HAMPTON COURT KITCHEN GARDEN

Within the walled gardens were three kinds of gardens.  

Gardening

 
Gardening (Brit. /ˈɡɑːdnɪŋ/, /ˈɡɑːdn̩ɪŋ/; U.S. /ˈɡɑrd(ə)nɪŋ/), as stated in the Oxford English Dictionary, is the action or practice of cultivating or laying out a garden (horticulture). Although gardening had been practiced before, it rejoiced in a rising popularity in eighteenth-century Europe with a special interest in it arising in Britain.

In his publication The Husbandman and Tradesman’s Gardening Calendar from 1791 author John Fallowfield gives a plethora of instructions on how to find the best location for a garden, which soil to pick and how to trench it in order to gain the most profit from it (cf. 7f.). Furthermore, he includes precise measurements regarding the walls of the ideal garden or the walks around it (cf. The Husbandman 8). 

The change from gardening being seen as a kind of art to being viewed as a science is also mentioned by George William Johnson in his article On the progress of gardening in England during the 18th century. He states that by adopting the classificatory system of Carl Linnaeus into his book The Gardener’s Dictionary author Philip Miller crossed the boundary between the practice of gardening and the science of botany (cf. 151). Thus, combining the two, gardening was enriched by the scientific systems and discoveries of botany and became a science itself (cf. ibid).

 “during this [c]entury above 5,000 new [exotic species] were introduced” 

. The books on gardening also mention different techniques used in gardening as for example cultivating on hot-beds, in hot-houses or in green-houses.

 

 

Types of Gardening

Kitchen gardening

Kitchen gardening represented a great part of the practice of gardening itself. As already mentioned, there was a great variety of vegetables and herbs which were discovered and cultivated throughout the eighteenth century. In The Husbandman and Tradesman’s Gardening Calendar Fallowfield mentions for instance peas, beans or lettuce, of which the seeds should be sown in February (cf. 12). Moreover, he includes cauliflower (cf. ibid 12), carrots and chives (cf. ibid 14) amongst many others. John Abercrombie even gives advice on how to grow melons (cf. Every Man 1ff.) which shows that the British gardeners did also engage in cultivating more exotic plants in their kitchen garden.

As well as of a general garden, the formation of a kitchen garden was not perceived as something that could be performed coincidentally. According to John Fallowfield “the width of beds in kitchen [g]ardens, ought to be four feet; the vacancy, or alley between them, one foot” (The Husbandman 9). It becomes apparent that an important condition for successful kitchen gardening was detected in leaving enough space for the plants to grow (cf. ibid) and being very careful and aware of all the necessary details as for example the weather, temperatures and seasons. In addition Fallowfield considered the most important practices of kitchen gardening “good digging, and manuring the foil” (The Husbandman 9).

 

 

Fruit Gardening

 

The arrangement of a fruit garden and the activity of maintaining it can be perceived as being symptomatic for the situation in eighteenth-century England. As John Fallowfield mentions in his book, “all our [the English people’s] fruit-trees are principally natives of a warmer climate” (The Husbandman 8) which draws a connection to the culture of travelling that developed and increased throughout the century. It can be assumed that travellers did not only bring material commodities for instance in form of clothing or jewellery but also foreign fruits or seeds from their journeys. In this regard, the fruits can be considered as having been of a special and exotic character which might have had the effect that the possession of a fruit garden was also a sign of a certain wealth, depending on the kind of fruits inhabiting it.

An important part of the domain of fruit gardening was the plantation of trees which were mostly advised to be planted against walls, espaliers or orchards (cf. The Husbandman 8f.). It was perceived as very influential where the trees were located, as the fruit of different kinds of trees would grow better on different sides of the tree (cf. ibid 9). Some of the most mentioned fruits cropped from trees were apples, pears and apricots as well as cherries and plums (cf. ibid 11,13). Furthermore, winegrowing (cf. Everyman 21) and the cultivation of strawberries (cf. The Husbandman 16) can be perceived as having been favoured in the eighteenth century. Pineapples (cf. The Complete Kitchen Gardener 407), oranges and lemons (cf. The Lady’s Recreation 111) serve as examples for the English gardener’s interest in more exotic fruits as well as their ambition to conquer new realms.

 

Figure 3 A botanical drawing of a pineapple from the 18th

century. It was one of the favoured exotic fruits in England.

 

 

 

Flower Gardening

 

the flower garden represented a realm of pleasure rather than a place for growing plants that were useful for a household. However, it becomes apparent in the number of advisory books that flower-beds and shrubbery still required intense, consistent and attentive care in order to achieve good results. The Husbandman and Tradesman’s Gardening Calendar offers several paragraphs focusing exclusively on the cultivation of exotic plants and flowers which shows that These, as well as the already mentioned fruits, were commodities brought into the country by the numerous travellers of the century. Some of the plants which can be assumed to have been typically cultivated, as they are mentioned frequently, are hyacinths and tulips (cf. The Husbandman 27) as well as auriculas (cf. ibid 17). Furthermore, much of the flower gardening was practiced by using hot-beds and greenhouses. For instance, Philip Miller suggests planting annual flowers as well as tuberoses on hot-beds (cf. Gardener’s Calendar 33) while coffee trees, jasmine and gladioli should be kept in a greenhouse or stove (cf. ibid. 17f.).