Take a video tour on YouTube of garden designer Gertrude Jekyll’s former home in Surrey with Head Gardener Annabell Watts.
Munstead Wood was acquired by the National Trust in April 2023. Its garden was originally created by Jekyll in the 1880s with vibrant flowers, intricate footpaths and Victorian greenhouses. The design of this garden was ahead of its time due to the meticulously chosen architectural plants and color schemes.
Jekyll also worked with architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to build a house that could also be her workplace. Designed to look as if it rose from the ground, the house was completed with a dark room, workshop and flower shop to support Jekyll’s work.
(Note: Munstead Wood is not open to the public currently.)
In June 2023, the National Trust in the UK announced the new acquisition of a Grade I listed house and garden—Gertrude Jekyll’s home and garden, Munstead Wood.Gertrude Jekyll was one of the most important garden designers of the early 20th century, a prolific writer, and skilled businesswoman. She often collaborated with architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and both worked on Jekyll’s own home in Surrey. Jekyll lived at Munstead Wood from the 1890s until her death in 1932. During that time, she created a woodland garden and designed seasonal gardens, such as the Spring Garden, the Hidden Garden, the June Garden, and the 200-foot-long colorful herbaceous border. Jekyll once spoke of Munstead Wood “My garden is my workshop, my private study, and a place of rest.”
Landscape historian and author Judith Tankard will discuss Jekyll’s home and garden, and talk about the designer’s theories on color, planting and design. She will show some of Jekyll’s own photographs and scrapbooks to demonstrate Jekyll‘s lasting influence on garden design. Andy Jasper, Head of Gardens at the National Trust, created a video for Royal Oak Foundation members to explain the upcoming restoration plans and Munstead Wood’s opening to the public. Ms. Tankard is a member of The Garden Club of the Back Bay.
Watch LIVE on Wednesday, September 27 at 2:00 p.m. (ET) or RENT the recording! $15 Royal Oak members; $25 non-members
Created and re-created against the backdrop of cycle of war and peace with its accompanying social and economic impacts, the twentieth century garden pivots between tradition and modernism, informality and structure. The century sees a shift in both style and materials as concrete takes its place at the heart of new towns and spaces, whilst the country house garden struggles to survive and flourish again in a new order. Garden design increasingly reflects the needs of a wider range of society, whilst literary and artistic movements locate gardens at the very heart of the struggle for meaning in a world of change and aspiration. At the dawn of the 20th century we start in a corner of Gertrude Jekyll’s garden at Munstead Wood, we will explore how canvases – landscape, garden or painting – primed by the ‘golden afternoon’, provided the narrative for comfort, remembrance and renewal. Reflections on conflict encapsulated in the words of Monet’s friend Clemenceau: And the action of this battlefield, it is life itself, luminously transposed, … here the drama of the Nymphaeas unfolds across the world’s stage.
Caroline Holmes is a garden historian of places, people and plants who lectures internationally, delving into the myriad ways people and plants have historically shaped landscapes and what we can learn from them. Course Director for the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education – International and accredited programs. Lecturer for The Arts Society. Author of 12 books. www.horti-history.com
This January 12 lecture is the first in a Gardens Trust series of online talks on The 20th Century Garden. You can register for the entire series on Eventbrite £30 or £5 each by clicking HERE.
