English gardens had degenerated into meaningless repetitions of French and Dutch fashions by the end of the seventeenth century. Conventional plans were mimicked or exaggerated until the formal manner became merely an affected mannerism. Finally, nothing remaining but the defects of the old system, a reaction resulted in its entire destruction. On the ruins was created the Landscape Garden, in the strict meaning of the word no garden at all, but a stretch of cultivated scenery.
The English �" perhaps because they had most abused the conventional system �" were the first to raise an outcry against formal gardening. Formality could certainly be carried to no greater excess; it was logical to seek beauty in a contrary extreme. Freedom from every restraint was the gospel of the new school. Kent, its leader according to Walpole, was the first to jump outside the fence and insist that the garden should be "set free from its prim regularity, and the gentle stream taught to serpentize." His method, as described by Lord Kames, was, "to paint a field with beautiful objects, natural and artificial, disposed like colors upon a canvas."
It requires indeed more genius to paint in the gardening way: in forming a landscape upon a canvas, no more is required but to adjust the figures to each other. An artist who lays out grounds in Kent's way has an additional task: he ought to adjust the figures to the several varieties of the field.
In plain words, nothing remained of the old style in the new gardens. These latter consisted of smooth lawns of grass, diversified by clumps of trees, and intersected by curved paths or irregular pieces of water. Nature was said to abhor a straight line; hence walks and brooks were always laid out in "serpentine meanders."
Marks of decay are often to be seen in nature; Kent reproduced this effect by planting dead trees and stumps. These attempts to make a beautiful wilderness often resulted in nothing but a confused mass of disorder, and were received with ridicule even by the sentimentalists.
The reign of Edward I allowed landowners to turn their attention to something other than defense and safety. As within the castle the wealthy lord sought to embellish the great hall, which often took the place of the ancient keep, with fine tapestry, richly carved furniture, magnificently carved garden statuary, large functional and ornate garden fountains, so outside as well he strove to decorate the gardens with fountains, arbors, and perhaps a maze.
The improvement in husbandry and horticulture was as satisfactory as the advance made in the fine arts. Here the influence of the king was specially felt. Though engaged in war or busy with legislative cares, Edward I found time to attend to the cultivation of his gardens and the stocking of his vineyards and orchards. Fruit and forest trees, shrubs, and flowers introduced from the continent were naturalized in the king's gardens, fed by plentiful water from the fountains, or in those of the nobility and the larger religious houses.
New varieties of fruit were introduced at this time. Figs, oranges, lemons, citrons, almonds, and even olives are noted among the fruits growing in the gardens of some of the large land-owners. These natives of a southern climes could not have ripened their fruits unless in exceptionally warm seasons or by means of hothouses, with water supplied by the local fountains; however, the evidence that they existed is overwhelming.
All classes of people now seem to have had pleasure gardens. Those belonging to the king were principally in the neighborhood of London, at Charing, Westminster, Clarendon, the Tower, and at Windsor Castle. In them grew peaches (first mentioned, in 1276), pears and apples (of which several new varieties were introduced), quinces and strawberries (well known to the Anglo-Saxons) and gooseberries (which seem to have been a novelty). There were also royal vineyards at Windsor and Westminster. Décor included ornate fountains, and bas relief garden statues. One of the great nobles, De Lacey, Earl of Lincoln, cultivated extensive market gardens on the top of Holborn Hill and received a considerable revenue from them.
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