HISTORY 15 



Elizabethan gardening from 1550 to 1750, covering a period of about 

 200 years in garden planning. We have traced the development of 

 the English garden from the castle garden, the outgrowth of which 

 was the Tudor garden, and now we have come to a period of garden- 

 ing in England which we will find to be very distinctive. 



Up to this time the general care of the garden, such as it was, 

 had not occupied very much of the owner's thoughts, but with the in- 

 troduction of many new species and varieties of plants from other 

 countries, particularly Holland and America, we find a new type of 

 gardening, with the interest centered largely in the plants, taking a new 

 lease on life, and the owners devoting much of their time to their gar- 

 dens. (TAgain an analogy may be dravvn between gardening and 

 history, or more properly speaking, between the history of a country 

 and its gardening proclivities. The time of the reign of Elizabeth 

 and the succeeding kings found England in a comparatively wealthy 

 state, particularly the reign of Elizabeth, for one of her chief policies 

 was frugality, and her reign was marked by increased resources; 

 therefore, during this prosperity and freedonn, from wars, the people 

 were given the opportunity as well as the means to improve their gar- 

 dens, and to turn their attention to the more peaceful pursuits. Jl It was 

 cutomary at this time for the garden owner to know the names of 

 practically all of the plants that were contained in his garden, and to 

 superintend the laying out of the beds. 



i At the time of the castle garden, because of the many wars which 

 occurred, the gardens were more utilitarian than aesthetic. The tran- 

 sition from this period to the Tudor period shows an increase of plants 

 used for their beauty as plants, but the gardens were still mainly prac- 

 tical. The garden arrangement now consisted of a large sunken gar- 

 den, in which all the plants were grouped, both flower and vegetable, 

 but with the introduction of the Elizabethan Garden, we find the 

 tendency developing to separate the flowers from the vegetables, and a 

 m.ore definite arrangement of the garden parts as to use. For instance, 

 the vegetables were now planted in the kitchen garden, which was 

 carefully screened from the more private parts of the estate. The 

 plants which were used for their decorative values appeared now in 

 the flower gardens and in mass planting, pleached alleys, bowling 

 greens, and all the other garden features which we have come to 



