Both rock and water were old established garden features way before anybody considered installing lawns, flower beds or borders. Many hundreds of years ago the first Japanese garden was nothing exceeding an stretch of white stone chippings with an individual Cleyera tree in the centre and the Ancient Persian 'paradise' had an extended canal and fountains at its heart.
The attraction was very easy to see, these two elements bring a natural feel to any sort of surroundings. Until fairly recently however, they were primarily simply for the wealthy. Before the later part of the 19th century, rocks were used to make very bold structures in large estates but it wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that water gardens and fountain construction became straightforward enough and economical enough for the everyday landscaper.
It has taken a long period of time, but both rock and water gardening have at last come of age. There is now huge interest in all aspects of the water garden. Rock garden plants are grown in great numbers, the variety available today in both rockeries and rock-free circumstances is immense. I find it very motivating that both these natural elements have several features in common.
They can extend for just a few square feet or in excess of a quarter of an acre and both provide the opportunity to grow a vast range of plants not found within the ordinary, every-day garden. The drawbacks that they share are that careful groundwork is necessary and a substantial quantity of labour and money is required for their creation. Through the latter part of the 19th century the age of the bigger rock garden was all but over. In 1772 the second period of rock gardens began, a garden of rubble and Icelandic basaltic lava was fashioned inside a greenhouse at Chelsea Physic Garden for the development of plants collected from the Swiss Alps. Here the rocks were used as a home for plants rather than to produce just a decorative feature. This second period got off to a slow beginning, although rock gardens were created at various sites in Britain and the notion of laying stones to present the appearance of a natural outcrop was created. Things changed during the 1860's and the rock garden eventually took its place as an important part of the British garden. Rockeries were built at Kew Gardens in 1867 and in Edinburgh in 1871.
In 1870 William Robinson's Alpine Flowers for English Gardens was published. During this period and into the early 20th century Pulhamite Stone was manufactured in Broxbourne in Hertfordshire and used to create private and non-private rock gardens all over the country. The three decades from 1900 to 1939 were the glory days of the rock garden. Reginald Farrer was the leading figure and his 'My Rock Garden' book became the first bible on this subject.
Plant hunters scoured the mountains all over the world in search of new alpine plants and the rock garden at Wisley was started in 1911. In the years prior to World War II interest in the rock garden plumeted. Only recently has there been a resurrection.
During the 1920's and 1930's the idea of growing alpines in non-rock situations took root, this coupled with the appearance of the garden centre in the second half of the 20th century produced about the third period in this history. People began to see the full range of flowers which were accessible together with all types of easy and cheaper ways for cultivating alpines without having to create a rockery. Interest then switched to the plants and far away from the rock structures, and this is the key feature of this third period in the history of rock gardening.
Author Resource:
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