PREFACE 



T/' NO WING that I was fond both of practical gardening 

 ^ *" and the study of old garden literature, Mr. Percy 

 Newberry suggested to me in the Spring of 1891, that I 

 should edit some articles he had written on the History 

 of Gardening in England down to the reign of Elizabeth, 

 which had appeared in the Gardener s Chronicle in 1889 ; 

 and that I should carry on the History from that point. 

 I became so much interested in the subject, and had 

 collected so much new material, that I decided to enlarge 

 on the original plan, and not only to continue the history, 

 but to traverse again all the earlier part, drawing my 

 information afresh from the original authorities. I wish, 

 therefore, to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. New- 

 berry, who so kindly put his articles and notes at my 

 disposal in the first instance. 



This work does not pretend to be a history of the 

 Gardens of England, which would indeed be a delightful 

 task to carry out, therefore many well-known gardens 

 have not been mentioned in the following pages, only a 

 few examples having been cited to serve as illustrations of 



