- The Beauty of an English Landscape
Garden
- By Adbelan Terreno
There are varying ideas of what
is beautiful, and this is equally true of gardens as with people
or artwork. Some prefer wild gardens, while others would rather
view a garden with complex design and a sculpted landscape. There
is some of both in the immensely enjoyable English Landscape
Garden, a design with both simplicity and aesthetic beauty. It
is no wonder this is the style chosen for many public parks and
buildings.
A typical English Landscape Garden
may feature lines that curve and wind; informal views of the
garden emphasized by focal points, such as statues or seating
areas; a mix of garden and park-type environments, replicating
a natural blend of the two; a meeting point between garden and
house, without any smaller gardens at the edges of the house;
and a variety of plants so that the diverse colors and sizes
give a naturalistic air.
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There are many fine examples
of this beautiful traditional design. You can find such gardens
at Castle Howard, Stourhead, Blenheim Palace, Stowe and Rousham
House, to name a few. These gardens give us a lovely peek at
what it might have looked like centuries ago, at the height of
English Landscape Gardening's popularity, though that popularity
has now decreased a bit.
English Landscape Gardening is
rooted in European landscape painting. It was designers like
William Kent who turned the gardens into art forms in their own
right. Humphrey Repton and Capability Brown, already famous as
designers in their own right, also played a role, bringing in
their own outside influences. |
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Despite some initial criticism of
English Landscape design, the gardens conceptualized by these
men soon became prominent. Each of the designers followed a distinct
vision, however. Kent took his cue from ancient European culture,
while Brown specifically wanted his gardens to resemble the English
countryside. Repton, on the other hand, wanted to put flowers
right up next to the house, an idea which had not been done until
that time.
English Landscape Gardens of
today can be rather eclectic in nature, blending influences from
Kent, Repton and Brown in their design approach. Other cultures
sometimes influence this type of design, as well, which is represented
in the Chinese influence on some of the English Landscape designs. |
