The British are known for their love of gardens large or small. This week we bring you an eclectic mix of stories on a gardening theme.
Lancelot 'Capability' Brown was an 18th-century English landscape architect, who designed over 170 parks - many of which survive. Famous designs include Kew Gardens in West London, Hampton Court Palace in Surrey and Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
Manicured lawns are an English tradition, though the perfect lawn was once the preserve of the very rich due to the tedious labour-intensive activity required to maintain it. Then the world's first lawnmower was developed by Edwin Budding from Stroud in 1830, apparently then regarded as such a bizarre contraption that he had to test it at night so no one could see it.
The extraordinary Himalayan Blue Poppy is a popular garden plant in Britain. However, for a long time it was almost mythic, and it took several adventurous Britons to bring this plant home to grace our gardens.
Gertrude Jekyll was a Victorian-born passionate garden designer, painter, photographer and author. She created some 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and America; and her influence on garden design during her life was highly significant, and indeed, remains so today.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is the world’s leading gardening charity. Its aim is to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and to make the UK a greener and more beautiful place. The Society currently has five national gardens, through which it promotes a love of gardening.
Garden gnomes - love them or loathe them. How did they become such a (often derided) feature of British gardens?
