914, he spent the rest of his life in America.

‘Country Gardens’ reached No. 5 in the UK charts in June 1962 for singer Jimmie F. Rogers – an unlikely hit in the Swinging Sixties.

Percy Grainger seated at the piano. He was renowned for his energetic approach to life. He often ran to concert venues with a rucksack on his back and was fluent in 11 languages.

10TH JANUARY

CHÂTEAU DE CHEVERNY LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE

Captain Haddock’s Garden, Marlinspike Hall

Tintin fans know that his friend Captain Haddock’s ancestral home is Marlinspike Hall, the English translation of Château de Moulinsart in the original text. Cartoonist Hergé used the name of a real village in his native Belgium, despite the fact that Haddock is English. Even more confusing is that Hergé’s illustrations show the front garden of the Château de Cheverny in the Loire Valley, minus the wings to each side of the house. No mention is made of who keeps Haddock’s – or should that be Hadoque’s? – French-style lawn trimmed in his prolonged absences. Cheverny has a permanent exhibition devoted to the adventures of Tintin and his friend.

The south facade of Château de Cheverny, the inspiration behind Captain Haddock’s home. The first Tintin comic strip, a serialization of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, was released on 10th January 1929.

11TH JANUARY

GARDEN COVE (1948–50), IVON HITCHENS

A Garden Without Boundaries

This garden has no boundary with the landscape beyond and is not structured by traditional borders within. Artist Ivon Hitchens moved to a caravan on this site in 1940 when his London home was bombed. He had previously bought over 2ha (6ac) of woodland near Petworth, Sussex. Greenleaves, his home on the left of the painting, was built over a number of years as he extended his land holdings. The garden appears to engulf the house; together with the surrounding landscape, it provided constant inspiration for Hitchens’ paintings.

Garden Cove (oil on canvas, 1948-50), Ivon Hitchens

12TH JANUARY

SKY GARDEN, 20 FENCHURCH STREET, LONDON, ENGLAND

A Garden 150 Metres Up

Sky Garden is London’s highest public garden. Its glass structure sits on the top three floors of the building that has become known as the Walkie Talkie – a curvaceous structure designed by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly. Lush planting weaves through observation decks and an open-air terrace, all with panoramic views. The planted terraces feature a variety of Mediterranean and South African species.

From Sky Garden you can see landmarks such as the Shard, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower Bridge and the London Eye.

13TH JANUARY

THE GARDENER’S LABYRINTH (1577), DYDYMUS MOUNTAINE

An Elizabethan Garden Book

Thomas Hill was an astrologer who also worked as a translator and compiler for a book printer. The Gardener’s Labyrinth, published in 1577 after Hill’s death c.1574, was the first substantial book in English on gardening and garden design. Published under Dydymus Mountaine, a Latin pseudonym of Hill’s real name, the text actually comprised a collection of the writings of other authors – as Hill states on the title page, ‘Gathered out of the best approved writers of Gardening, Husbandrie, and Physicke’.

Illustrations provide us with knowledge of the gardens of the wealthier Elizabethans as places for decorative display and pleasure in addition to growing fruit, vegetables and herbs. Decorative features, such as mazes, arbours and pleached trained trees, are shown in the book and are also mentioned by Shakespeare.

This illustration on the title page of the first edition shows the creation of a bower – the forerunner of the pergola.

14TH JANUARY

ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (1865), LEWIS CARROLL

A Strange Garden Party

‘It’s the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!’

ALICE, ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

The Mad Hatter’s tea party is one of the most famous garden parties in literature. It’s not like any garden party the real Alice would have encountered. Tea is taken at six o’clock, the time at which the Mad Hatter is perpetually stuck following an unfortunate encounter with the Queen of Hearts.

There is plenty of space, but Alice is not welcomed. A barrage of riddles with no answers, confusing stories and rude personal remarks cause her to leave, vowing never to return. It’s not the genteel experience usually associated with afternoon garden tea parties.

John Tenniel’s woodcut illustration for the first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland invites us to this tea party.

15TH JANUARY

ARCTIC-ALPINE BOTANIC GARDEN, TROMSØ, NORWAY

Arctic Colour

At 320km (200 mi) inside the Arctic Circle, this is the most northerly botanic garden in the world. Its plant collections come from areas across the world where species grow in similar cool, rocky conditions. Tromsø benefits from the warming Gulf Stream, but one day climate change may affect this. Plants need to cope with lower light levels, as from November until mid-January the sun doesn’t appear above the horizon. Flowering starts in May and lasts until the first snow, usually in October.

This garden has no fences; plants meld with native vegetation beyond its boundaries.

16TH JANUARY

‘FOLLIES’, WALLPAPER, MANSFIELD PARK COLLECTION, OSBORNE & LITTLE

A Wallpaper Garden 1

This wallpaper design turns a single wall into a visual illusion garden, a trompe l’oeil of many different features. False perspective paths add depth to the mixture of classical statues, fountains, garden ornaments, gazebos, stone balustrades, topiary, trained trees and traditional striped lawns.

It’s a challenge to count how many different garden-related things are in view.

17TH JANUARY

RYŌAN-JI, KYOTO, JAPAN

Zen Dry Landscape Garden

Zen temple courtyards made from dry raked gravel are known as kare-sansui – dry landscape gardens – and this is the most famous in Japan. The wall encloses 15 rocks of different sizes set in immaculately raked gravel. Nothing detracts or distracts from contemplation.

Some attribute its design to 16th-century landscape painter Sōami, while others believe it is the work of an unknown master. Ryōan-ji, the Peaceful Dragon Temple, has survived for more than 500 years. On its site is a large pond dating from the 12th century. Over the years, different priests have planted trees such as cherries and maples, along its banks.

The Ryōan–ji garden is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

18TH JANUARY

WAKEHURST PLACE GARDEN AND MILLENNIUM SEED BANK, ARDINGLY WEST SUSSEX, ENGLAND

The Winter Garden

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (see here) have managed Wakehurst and its magnificent plant collections since 1965. This Winter Garden’s bold contemporary planting shows the diversity of colour, texture and touches of early fragrance that give garden interest through the coldest months. Snow-white trunks of West Himalayan birch (Betula utilis var. jacquemontii) shine among swathes of red- and yellow-stemmed dogwoods and willows. Low-growing evergreen perennials and grasses carpet the space around trees and shrubs. Snowdrops and lilac cyclamen add early flower colour from January onwards.

Hidden underneath Wakehurst, the Millennium Seed Bank holds a collection of over 2.4 billion seeds from around the world, the world’s largest collection of seeds from wild plant species. It is a secure, state-of-the-art research facility.

Wakehurst’s Winter Garden features over 33,000 different plants of various textures and hues.

19TH JANUARY

MODEL OF AN EGYPTIAN GARDEN AND PORCH (C.1981–75 BCE)

A Model Garden

This modern-looking model garden was found on the side panel of the tomb of Meketre in Thebes. Meketre was a royal chief steward who served Egyptian kings of the 11th and 12th Dynasties. It contains the essential elements of a small garden from that period: walls to enclose, decorative palm trunks that support the porch roof for shade, edible red fruit on trees believed to be figs, and a central pond – here, copper-lined. It represents another way to take earthly possessions into the afterlife, to be enjoyed as they had been in life.

Architects and landscape designers continue to make models of projects and use them to explain designs to their clients.

Models of ancient Egyptian gardens show the features considered to be essential to enjoyment of a garden space.

20TH JANUARY

GARDENS OF THE WORLD WITH AUDREY HEPBURN (1993), TV SERIES

Gardens on Television

‘To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.’

AUDREY HEPBURN

As presenter of this well-received series created in the 1990s, Audrey Hepburn guided viewers through visits to the world’s finest gardens. She was joined by noted garden experts for each of the eight episodes, including Penelope Hobhouse, John Brookes and Graham Stuart Thomas. Hepburn won an Emmy for ‘Outstanding Individual Achievement, Informational Programming’, awarded posthumously. She died on 20th January 1993.

Hepburn was known for her lifelong commitment to humanitarian work and was a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. She donated her fee for this series to the charity.

A still from the television series Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn. The first episode aired the day after her death, on 21st January 1993.

21ST JANUARY

SPRINGTIME IN WASHINGTON (1971), ALMA WOODSEY THOMAS

An Abstract Garden

Washington DC-based African-American artist Alma Woodsey Thomas had retired from her career as a high school art teacher when she painted this picture. Her studio was her kitchen; her garden and nature inspired her work.

Thomas adopted an abstract style later in life and was 75 when she had her first exhibition of abstract work at Howard University in 1966. She was a role model for young Black Americans: she was the first African-American woman to have a solo exhibition at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, and exhibited paintings at the White House on three occasions. The third Monday of January is celebrated as Martin Luther King Day in the USA. It celebrates and honours the social rights and economic improvements for African Americans in the 20th century.

This painting of her garden shows Thomas’s style, which has been described as reflecting Byzantine mosaic and pointillist techniques.

22ND JANUARY

CHIHULY GARDEN AND GLASS, SEATTLE, USA

A Glass Garden

The intricate, colourful work of renowned American glassmaker Dale Chihuly has been exhibited in botanical gardens across the world. But at the museum that bears his name, he worked with a landscape designer to create a garden that showcases his creations. Displaying delicate glass in an outdoor space subject to seasonal weather changes seems an unlikely combination. But plants and glass artworks interact to make this a unique experience for visitors.

The garden’s apt centrepiece is a 12-m (40-ft) glasshouse that embodies Chihuly’s appreciation of conservatories. One of his largest sculptures is suspended overhead, an intricate garland of many different organic floral shapes in shades of red, orange, amber and yellow. It resembles a giant swag of nasturtiums captured in perpetual bloom.

The red and yellow sculpture to the right of this picture is called ‘The Sun’, and was created by Dale Chihuly.

23RD JANUARY

VILLA NOAILLES, HYÈRES, FRANCE

A Cubist Garden

Viewed from above, this angular garden resembles the prow of a ship. It was commissioned by the owners Viscount and Viscountess de Noailles after they saw Armenian designer Gabriel Guevrékian’s show garden at the 1925 Paris Exposition, a very influential art and design exhibition.

The Cubist garden complements the modernist house, and its geometric design still looks contemporary today. Moving around the garden changes the viewer’s perception of space and shapes. Although it has been restored, it remains faithful to the original concept, a rare survivor of the modernist garden movement in France.

This triangular-shaped garden has a grid of beds and white walls.

24TH JANUARY

CHARTWELL, WESTERHAM, KENT, ENGLAND

Sir Winston’s Wall

‘A day away from Chartwell is a day wasted.’

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

Winston Churchill bought Chartwell in 1922 for its fine view. When he was re-elected as an MP in 1924, the house’s location became convenient as it is within 40km (25 mi) of the House of Commons. Churchill loved the garden at Chartwell and was a keen bricklayer.

The Walled Garden was created from the mid-1920s onwards. A wall-mounted plaque acknowledges Churchill’s role in building the walls: ‘The greater part of this wall was built between the years 1925 & 1932 by Winston with his own hands.’

Among other changes made after 1945, the Golden Rose Garden was created in 1958, a gift from Winston and Clementine’s children to mark their golden wedding anniversary. Churchill died on this day in 1965.

A photograph from 1950 showing Winston Churchill building a brick wall in his garden at Chartwell.

25TH JANUARY

GLEN GRANT DISTILLERY GARDEN, ROTHES, NEAR ELGIN, SCOTLAND

The Whisky Garden

Taking a dram of whisky on Burns Night, the 25th January, is one of the traditions involved in celebrating the birth of Robert Burns. Major James Grant established extensive Victorian gardens around his distillery in 1886. This Dram Pavilion is a notable feature placed in the garden by Grant so that his guests could relax and enjoy the product of his distillery. The heather-thatched wooden building has a whisky safe inside. Higher up the steep-sided gorge is a smaller Dram Hut complete with another whisky safe.

Grant’s interest in gardens is reflected in the planting. Paths wind through woodlands with many species of rhododendron, and a mature orchard. At its height, 11 gardeners were employed here. It took three years of research and work to reinstate the gardens after their decline. The Dram Pavilion was replaced on the evidence of old photographs.

The Dram Pavilion in the gardens of Glen Grant Distillery. Not pictured: the whisky safe!

26TH JANUARY

THE AUSTRALIAN GARDEN, ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, CRANBORNE, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

A Symbolic Garden

It is hard to believe that the centre of this garden was once a quarry. This modern botanical garden tells a story rather than simply presents plant collections. Its layout traces the essential element of water throughout Australia and how different levels of it affect native vegetation. The planting shows the range of Australia’s indigenous flora, encourages sustainability and emphasizes the importance of connection between people and landscapes.

Angular and tilted containers provoke a sense of unease and constrain tree foliage.

27TH JANUARY

THE GARDEN OF EXILE, JEWISH MUSEUM, BERLIN, GERMANY

A Memorial Garden

This garden is defined by Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind’s ‘Between the Lines’ design for the building, which creates integral outside spaces. Accessed through a narrow, angular Axis of Exile, the garden was designed to create a sense of disorientation with feelings of uncertainty. Narrow paths traverse sloping ground through a grid of 49 tall concrete square tubes; 48 are filled with soil from Berlin and the central final one with soil from Jerusalem. All are planted with Russian olives (Elaeagnus angustifolia) that symbolize hope, but plant foliage is beyond reach. Libeskind wanted the sensation of being in this garden to embody the experience of the thousands of émigrés forced to leave their countries.

International Holocaust Memorial Day takes place each year on 27th January.

From above, the shape of the garden looks loosely like the shape of the country. Australia Day is celebrated on the 26th January.

28TH JANUARY

VILLA VIGNAMAGGIO, GREVE, ITALY

Much Ado About Nothing

The garden is central to Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing (c.1599). Scene I is set in a garden belonging to Leonato, Duke of Messina. Its orchard is a place for overhearing confidences that facilitates the main plot to deceive in true and false love matches. Leonato’s daughter Hero instructs her lady-in-waiting Margaret to persuade her cousin Beatrice to linger in a shaded place so that she can be tricked into believing Benedick is in love with her. It is the first of the play’s series of deceptions, the use of openness and concealment, manipulation and loss of control.

Hero: And bid her steal into the pleached bower,

Where honeysuckles ripen’d by the sun,

Forbid the sun to enter, like favourites

Made proud by princes, that advance their pride

Against that power that bred it: there will she hide her,

To listen our purpose.

Many successful garden designs combine concealed spaces with open areas, to increase privacy and add a sense of mystery. Villa Vignamaggio was the location for the 1993 film version of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Kenneth Branagh.

29TH JANUARY

GARDEN LANDSCAPE (1905–15), LOUIS COMFORT TIFFANY

A Jewel-Like Garden

This beautiful mosaic may have been a study for a larger commission. Louis Comfort Tiffany was well known for highly decorative glass wares, stained-glass windows and mosaics – these last two mainly seen in churches. This serene garden scene is approximately 2.7 x 2.9m (9 x 9½ft) and used to grace the showroom of the Tiffany store in New York City, until the contents were auctioned in 1938. Tiffany’s mosaic techniques were inspired by Byzantine examples seen on his travels; the frame around the scene references this inspiration. Tiffany experimented with iridescent glass and transparent tesserae backed with metal leaf, which gives this garden a jewel-like shimmer. It is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Garden Landscape represents a permanently shimmering garden view, with everlasting vibrant colours.

30TH JANUARY

EDEN PROJECT, CORNWALL, ENGLAND

The Garden of Eden

Some may argue that huge biomes sited in a disused Cornish china clay pit are not a garden in the traditional sense. But this project’s main inspiration was to create a unique space where nature, plants and people’s relationship with them is the focus. The Eden Project opened in 2001, and today it sits at the centre of a movement with a global mission. One biome has humid rainforest conditions with a waterfall feeding a watercourse that winds through exotic plants from the rainforest areas of the world. A slightly smaller biome is filled with plants from regions with a Mediterranean climate – including South Africa, Western Australia and California. Outdoor gardens surround the huge, high-tech conservatory biomes. It is an interesting garden to visit at any time of year, but a cold day at the end of January heightens the experience.

Decking steps and walkways take visitors through Eden’s canopy of lush plants.

31ST JANUARY

GARDENING LEAVE

Gardening from Home

For the gardener, the prospect of ‘gardening leave’ sounds idyllic. Exact details vary, but it may have little to do with taking time off to tend your garden. In the UK, a basic definition of the term is when an employer asks you not to come into work during your notice period, or to work at home or another location after handing in notice. You are contractually retained by your employer and still paid, but required to stay away from the workplace, and usually not to complete any work, or communicate with colleagues and employer’s clients. Some sources place the term’s origins in the Civil Service, and it was used in an episode of the 1980s, BBC political satire sitcom Yes, Prime Minister. Unlike for any keen gardener, in that instance, ‘gardening leave’ had negative overtones.

Old gardening boots make great plant pots in their retirement.

1ST FEBRUARY

‘BLOOMSBURY GARDEN’, TIMOROUS BEASTIES

A Garden Pattern

This provocative design studio gives a new twist to a classical-looking pattern that is bursting with nature. Trailing stems echo past designs, including those of Morris & Co. Interwoven florals and fruits references interior designs of the Bloomsbury artists in bright shades. Flowers and fruits from different seasons are captured peaking together – violets, roses, clematis, roses, grapes, raspberries and pomegranates, interspersed with butterflies – creating a perpetually blooming garden.

Timorous Beasties ‘Bloomsbury Garden’ in teal in wallpaper and fabric

2ND FEBRUARY

THE HAPPY GARDEN (1912), MARY ANSELL

In the Night Garden

The Happy Garden is a memoir about a garden, its atmosphere at different times of day and year, and the many joyful things a garden can bring to a life. In the book, author Mary Ansell describes memories of and feelings inspired by her garden at Black Lake Cottage, a weekend retreat and holiday home she shared with her husband, J. M. Barrie (see here). It was written after their divorce.

This frontispiece illustration of The Happy Garden is by Charles Dawson.

3RD FEBRUARY

‘THE GARDEN’ (1938), ERIC RAVILIOUS

The Ceramic Garden

Eric Ravilious was an artist, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver who worked in England between the wars. ‘The Garden’ was one of a series of commissions he produced for ceramics manufacturer Wedgwood in the 1930s. It shows how he applied modern design to the traditional production of high-quality tableware.

Although the design of these garden scenes was completed in 1938, production was interrupted by the Second World War. Ravilious died on active duty as a war artist in 1942 at the age of just 39. Many of his designs for Wedgwood did not enter full production until after his death.

Garden scenes are the reward for clearing one’s plate!

4TH FEBRUARY

GARDEN OF COSMIC SPECULATION, PORTRACK, DUMFRIES, SCOTLAND

Snake in Grass

The landforms in this garden, completed in 2003, began with excavations to make a swimming pool at the home of Charles Jencks and his wife Maggie Keswick. Architect Jencks went on to re-design the whole garden into what he termed a ‘landscape of waves’ that explore a relationship with nature. This view of the Snake Mound shows the sculptural earthworks around organically-shaped water, one of the most famous elements in this garden. Other areas were inspired by DNA, the six senses, and theories on the creation of the universe. Classical elements of ground shaping were developed into a new approach to landscape garden making. Jencks died in 2021 at the age of 80.

A view of the Snake Mound’s grass terraced landform curving around dark pools of water.

5TH FEBRUARY

APPLE PARK, CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS OF APPLE INC., CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, USA

The Corporate Garden

This garden fills the central space created by the massive circular building that is the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc. Co-founder Steve Jobs wanted the company campus to look more like a natural landscape than a commercial business site. Planning this headquarters was one of the last projects he oversaw, although sadly work did not start until several years after his death.

Renowned American landscape architect Laurie Olin was commissioned to design a masterplan; its subtle changes of topography and naturalistic planting brings a human scale to the space. The landscape is designed to be used, with winding pathways for walking, cycling or jogging. Planting is drought-resistant and is mostly native to the area, but includes non-native species better able to survive hotter summers, cooler winters and wetter storm conditions. Over 8,000 trees were planted, including productive orchards.

Trees at Apple Park include apples, apricots, cherries, pears and plums – referencing the history of this area as a centre of fruit production.

6TH FEBRUARY

ST. ANNE’S COURT, CHERTSEY, SURREY, ENGLAND

A 20th-Century Garden

Canadian landscape architect Christopher Tunnard moved to England to complete his studies in architecture and planning. His influential book Gardens in the Modern Landscape is a collection of articles first published by The Architectural Review between 1937 and 1938. Tunnard outlines the history of the garden, putting it in the context of landscape and life, and then explores how modern architecture and towns might influence garden and landscape design.

This house, originally called St. Anne’s Hill, was designed by architect Raymond McGrath and is set in the remains of an 18th-century landscape. It was built for Tunnard, and his design for the garden reflects the approach set out in his book. Around the house, the garden is architectural and modernist, with a distinctive long concrete beam stretching out from the building and glass-walled rooms leading onto the terrace.

Lawns lead into wide, concrete steps that are set into the slope. The functional retaining wall combines a series of rectangular raised beds that are planted very simply.

7TH FEBRUARY

78 BANBURY ROAD, OXFORD, ENGLAND

Dr. James Murray’s Scriptorium

Garden: An enclosed piece of ground devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fruit, or vegetables.

OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Born on this day in 1837, Dr. James Murray went on to become principal editor of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, which later became the Oxford English Dictionary. When he built the iron shed – rather grandly known as the Scriptorium – in his garden in 1884, he was five years into the project that was forecast to take ten years to complete.

Giving a metal garden building a classical name matches the scale and importance of the task. Murray started his editorship while still teaching at Mill Hill School in London and had built an earlier version. The larger Oxford Scriptorium had custom-built pigeonholes sized to fit the slips of paper that were used to trace the origins, principles and use of words.