Great gardens of england and wales - Part 1

Suzanne Collings is an avid garden lover who has visited lots of gardens in the UK over many years. She began her talk with ‘What is a garden?’ It is enclosed, has input from man, is a work of art, is closely aligned with architecture, important in design, makes use of the landscape and lastly is a ‘Noble Pursuit’.Suzanne went on to look at the various styles of gardens over the centuries: Tudor (1500’s) - herbs and flowers; Stuart (1600’s) - Italian and French Parterres; Georgian - open landscapes (Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown); Victorian - massed beddings and public gardens; 1900’s - borders; and late 1900’s to present - simple, gravel, grasses, climate change, and reduced manpower.She then looked at the great designers in each of these centuries.Suzanne then showed us photos of many very old gardens in England. 

1. Chelsea Physic Gardens - London (1686 by the Society of Apothecaries) 3.8 acres. Divided into Pharmaceutical, Oncology (yew plants), Psychiatry and Gastroenterology sections. Also has the first rock garden - stone from the tower of London. Aboriginal Garden with plants collected by Joseph Banks.
2. Penshurst Castle - Elizabethan. Belongs to the De Lyle family. Union Jack garden, lots of topiary, nut orchard.
3. Ightham Mote - Kent (Tudor 1320’s - National Trust) Lots of topiary and originally had a stew pond to provide fish for the household.
4. Buckling Hall - Norfolk (1616) 55 acres. Dutch architecture, Yew hedges in grand piano shapes.
5. Packwood House - Warwickshire (16 - 17th Century) 7 acres. Sermon on the Mount garden made in 1850’s from earth dug to form the sunken garden.
6. Baddesly Clinton - Warwickshire. Boasts a moat and Clematis garden.
7. Ham House - Surrey (1610) on the banks of the Thames has a covered walkway for the women to stroll in inclement weather.
8. Levens hall - Cumbria (1350) Topiary in various shapes. Employs 2 gardeners just to clip the yews.
9. Hatfield House - Hertfordshire (1611) Large maze and a wild flower garden,.

10. Haddon Hall - Derbyshire (Medieval) Used in the filming of ‘Jane Eyre’. Has an enclosed garden of peonies and clematis. A topiary chook on a nest and a pig.11. Stowe - Buckinghamshire (18th Century) The garden is National Trust, but the house is a private school. No flowers, lakes, statues and follies - over 40 temples and monuments.12. Sheffield Park - East Sussex. Beautiful in autumn because of its trees, 10 foot lake, no flowers, several lakes joined by cascades with lots of bridges.