Garden History

My interest in gardening and history extends to Garden History and the effect of changes in climate over the years. At the moment I am reading A little History of British Gardening by Jenny Uglow.

It begins with a mention of the Iron Age in the first Chapter: 'Did the Romans Have Rakes" and is a mine of information. Ms Uglow describes gardens large and small, the plants and the gardeners.  She writes:

"I wish there were medieval monastic gardens for us to visit, to wander from the cloister to the orchard, the infirmary to the fish ponds, the paradise where flowers were grown to the rows of kale and leeks. But even if we cannot visit them we know that the monks and nuns enjoyed their gardens.

At Winchester the clerk of works had a private garden called 'La Joye'. And in 1108, on the day that he died, the ailing archbishop of York walked in his garden to breathe the air and the scent of flowers.'

Every time I go into my own organic garden I appreciate the legacy of fresh air and the scent of flowers also enjoyed so long ago by the archbishop.