DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49977#0201
CHAPTER IX.
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
“ . . . . retired leisure
That in trim gardens takes his pleasure.”
M ILTON.
“ That is the walk, and this the arbour ;
That is the garden, this the grove.”
George Herbert.
period now to be surveyed falls naturally into three
divisions. The first, the reign of Charles I.; the second,
the Commonwealth; the third, the Restoration. The develop-
ment of gardening in each of these has its own distinctive
character. The current of slow progress in horticulture runs on
smoothly, but garden design does not alter much until the third
portion of the time. During the Commonwealth, there was a
movement towards the improvement of orchards and market
gardens, and the reign of Charles II. witnessed a great revival
in gardening in all its branches. The early part is merely a
continuation of the gardening in the time of James I. ; the
men whose works have already been quoted were still alive—
Parkinson, Johnson, and the Tradescants—and they form a link
with the Elizabethan age. Sir William Temple and John
Evelyn, whose names are so intimately connected with the
garden history of the Restoration, in like manner connect that
period with the brilliant days of gardening at the close of the
seventeenth century.
Each succeeding generation of gardeners had a very poor
opinion of the capabilities of their predecessors, while they
thought the excellence of their own gardens could hardly be
surpassed. Holinshed maintained that there never were such
*
12
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
“ . . . . retired leisure
That in trim gardens takes his pleasure.”
M ILTON.
“ That is the walk, and this the arbour ;
That is the garden, this the grove.”
George Herbert.
period now to be surveyed falls naturally into three
divisions. The first, the reign of Charles I.; the second,
the Commonwealth; the third, the Restoration. The develop-
ment of gardening in each of these has its own distinctive
character. The current of slow progress in horticulture runs on
smoothly, but garden design does not alter much until the third
portion of the time. During the Commonwealth, there was a
movement towards the improvement of orchards and market
gardens, and the reign of Charles II. witnessed a great revival
in gardening in all its branches. The early part is merely a
continuation of the gardening in the time of James I. ; the
men whose works have already been quoted were still alive—
Parkinson, Johnson, and the Tradescants—and they form a link
with the Elizabethan age. Sir William Temple and John
Evelyn, whose names are so intimately connected with the
garden history of the Restoration, in like manner connect that
period with the brilliant days of gardening at the close of the
seventeenth century.
Each succeeding generation of gardeners had a very poor
opinion of the capabilities of their predecessors, while they
thought the excellence of their own gardens could hardly be
surpassed. Holinshed maintained that there never were such
*
12