The term ''gardenesque'' was introduced by
John Claudius Loudon
John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1783 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, collected for the purpose of ...
(1783–1843) in 1832 to describe a style of planting design in accordance with his 'Principle of Recognition'.
Definitions
Loudon was worried that
picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...
planting could be mistaken for natural growth and argued that for a
planting design
Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...
to be recognizable as a work of art only exotic plants should be used. Later in his career Loudon accepted several other ways of making planting recognizable as art (1) by removing surrounding plants so that a perfect form of the plant was grown (2) by 'high keeping' (intensive maintenance) in a garden (3) by planting in geometrical beds. Though Loudon was clear about his reasons for introducing the gardenesque he gave varied accounts of how the principle could be satisfied. This has given the word a modern English usage which conforms with the etymology of the word ('like a garden') but differs from Loudon's uses of the word. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives the following definitions:
Partaking of the character of a garden; somewhat resembling a garden or what belongs to a garden.[The OED (1971), Vol. I, p. 1115.]
The ''OED'' then gives several quotes illustrating various usages of the term:
* 1838 Loudon. ''Arboretium Brit.'', The expression of gardenesque beauty, in individual trees differs from the picturesque, in being . . at all times regular or symmetrical
* 1839 — ''Repton's Landsc. Garden'' (1840) Introd. 8 This change has given rise to a school we call Gardenesque; the characteristic feature of which is the display of the beauty of trees, and other plants individually.
* 1880-1 ''Libr. Univ. Knowl.'' (N.Y.) XI. 306
oston Common 'public garden'is kept in gardenesque style as an
arboretum
An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...
and
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
.
* 1881 ''Gard. Chron'' No. 417.816 An attempt to give a sort of gardenesque character to a slope within view of the Castle by planting dwarf hardy shrubs in a formal arrangement of beds.
* 1896 ''Punch'' 29 Aug. 100/2 No, by heavens, let the gardenesque perish Ere ever I axe that familiar old thorn!
Modern business
The use of the word ''gardenesque'' in UK business has been trademarked by the British e-commerce bran
Gardenesque.com
See also
*
Planting design
Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...
*
History of gardening
The early history of gardening is largely entangled with the history of agriculture, with gardens that were mainly ornamental generally the preserve of the elite until quite recent times. Smaller gardens generally had being a kitchen garden as th ...
References
* The OED. ''The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary: Complete Text Reproduced Micrographically''. (1971). Two Volumes. Oxford University Press. Reprint 1988.
Gardening in Print: Profession, Instruction and Reform By Nickianne Moody, Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies
Notes
{{reflist
Bibliography
* Turner, T., ''English garden design: history and styles since 1650'' (Antique Collectors Club, 1986) pp 147–9
Garden design