Oh yes, definitely, gardening is an art! In fact, Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay treated his (large) garden as poetry, with various areas hedged off into little "rooms" or poetry pieces/stanzas. He called his house "Little Sparta" and you can find videos/books on it. He carved words into a path of stepping stones, painted words on white wooden beehives... and through looking into this, I gathered (can't remember source) that in the 18th century in Europe, the way your garden was laid out was a political statement understood in society. Plus gardening is the start of many traditional arts: there is the beauty of flower arrangements and how much of our interiors in textiles and wallpaper are based on flower patterns. Perfume making began and is still grounded on, the scent of flowers. The garden gave herbs, vegetables and fruit for the art of cooking and the beginning of medicine. Thank you for sharing your gardening books - and cautions against one! - it strikes me that your gardening books will probably produce more longlasting results than many of the books I read about art history!
I like the concept of garden rooms - have been to one lovely National Trust house called Standen which follows the same principle. And Capability Brown style landscaping is art on a huge scale, not to mention creating a setting for smaller works of art within it. But my own garden doesn't quite live up to that!
@@tillysshelf Well, the kind of gardens you are talking about would have teams of full-time gardeners maintaining them, so no need to get into comparison! (Unless, of course, you have 16 strong-armed landscapers reporting for duty every day at 6 am and toiling until nightfall on your garden.)
I enjoyed your rant about the Rebel Gardener 😁 When I downsized my library before a big move last year, the only garden-related book I kept is Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs, which has information about growing the plants as well as using them.
That sounds like an interesting one. I have another one called The Garden Apothecary which has some historical medicinal uses and a recipe for each plant listed. It's more pretty than practical, though.
I really want to get into gardening when I've moved out of London, I loved my granddad's garden, but I can't even keep basil alive, I could write How to Kill Plants for Free. Maybe I should buy Rebel Gardening and grow an orchard on my balcony.
I could also contribute to How to Kill Plants for Free - house plants are my nemesis. I have a lot more success sticking stuff in the ground and seeing what will survive with whatever the sky provides than trying to keep tender things watered and mollycoddled.
I like the argument for gardening as art. Vita Sackville West would have agreed wholeheartedly.
I was thinking of the Arts and Crafts movement
Oh yes, definitely, gardening is an art! In fact, Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay treated his (large) garden as poetry, with various areas hedged off into little "rooms" or poetry pieces/stanzas. He called his house "Little Sparta" and you can find videos/books on it. He carved words into a path of stepping stones, painted words on white wooden beehives... and through looking into this, I gathered (can't remember source) that in the 18th century in Europe, the way your garden was laid out was a political statement understood in society. Plus gardening is the start of many traditional arts: there is the beauty of flower arrangements and how much of our interiors in textiles and wallpaper are based on flower patterns. Perfume making began and is still grounded on, the scent of flowers. The garden gave herbs, vegetables and fruit for the art of cooking and the beginning of medicine. Thank you for sharing your gardening books - and cautions against one! - it strikes me that your gardening books will probably produce more longlasting results than many of the books I read about art history!
I like the concept of garden rooms - have been to one lovely National Trust house called Standen which follows the same principle. And Capability Brown style landscaping is art on a huge scale, not to mention creating a setting for smaller works of art within it. But my own garden doesn't quite live up to that!
@@tillysshelf Well, the kind of gardens you are talking about would have teams of full-time gardeners maintaining them, so no need to get into comparison! (Unless, of course, you have 16 strong-armed landscapers reporting for duty every day at 6 am and toiling until nightfall on your garden.)
@@heathergregg9975 If only... Though they would run out of tasks pretty quickly in my little patch!
@@tillysshelf 😀
I enjoyed your rant about the Rebel Gardener 😁
When I downsized my library before a big move last year, the only garden-related book I kept is Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs, which has information about growing the plants as well as using them.
That sounds like an interesting one. I have another one called The Garden Apothecary which has some historical medicinal uses and a recipe for each plant listed. It's more pretty than practical, though.
I really want to get into gardening when I've moved out of London, I loved my granddad's garden, but I can't even keep basil alive, I could write How to Kill Plants for Free. Maybe I should buy Rebel Gardening and grow an orchard on my balcony.
I could also contribute to How to Kill Plants for Free - house plants are my nemesis. I have a lot more success sticking stuff in the ground and seeing what will survive with whatever the sky provides than trying to keep tender things watered and mollycoddled.