Glorifying Gardens

Celebrating the publication of her new book English Gardens, illustrated from the archives of COUNTRY LIFE, Kathryn Bradley-Hole charts the magazine’s extraordinary influence on our gardens

EVERY search I’ve conducted through COUNTRY LIFE’s backstory, whether early or recent, reveals further layers of fascination. The first edition appeared on January 8, 1897, at the beginning of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee year, so the magazine’s weekly offerings, covering more than 120 years, present a unique and priceless record of the English gardening scene as it has unfolded. In that time, it has featured more than 6,000 gardens, from High Victorian formality in the early years to today’s freer styles and necessary ecological leanings.

At the time of COUNTRY LIFE’s launch, horticultural journalism had long been flourishing, under numerous periodicals including Amateur Gardening, Gardening Illustrated, the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society, Gardening World, Gardeners’ Magazine, the Journal of Horticulture and the Gardeners’ Chronicle. Between them, they served the landed garden owner, the professional gardener and also the owners of much smaller gardens in the rapidly expanding towns and suburbs.

Among these titles, there were articles by star writers of their day, including gardener turned-publishing mogul William Robinson (1838–1935), the artist and plantswoman Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932) and articulate head gardeners of their day, such as Edwin Beckett of Aldenham House, Hertfordshire and James Hudson, employed by the Rothschilds at Gunnersbury Park, Middlesex. All of them were established writers and contributed articles for COUNTRY LIFE, but Robinson and Jekyll stand out as steering the course of English gardening in a new direction during the last quarter of the 19th century and the opening quarter of the 20th.