Customer Reviews

The Wild Garden

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The late Henry Mitchell, noted garden columnist for the Washington Post, said every gardener should own a few classic garden books and he included William Robinson's books on his short list. He frequently cited Robinson, and but for Mitchell, or Elizabeth Lawrence who referred to him from time to time, I am not sure I would have ever discovered Robinson. After all, what can an old guy writing in the last century possibly have to say that I would find useful, relevant or even interesting? Well, as it turns out quite a lot.

Gravetye Manor is located in the southern part of England, in East Grinstead, Sussex. William Robinson once owned the estate and he built the gardens surrounding the house. He wrote several books about his work at Gravetye, including THE WILD GARDEN first published in 1870. In THE WILD GARDEN, Robinson describes how he developed a new kind of garden in the woods.

The woods around Gravetye Manor are not the forest primeval, they are a coppice used for ages as a source of firewood, fencing, etc. That's important because most understory plants need some sunlight and the wild forest provides little light. In a coppice, filtered sunlight makes it's way to the ground. Every now and then there's an open space where a dead tree fell or was felled and the sun shines in these openings for longer periods. Generally, the coppice floor is free of debris since fallen limbs are collected for firewood. It is in this setting one can build a "wild garden."

The wild garden is filled with interesting plants year round. In the winter, low shrubs of holly, plants of Hellebores, Winter Aconite, and creeping mosses and ferns make a showing. In spring hundreds of different bulbs spring forth. It may seem like a cliche today, but Robinson is the fellow who "invented" the bluebell dell. Before he devised his romantic bulb gardens in the woods no one thought gardens should be anywhere but in backyards--even if they were several acres of grass and trees.

Robinson is the father of romantic gardening. His most famous pupil was the landscape garden artist Gertrude Jekyll, doyenne of the landed classes in the Edwardian period who developed her grounds at Munstead Woods based on his theory--the cottage gardener was onto something wild and wonderful. His influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. His theories were adapted and promoted by Frederick Law Olmsted (Biltmore Estate NC), Carl Vaux (The Rambles in Central Park in NYC), Beatrix Ferrand (Dumbarton Oaks DC).

Even though the book was written for the British gardener Robinson's approach is applicable on both sides of the Atlantic. I particularly recommend this book to anyone with a home built on a 1/4 or 1/2 acre lot in the middle of former farmland (the typical suburban dwelling). You can add trees and bushes and underplant with bulbs and other shade loving plants and you'll end up with more wildlife than ever existed when the land was used for farming.

The plant references in THE WILD GARDEN are current, and Graham Stuart Thomas has provided an appendix of botanical revisions for those that have changed. The book contains no photos, but the engravings used for illustration are beautiful.