A POTTED HISTORY OF GARDENS THROUGH TIME

Knot Garden (1500s)

A formal garden designed to be seen from the upper floors of the house, based on patterns from textiles. The museum’s design originated from a carved motif on a cupboard in the collection, and uses an interlocking ribbon design of cotton lavender (Santolina chamaecyparissus) and wall germander (Teucrium chamaedrys).

The Functional and Practical Garden (1600s)

Most gardens of this period were used to grow food or to dry laundry; herbs and veg were grown in raised beds, and arbours of fruit trees stood among drifts of sweet rocket (Hesperis matronalis) and wild pansy (Viola tricolor). Sweet-smelling plants were often grown to mask smells from the privy nearby.

The Leisurely and Neat Garden (1700s)

Like Georgian interiors, gardens were symmetrical and designed to show off, with orderly paths and structured yew and box hedges. Expensive flowering plants, e.g. Rosa mundi, right, were used sparingly. Gardening became a hobby for the wealthy.

The Cottage-style Garden (1900s)

Reacting against what came before and influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement, gardens became more relaxed using old-fashioned native plants like lavender (L. angustifolia ‘Hidcote’). Pergolas covered with climbers and ponds became fashionable, and these designs could be adapted for smaller gardens.

The Green Roof (2000s)

As green space is lost to urban development, roof gardens should become increasingly common, keeping the building cool in summer, soaking up rainfall and creating habitat in unused space – giving urban dwellers essential outdoor space to relax, eat and grow edibles. Plants that grow in shallow, dry soils include grasses, iris and sedums. garden is the most popular. Apparently the Herb Garden – with its attendant delights of the chance to taste, smell and make potions – wins hands down. It is lovely, although maybe a missed chance to extend the timeline backwards into a medieval hortus inclusus and still be home to herbs, fruit and vegetables.

I ask Heather where she researches her historical tabulation: “In the library mostly, though I’ve spent the past 25 years gardening in period. I find the English Heritage series by garden historian Anne Jennings useful.” Apparently visitors who live in period houses just love to imagine what their garden would have looked like originally, and often promise to re-design their gardens in context.

It’s also interesting to see that quite a few of the plants featured, like rosemary, lavender and roses, have continued to be useful and fashionable throughout history, right up until the present day.

Bringing us bang up to date, the Museum of the Home includes a new garden: the Studio Pavilion Green Roof – best viewed from nearby Hoxton station – is next to the remodelled entrance. Ronan Morris, part of the architectural team, tells me:

“It’s designed to be resilient and low maintenance, and features a range of bulbs, wildflowers and Mediterranean species that will cope with a soil depth of 300mm and a dry situation, giving colour and a nectar source for pollinators.” The roof also promotes bio-diversity, attenuates the effect of rainwater, purifies air and improves the thermal mass of the building, reducing its energy footprint and protecting the roof itself.

Gardening in timeline is not for everyone, and growing chronologically isn’t fashionable any more, but I still miss the passing of the Tradescants’ garden at the Garden Museum in Lambeth before it went on to loftier things. Only nerds like me need to file things in order, though centuries are always bigger than their allotted 100 years and what would life be without the odd anachronism. I was thrilled to see the Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus that populate my meadows blooming in the Knot garden, and imagined Tudor reaction to its bright-fuchsia pink flowers.

Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA. To sponsor a plant, a fruit tree, a flower bed or a shelf in the greenhouse, go to Sow a Seed on the website, where you can also see summer events. Book your free visit: museumofthehome.org.uk