Boston Flora

Tag: arts and crafts gardens

  • Tuesday, March 11, 6:00 am – 7:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – William Robinson: The Horticultural John Ruskin

    The Arts and Crafts Movement sought a return to vernacular traditions in the face of increasing industrialization. It thrived for two decades or so around the turn of the twentieth century, although its effect is still obvious today in many decorative arts. In the garden, the movement was most clearly articulated through the work of William Robinson (1838-1935) and Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932). Their example was followed by a plethora of British architects and designers into the middle of the 20th century and beyond, and their influence spread to Europe, the US and further afield. What we today identify as Arts and Crafts gardens are perhaps typified by a geometric layout of compartments in close relationship with the house, alongside the use of architectural features in local materials and abundant, color-themed planting.

    In this series, we will examine the origins of the Arts and Crafts garden, consider the work of Robinson and Jekyll in detail, and survey some of the many other British garden-makers who were influenced by the movement. The series will end with an international flavor, exploring the work of an American designer who was a life-long admirer of Robinson and Jekyll.

    This ticket is for this individual talk (Click HERE) costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire fifth series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 via the link here. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the talk.

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link, please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

    Talk 2 is entitled William Robinson: The Horticultural John Ruskin. Born in Ireland, Robinson moved at the age of 23 to work in the Royal Botanic Society’s Garden in Regent’s Park, then on the edge of London. A great admirer of, and later correspondent with, Ruskin, he drew a direct analogy between the ‘bedding system’ which he hated, and Ruskin’s description of the industrial world. In his talk, Richard will outline Robinson’s gardening and prolific writing career and discuss the ways in which he hoped to improve the lives of the poorer members of society, becoming, as a 1931 Country Life article declared, ‘England’s greatest gardener’.

    Richard Bisgrove has degree in Horticultural Science and Landscape Architecture. As a lecturer in horticulture and landscape management at Reading University his main research interests were the management of species rich grasslands (the flowery mead!) and garden history, with particular emphasis on Gertrude Jekyll and William Robinson. He was for many years a member of the Council and Conservation Committee of the Garden History Society and of the Gardens Panel of the National Trust. His publications include The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll (Frances Lincoln, 1992; University of California Press 2000) and William Robinson: the wild gardener (Frances Lincoln, 2008).

    Image: Gravetye Manor, William Robinson’s house and main terrace, photo ©Richard Bisgrove

  • Tuesday, March 4, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – A History of Gardens: The Origins of the Arts and Crafts Garden

    The Arts and Crafts Movement sought a return to vernacular traditions in the face of increasing industrialization. It thrived for two decades or so around the turn of the twentieth century, although its effect is still obvious today in many decorative arts. In the garden, the movement was most clearly articulated through the work of William Robinson (1838-1935) and Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932). Their example was followed by a plethora of British architects and designers into the middle of the 20th century and beyond, and their influence spread to Europe, the US and further afield. What we today identify as Arts and Crafts gardens are perhaps typified by a geometric layout of compartments in close relationship with the house, alongside the use of architectural features in local materials and abundant, color-themed planting.

    In this series, we will examine the origins of the Arts and Crafts garden, consider the work of Robinson and Jekyll in detail, and survey some of the many other British garden-makers who were influenced by the movement. The series will end with an international flavor, exploring the work of an American designer who was a life-long admirer of Robinson and Jekyll.

    This ticket is for this individual talk (Click HERE) costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire fifth series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 via the link here. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the talk.

    Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link, please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks .

    Talk 1 will take place March 4 with Richard Bisgrove. What eventually became the Arts and Crafts Movement had two strands: a rejection of ‘modern’ painters in favour of mediaeval art and a reaction to the perceived horrors of the Industrial Revolution. The leading proponents of these ideas were John Ruskin and William Morris. In his talk, Richard will outline very briefly the lives of these two men and discuss their interests in, and influences on, the gardens of their age.

    Richard Bisgrove has degree in Horticultural Science and Landscape Architecture. As a lecturer in horticulture and landscape management at Reading University his main research interests were the management of species rich grasslands (the flowery mead!) and garden history, with particular emphasis on Gertrude Jekyll and William Robinson. He was for many years a member of the Council and Conservation Committee of the Garden History Society and of the Gardens Panel of the National Trust. His publications include The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll (Frances Lincoln, 1992; University of California Press 2000) and William Robinson: the wild gardener (Frances Lincoln, 2008). Image: The Red House, William Morris’s house ‘planted’ in a Kentish orchard, photo Richard Guy Wilson Architecture Archive, 1983, under a CC BY 4.0 license

  • Thursday, November 10 – The 19th Century Garden Part 2 – Exploring the Arts and Crafts Garden at Standen, Online

    The Arts and Crafts was an ethos rather than a style, and it is therefore difficult to define in simple terms. Taking the example of Standen in West Sussex, a garden created in harmony with Philip Webb’s designs for the house, this lecture will examine how the Arts and Crafts was manifest in gardens, both in planting and in design, and will look at the work of amateur gardeners as well as professionals. The relationship between gardens, architecture and interior design will be explored through the lens of the remarkably complete example at Standen. The influence of key figures such as William Morris, John Sedding and Thomas Mawson will be assessed, as well as their legacy in the twentieth century in the work of designers such as Gertrude Jekyll and Nora Lindsay.

    Dr Caroline Ikin is a Curator at the National Trust, with a portfolio including the gardens at Standen and Nymans. She has previously worked for the Gardens Trust and is a writer specialising in C19 art, architecture and gardens. Caroline is author of The Victorian Garden (Bloomsbury, 2012), The Victorian Gardener (Bloomsbury, 2014), The Kitchen Garden (Amberley, 2017), and is currently working on a new survey of Victorian gardens to be published by Bloomsbury and the National Trust. She regularly contributes book and exhibition reviews to various publications, while her PhD thesis examined the designed landscape created by John Ruskin at Brantwood. This ticket is for this individual session and costs £5. Register on Eventbrite HERE. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.