Reflections, learning & inspiration from the past. Historical people and places.
Garden history
Buried behind Sandra Lawrence's shed was a colossal lawn roller, a relic of Britain's lawn-mad past. Uncovering its history led her into a forgotten world of striped grass, concrete-chic gardenalia, and a time when every respectable gardener needed an impracticably heavy roller.
Wildlife
From show gardens to skydiving, how beavers went from hats to heroes.
Garden history
The silent desecration of our ancient orchards
Garden history
What the radically different fate of two remote islands can tell us about managing plants
Garden history
From tranquil heathland to battlefields—a closer look at the humble fence reveals a tale of invention, conflict, and unintended consequences.
Garden history
The outsider world of a Greenwich bohemian
Garden history
A little-known Flemish painter produced one of the masterpieces of Italian Renaissance garden art
Garden history
From whirring chainsaws to war-ready platoons, learn how a simple gardening task almost triggered World War III in the most dramatic tree surgery ever attempted.
Garden history
The swashbuckling gardening style of H. Rider Haggard
Garden history
The haunting ruins in a forgotten corner of one of Paris's most famous parks whisper of a dark past, but they are not unique.
Garden history
Have you ever thought about the natural pollinators and the plants that co-evolved over millions of years? How do the plants fare once they have been collected and relocated around the world?
Garden history
It's said a picture is worth a thousand words. If only we knew what they were...