The original wild gardener - William Robinson

2 comments

September 29, 1:49 PM

by Robin Wedewer, Gardening Examiner

 

 

William Robinson made many enemies for his
outspoken and often outrageous statements. But he
also made lifelong friends with great influences such
as Gertrude Jekyll.

It was Robinson, the self-proclaimed “wild gardener,” whose influence evolved into the English cottage garden style. His ideas were groundbreaking and can be seen in today’s gardening—the use of native plants, planting to sustain wildlife and working with nature rather than trying to bend nature to some ideal.

A new book on Robinson’s work and influence, William Robinson: The Wild Gardener, by Richard Bisgrove was released in September. Following is an interview with the author about his work.

Robin: To me, one of the most interesting aspects about reading of historic gardens and gardeners is how ideas and ideals change as a result of what’s going on in the rest of society. Tell me a little bit about the time and influences of the day that set the stage for William Robinson’s entrance to make such a significant impact.

Richard Bisgrove: Robinson arrived in England from Ireland at the height of the Industrial Revolution and just at the time that the most advanced thinkers were beginning to realize the cost, as well as the benefits, of industrialization.  William Morris, John Ruskin and their associates were beginning to search for a new Utopia.  Robinson translated  their ideas of a more egalitarian and sustainable society into a language for gardeners: "industrial" bedding schemes had to give way to the gentler scene of natural or "wild" gardens.

Waterlily tank at Gravetye, Robinson's home

Robin: Robinson introduced the idea of “wild gardening” in response to the fashionable gardens of the day that he saw as too geometric, stylized and manicured. What are the influences of his ideas and work that we can still see in today’s gardens?

Richard Bisgrove: Robinson's approach was based on aesthetics rather more than science - the word "ecology" was not invented until he had more-or-less retired from publishing. But his ideas of beauty were inspired by the harmonies of the natural landscape. In the early 20th century his ideas of the wild garden developed into the ecological gardens of Karl Foerster in Germany and Jens Jensen in Chicago for example.  Later we have prairie landscapes, wildflower meadows and "ecological landscape design," all of which have influenced gardens and the public landscape. The use of grasses and native plants, the emphasis of planting to sustain wildlife, the idea of working with nature rather than against it all feature in Robinson's wild garden and are all powerful ideas shaping the 21st century garden around the world.

William Robinson: The Wild Gardener is now
available in bookstores. Retailing at $60.

Robin: Robinson was certainly an outspoken character, making many enemies as well as friends, because of his strong opinions and ideas. What was his advice for the average gardener with a small plot of land to cultivate? What should a gardener strive for and consider important?

Richard Bisgrove: Robinson addressed himself primarily to the professional gardener (including market gardeners), to the owners of large estates and to politicians responsible for the public landscape.  Fortunately for us he had the good sense (and luck?) to employ the artist Alfred Parsons to illustrate his ideas. Parsons was  brilliant at conveying the charm of small incidents in the wild landscape--a tuft of snowdrops at the foot of a twisted tree root or a colony of delicate columbines floating above a patch of turf.  Largely through Parsons, Robinson demonstrated the potential for joy in the smallest spaces--an idea also being imported at that time from Japan, where Parsons spent two years studying and painting.  

In his determination to fight against the evils of the industrial age Robinson became something of a gardening dictator.  That age has passed so we can read the more outspoken aspects of Robinson's writing (of which there are many!) purely for amusement and satisfy our own creative instincts in our own gardens, so long as we are courteous to our neighbors.

Robin: One of the movements most talked about today in gardening is sustainability and locally grown foods. I find it interesting that this isn’t necessarily a “new idea” and that Robinson was a proponent of the ideas early on. What were some of the “sustainable” ideals that he promoted?

Richard Bisgrove: Robinson made most of his enemies in England by writing about the superiority of French horticulture.  He wanted the English to adopt French ideas in order to produce better and healthier food over a longer season and at lower prices to feed the poorer classes: English food for the whole English populace rather than expensive imports for the English rich.  He was keen on the generous use of manure and compost to enrich the soil, on careful attention to the training and pruning of fruit trees, on the use of "bell-glasses" (cloches) to nurture early and late crops and on craftsmanship in general.  In the ornamental garden he preached "right plant, right place" - choose plants which will grow well in a particular situation rather than wasting resources to work against nature.  He pulled down his own greenhouses at Gravetye as wasteful and wrote vigorously on the use of wood as a fuel, arguing that we must eventually run out of fossil fuels.

Robin: Robinson’s Gravetye Manor is, of course, now a hotel and restaurant, which maintains the gardens, although, from my understanding, in a more manicured state than when Robinson was in residence. One of the disadvantages of reading about historic gardens is that we must rely on descriptions, illustrations and, in some cases, old photos of gardens. This doesn’t give us the average person a realistic idea of how a garden looked at a particular point in time. What gardens can we look at today that would show is the influence William Robinson had on gardening and illustrate for the average gardener the ideals of the “wild garden?”

Richard Bisgrove: The garden at Gravetye Manor evolved dramatically during the fifty years that Robinson lived there so there is no one right view.  The present garden is a good approximation to that at the end of Robinson's life, although it is never possible to freeze an active gardener's garden at any one point in time.  The outlying parts of any large garden, where nature and horticulture meet, will give a good idea of what Robinson had in mind.  In England such gardens would include Leonardslee, Nymans and Wakehurst Place near London and many gardens in the south west: Trebah, Heligan etc.  My favorite is Vann, a smaller garden at Hambledon, near Guildford in Surrey.  I am not familiar with US gardens so cannot advise on what to see there.

It is worth pointing out, even to those whose interests are primarily with domestic gardening, that Robinson's interests were extraordinarily wide.  He did not think much of American gardens when he visited in 1870 but he was deeply impressed with Olmsted's public parks, with garden cemeteries and with other aspects of the public landscape.  He reported the development of America's National Parks in his magazines and corresponded with several distinguished Americans.  He wrote about cemeteries, wood fires, asparagus cultivation and wild gardens with equal fervor, always conveying the message that gardening provided a way towards a better world for everyone.

Although the contemporary vision of Robinson’s home, Gravetye, is more manicured than in Robinson’s time, climbers on the house and terrace, the use of herbaceous perennials to cover the ground among the shrubs and the meadow and North American pines are all characteristic of Robinson’s work. 

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