Try including different types of pelargoniums in your garden, which you can propagate from each year. Use them in pots along a garden wall, or as a garden table centrepiece, for instance,' recommends Rosie. Growth was, in fact, prolific and it was virtually impossible to eradicate. It is an invasive species which now impacts biodiversity and flood management, and can undermine property foundations. The Royal Horticultural Society was established in 1804 in London to collect plants brought in from expeditions in the British colonies and other countries. High society funded the society’s work to get seeds of the rare plants in return which they planted on their estates. The Victorian houses had lots of open space in front and this was one of the major reasons why they had great chances of growing different kinds of plants. London square was the other place which can be included in the list of the famous Victorian era gardens. As far as the garden design is concerned the Victorian garden is not much different to the Georgian model: a terrace by the house, a parterre below and views out to the parkland. Interesting to note that a Victorian garden could be built in Elizabethan, Italian and other styles. Knightshayes, Devon – the gardens were designed in the 19th century by Edward Kemp, one of the leaders in the design of parks and gardens during the mid-Victorian era in England. Note the colourful flowers and the vase on the pedestal.

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What type of railings and gates should Victorian gardens have?

One style, called carpet bedding, was a much more precise and manicured look that involved selecting flowers of all the same height. This style often meant creating designs (geometric shapes and mosaics) within the bed using symmetry and colors. This approach requires a decent amount of planning and precision, but the look can be incredible. It is a splendid garden located above the river Conwy with panoramic views across to Snowdonia. Upper level has large Italianate terraces and formal lawns. Below you have a wooded valley, stream and wild garden. From May to June it also has a 55 metre laburnum tunnel of golden blooms. Cragside, Northumberland This 1881 map shows that within the walled garden there was a pond with a bridge over the centre. The area marked ‘20’ on the map shows the position of a Cedar of Lebanon tree, photographed by Matthew. The cross-hatched sections indicate glasshouses. ‘Hertfordshire Ordnance Survey, Six-inch to the mile’, surveyed 1881, published 1884 [4] Photograph of a Cedar of Lebanon in the garden at Stagenhoe Park taken from the upper windows of the house, c. 1846-1869 Fencing was essential to Victorian gardens. In part, it was used to delineate property lines. But there was also, as with everything else, the ability to display one’s economic status with the type of fencing used. There are a number of ways you can replicate the Victorian-era garden design in your green space, whether you’ve got a few square metres or a couple of acres. 1. Keep up with lawn maintenance

The detailed botanical drawings had been created by Walter Fitch, based on Joseph’s sketches that he had made while in Sikkim. They were made into a widely-read book, Rhododendrons of the Sikkim Himalayas. Flower beds: Although gardeners in the Victorian area liked formal gardens and flower beds, Victorian style also included wild, exotic plants. Flowers were grown along walkways or in large, round beds, or if space and money allowed, in geometric shapes or intricate mosaics. Victorian greenhouses are characterized by a steep roof pitch for maximum light transmission and to create headroom for palms and other tall plants. Glass panels tend to be narrower than those used in modern greenhouses and period features such as cresting and finials abound. No other bloom signifies romance more than a rose and large scented decorative white, pink or red blooms would be everywhere. There is no more suitable plant for your Victorian garden than a hybrid perpetual rose which is repeat flowering and features large fragrant blooms. Among the most popular and still available today are the red Countess of Oxford, introduced in 1869, crimson Empereur du Maroc (1858), white Gloire Lyonaisse (1885) and pink Lady Stuart (1851).

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The entrance to the walled garden was through large double gates, known as the Stag Gates. Photograph of ‘Gateway to Great House, Stagenhoe Park’, c. 1846-1869 The lawns needed to be green and well-maintained because that’s where one would throw parties, play lawn games, and serve tea to their guests. But it also would be the base for all the trees, shrubs, flowers, and ornamentation that are the staple of any classic Victorian garden. Flowers The banker Alfred de Rothschild’s head gardener claimed you could estimate a person’s fortune from the size of their bedding plant list: 10,000 for a squire, 20,000 for a baronet, 30,000 for an earl and 40,000 for a duke. Rothschild had 41,000 plants on his list. Not every plant in the Victorian garden should make it onto your list In recent years, stumperies have undergone a revival, partly fuelled by the mass of tree roots left behind after storms. Countless landscapers have been incorporating elements of stumperies into their designs. Shrubs, the bolder the better,including acid-loving azaleas, spring-flowering camelias, hardy cotoneasters, forsythias, versatile fushias, hydrangeas, magnolias, skimmias with winter berries, and easy to grow viburnums were gathered from all over the world and found their place in a Victorian garden. For an iconic tree, why not choose a Monkey Puzzle that became available in the 1840s.

This garden was not opened for the common man because the queen was not in favor of it. But after the control went over the government, the garden was opened for the common man. This garden has a great collection of rhododendrons. The people of the Victorian period have a passion for the exotic plants.

Again, particularly if gathered from some exotic far off land, many trees were highly valued, none more so than the Monkey Puzzle which became commercially available in the 1840s. Fruit trees also became fashionable, choose the excellently flavoured Triomphe De Vienne pear that has been growing vigorously since 1864 or Josephine de Malines. It was believed public gardens would help “decrease drunkenness and improve the manners of the lower classes”. Intellectuals and the upper classes also encouraged gardening as a means of decreasing social unrest. With the Museum being closed to visitors, now is a good opportunity to delve into the boxes of some of the lesser known archives we hold. This week, I have been cataloguing the archive of Victorian Head Gardener, Matthew Balls (1817-1905). Since our collecting focus is contemporary and 20 th century garden design, I was excited to see this older material, especially because archives of Victorian Head Gardeners are rare. As Queen Victoria’s empire grew, so did our Victorian gardens, with all sorts of exciting new produce: rhododendrons and magnolias from the Himalayas, monkey puzzle trees from the Andes, orchids from Central America, and blooms of every description from various continents.