For the three most influential designers and innovators of in the18th century English Landscape Movement - Charles Bridgeman, William Kent & ‘Capability’ Brown - write a brief paragraph to describe the style - form, layout, content, purpose - of their landscapes.

Charles Bridgeman

Charles Bridgeman was one of the early landscape designers during the English Landscape Movement. He worked to blend the formal features of previous eras, such as geometric paths and parterres, with more the more fluid and natural features of the landscape he placed them in, making the gardens largely transitional. One of Bridgeman’s largest legacies was the “ha-ha”, a dividing tool used to utilize a “borrowed landscape” by creating a hidden division (in the form of a sunken fence or ditch) between the designed landscape and the natural surroundings, thus letting nature become part of the garden view, without allowing it to infringe upon it (in the form of trespassing animals).

 

An example of a "ha-ha"
https://paisleypedlar.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/a-very-secret-garden/

William Kent

Though he was viewed as an unreliable character, and was less practical than many of his contemporaries, William Kent had the ability to create beautiful, natural-appearing landscapes. Kent specialized in drawing inspiration from both art and nature to create these vast landscapes, and was a leader of the “picturesque” style of garden design. He strove to make natural-appearing gardens that ultimately resembled paintings, using the works of French painters Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lourrain. Despite their natural appearance, these gardens were highly planned, with every placement and potential viewing angle of included features being intentional.

Stowe, designed by William Kent
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stowe/things-to-see-and-do/

Lancelot “Capability” Brown

“Capability” Brown continued with the natural emphasis on landscape design, sourcing his inspiration from the surroundings and the English landscape itself. Brown was known for landscapes that were so carefully designed to imitate nature that they were often not recognized as man-made. Referring to this, Sir Horace Walpole was quoting as saying “Such was the effect of his [Brown’s] genius that when he was the happiest man he will be least remembered, so closely did he copy nature that his works will be mistaken.”

Highclere Park, a "Capability" Brown landscape
http://www.lizlake.com/projects/highclere-castle/

Which expression of garden art / garden style that we have studied this semester resonated most strongly with you personally? Explain why.

Looking back throughout the semester, I find that the type of garden that has resonated with me the most during the course were the urban green-spaces that were originally created in the 19^th century. Having grown up in a suburb of Boston, I have come to appreciate the juxtaposition and value of parks and other natural spaces within an urban setting –from the open beaches of my town to green-spaces within Boston itself (primarily Boston Common).

My favorite view in Boston Common - the Make Way for Ducklings statue
http://jilliancyork.com/2008/05/24/make-way-for-ducklings/

While I have always felt that Boston has done a good job of promoting green within the city, whether through playing fields, parks, or simply lining streets with trees along the sidewalk, I was amazed when learning about, and subsequently visiting, the urban green-spaces of Copenhagen.

Many of these parks originated or were revived in Copenhagen in the 19^th century, encompassing both the English landscape and Victorian styles of garden design. These parks are still largely used today, with people enjoying them for relaxation, running, taking lunch, and as an event or gathering place.

Ørstedsparken
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ørstedsparken

Two parks that struck me in particular were Frederiksberg Park and Ørstedparken. While of different styles of garden design, these two parts stood out to me for their similar overall effect: in both instances, upon entering the park you no longer feel as though you are in a city. It is such an unexpected relief to enter a green-space within the city confines and find yourself lost in an expansive (in the case of Frederiksberg Park) or simply insulated (Ørstedparken) city escape. In both case, I found myself wanting to simply wander around and take in the sights, whether they included the highly planned placement of attractions in Frederiksberg Park, or the variety of natural trees and plants surrounding a pond in Ørstedparken.

Frederiksberg Park
http://www.duwal.com/en/generalgallery/europe/denmark/copenhagen

I find Copenhagen unlike any other city for a number of reasons, but the emphasis on readily accessible urban green-space certain ranks among the top.

Citing examples, define and describe the character, form and contents of the Arts and Crafts garden created by the Gertrude Jekyll & Edwin Lutyens partnership.

Gardener Gertrude Jekyll and the (much younger) architect Edwin Lutyens had a unique partnership that altered the course of gardens during the Arts and Crafts garden movement. With their innovative perspectives and unusual backgrounds (Jekyll was well educated and classically trained in art), they brought about a distinct character to the gardens of the time.

Jekyll and Lutyens brought a focus to locally sourced garden design, with gardens and their accompanying houses using regional materials and labor hired out to local workers when at all possible. This emphasis on locality also meant that house and garden design, while unique in certain individual features, was meant to blend with the surroundings on a larger scale. The overall design also typically included vistas and quiet courts, with some of the other features being pergolas, water features (such as pools), rills, and arches.

Munstead Wood
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/522980575448389130/

The Arts and Crafts gardens by Jekyll and Lutyens were structured without appearing rigid or overly formal. A main component was compartments, divided by yew hedges, and each with a distinct theme that at the same time remained connected to the other compartments and gardens as a whole. These compartments created geometry in the gardens, which was offset and balanced by asymmetrical design features.

Hestercombe
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/253609022737488300/

The plants themselves were typically hardy and more local than the exotic collections of previous garden types. Jekyll utilized her education in arts to create innovative combinations of plants within the garden, becoming the first gardener to apply painterly color theory to garden design, all the while accounting for bloom times, plant height, and the greens of the foliage. A primary example of color theory in Jekyll and Lutyens’ gardens was the herbaceous border, which incorporated a well thought out color gradient into a floral border planting.

Color theory, Jekyll
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/374572893978727225/

Describe the form, content and style of the Victorian villa garden. Include in your answer the inspirations for this garden type.

Form and Content

The Victorian villa garden typically was comprised of three major components: the formal garden, the pleasure grounds, and the productive or kitchen garden. The formal garden typically included geometric bedding arrangements and a conservatory (greenhouse) to house more exotic collections of plants. The pleasure grounds were more removed from the house, and had a more blended, natural feel. These grounds, typically categorized as gardenesque, often included collections of plants, paths, water features, and rockeries. The productive garden was located closer to the house than in prior eras, and was walled, with four large open plots utilized for seasonal and annual crop rotation. Advances in technology led to centralized water sources, and new plant collection and discovery encouraged the creation of orchards and ranges of greenhouses to further expand kitchen production. Worldly plant collections were also coveted in the other aspects of the villa garden, with some plants, such as varieties of orchids, being acquired for more than the entire yearly salary of a head gardener.

Victorian Villa Garden Map, Chatsworth
http://travelsplanet.blogspot.dk/2011/04/chatsworth-house-greatest-of-all-great.html

Inspiration and Influences

There were several key sources of inspiration and influence for the Victorian villa garden. Sir Joseph Paxton (1801-1865) was the head gardener at Chatsworth, one of the most influential Victorian villa gardens. Under Paxton, Chatsworth became an innovative and leading example for future villa gardens, introducing features such as its Arboretum (containing a massive collection of both deciduous and coniferous trees), Great Conservatory (a heated massive greenhouse that inspired the greenhouses of other gardens), Rockery, and Emperor Fountain.

The Great Conservatory, Chatsworth
http://www.victorianweb.org/art/architecture/iron/21b.html

In 1840, James Bateman began designing the gardens of Biddulph Grange, another essential influence for the Victorian villa garden that drew highlight between the contrast of art and nature, rather than the fluidity between the two suggested in Chatsworth. Biddulph Grange contained a series of compartments, each with its own theme or influence, and each divided from the others through rocks and shrubberies. The gardens at Biddulph Grange contained inspiration from cultures all over the world, and displayed new acquisitions in foreign plants amongst architectural features.

Partitioning Hedges, Biddulph Grange
https://ntpressoffice.wordpress.com/tag/biddulph-grange/