Free to follow every thread. No paywall, no dead ends.
Garden: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Garden
The earliest gardens were not places of beauty but of power and control, established in the valley of the Yellow River during the Shang dynasty between 1600 and 1046 BC. These were vast, enclosed parks where kings and nobles hunted game or grew fruit and vegetables, serving as extensions of royal authority rather than leisure spaces. Ancient inscriptions carved on tortoise shells reveal three distinct characters for garden: you, pu, and yuan. You referred to a royal garden housing birds and animals, while pu was strictly for plants. By the time of the Qin dynasty from 221 to 206 BC, yuan became the universal character for all gardens, a symbol that combined a small picture of a garden enclosed within a square representing a wall, alongside symbols for a pond and a pomegranate tree. This etymological root of enclosure remains the single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden today, distinguishing it from the open wilderness.
Decadence and Design
King Zhou, the last ruler of the Shang dynasty, constructed a garden so infamous that later philosophers cited it as the ultimate example of decadence and bad taste. Known as Shaqui or the Dunes of Sand, this pleasure ground featured a Wine Pool and Meat Forest that defied all norms of restraint. The pool was lined with polished oval stones from the seashore and filled with wine, large enough to float several small boats. An island in the center held trees with skewers of roasted meat hanging from their branches, allowing King Zhou and his concubines to drift by, drinking wine and eating meat directly from the trees. This excess stood in stark contrast to the more structured Terrace of Shanghua built by King Jing of the Zhou dynasty in 535 BC, which featured lavishly decorated palaces, and the Terrace of Gusu begun in 505 BC. The Terrace of Gusu was a mountain-side complex with terraces connected by galleries and a lake where boats shaped like blue dragons navigated, offering a view as far as Lake Tai.
Eastern Serenity
While Western gardens often sought to dominate nature, Eastern traditions developed a philosophy of merging with it. The earliest recorded Japanese gardens were pleasure gardens of Emperors and nobles, mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, the first chronicle of Japanese history published in 720 CE. In spring 74 CE, Emperor Keikō put carp into a pond and rejoiced to see them morning and evening, a simple act that set a precedent for observation and harmony. By 486, Emperor Kenzō was feasting at the edge of a winding stream within a garden that sought to be natural, informal, and unforced. This approach mirrored Korean gardens, which have a history spanning more than two thousand years back to the Three Kingdoms period, yet remain little known in the West. The moss garden at the Saihō-ji temple in Kyoto, started in 1339, exemplifies this sparse use of plants to create a meditative space, contrasting sharply with the dense floral displays of later Western styles.
Common questions
When were the earliest gardens established in the valley of the Yellow River?
The earliest gardens were established in the valley of the Yellow River during the Shang dynasty between 1600 and 1046 BC. These vast enclosed parks served as extensions of royal authority where kings and nobles hunted game or grew fruit and vegetables.
What was the purpose of the Wine Pool and Meat Forest in King Zhou's garden?
King Zhou constructed the Wine Pool and Meat Forest as a pleasure ground to demonstrate decadence and bad taste. The pool was filled with wine to float small boats while trees held skewers of roasted meat for his concubines to eat directly from the branches.
When was the moss garden at the Saihō-ji temple in Kyoto started?
The moss garden at the Saihō-ji temple in Kyoto was started in 1339. This sparse use of plants created a meditative space that contrasted sharply with the dense floral displays of later Western styles.
When did King Francis I establish new gardens at the Château de Fontainebleau?
King Francis I established new gardens at the Château de Fontainebleau by 1528. These gardens featured fountains, parterres, and a forest of pine trees brought from Provence.
Where is the only surviving Caroline garden located?
The only surviving Caroline garden is located at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. This garden is considered too simple to attract much interest compared to other styles.
How do gardens contribute to climate change through greenhouse gases?
Gardens contribute to climate change through greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Carbon dioxide results from burning garden waste and using power tools, methane comes from compacting soil, and nitrous oxide arises from applying excess nitrogen fertilizer.
Gardening did not enter the political discourse of Europe as an art form until the mid 16th century, when it became a symbol of the ideal republic and utopian abundance. King Charles VIII, after his campaign in Italy in 1495, brought Italian craftsmen like Pacello da Mercogliano to France to create Italian-style gardens at the Château d'Amboise and Château Gaillard. His successor Henry II, who had met Leonardo da Vinci, created an Italian garden at the Château de Blois. By 1528, King Francis I established new gardens at the Château de Fontainebleau featuring fountains, parterres, and a forest of pine trees brought from Provence. The Château d'Anet, designed by architect Philibert de l'Orme in 1536, became one of the earliest and most influential examples of the classic French garden, integrating parterres and water surfaces with greenery. This style evolved into the French formal garden, which contrasted with the English landscape garden by forcing nature into axial symmetry, long rows of elm or chestnut trees, and clipped hedgerows that reflected the orderly triumph of man's will over nature.
The English Rebellion
In the United Kingdom, homegrown domestic gardening traditions were mostly practical rather than aesthetic, unlike the grand gardens found on castle grounds. Tudor gardens emphasized contrast and illusion, featuring knot gardens with complex arrangements of interwoven box hedges and fragrant herbs like rosemary. Sanded paths ran between the hedgings of open knots, while closed knots were filled with single-colored flowers. These gardens were always placed on level ground, with elevated areas reserved for terraces to view the intricacy. However, the Jacobean gardens of 1624 were described by Henry Wotton as a delightful confusion, a chaotic state that Caroline gardens began to shed under Italian Renaissance influence. During the reign of Charles II, many new Baroque style country houses were built, yet Oliver Cromwell sought to destroy many Tudor, Jacobean, and Caroline style gardens. The only surviving Caroline garden is located at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, but it is too simple to attract much interest, leaving the evolution of the English landscape garden to the 18th century.
The Science of Soil
Garden design is a process that balances the horticultural requirements of plants with the aesthetic desires of the owner, often requiring professional training in landscape architecture. Professional garden designers consider the season-to-season appearance, lifespan, growth habit, and size of plants, as well as their combinations with other plants and landscape features. Most gardens consist of a mixture of natural and constructed elements, including flora, fauna, soil, water, air, and light, alongside paths, patios, decking, sculptures, and drainage systems. The needs of maintenance are equally critical, affecting choices regarding the speed of growth and the spreading or self-seeding of plants. Budget limitations often dictate the style, with simpler gardens using fewer plants and less costly hard landscape materials, or owners choosing to create their garden over time, area by area. This balance between the natural and the artificial is inherent in every garden, even those designed to look completely wild.
The Environmental Cost
Gardens can cause environmental damage through the destruction of natural habitats, the use of tap water for irrigation, and the application of chemicals that kill not only pests but their predators like hedgehogs and song thrushes. The use of metaldehyde slug killer has led to the death of living beings within the garden itself, while indiscriminate plant collectors have caused local species extinction outside the garden. Climate change impacts gardens negatively, yet gardens also contribute to the problem through greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Gardeners produce carbon dioxide by over-cultivating soil, burning garden waste, and using power tools that burn fossil fuels. Methane is produced by compacting soil and making it anaerobic, while nitrous oxide results from applying excess nitrogen fertilizer when plants are not actively growing. Conversely, gardeners can help prevent climate change by using trees and shrubs, turning garden waste into soil organic matter, and switching from power tools to hand tools.
The Future of Growth
Modern gardening has evolved to include diverse types such as hydroponic gardens that grow plants without soil, rain gardens that absorb rainfall falling onto nearby hard surfaces, and victory gardens that grew food to supplement wartime rations. Some gardeners manage their gardens without using any water from outside the garden, as seen in the Ventnor Botanic Garden on the Isle of Wight and parts of Beth Chatto's garden in Essex. The concept of the garden has expanded to include community gardens, roof gardens, and therapeutic gardens designed to aid mental health. The term garden has traditionally been a more general one, encompassing zoological gardens, which were formerly called zoos, and botanical gardens that study and protect flora. As the world faces climate change, the role of the garden shifts from a mere display of beauty to a critical component of environmental sustainability, where the choice of nitrogen-fixing plants and the avoidance of peat become acts of resistance against ecological collapse.