Garden design through the ages

The Garden House in the Pleasure Grounds at Osterley Park and House, Middlesex — The Garden House in the Pleasure Grounds at Osterley Park and House | © National Trust Images/Hannah Burton

From the self-sufficient gardens of the medieval period through to the low-maintenance, ornamental gardens of the 20th century, the fashions of each period in history greatly influenced garden design. Explore notable features of garden design during different periods in our history and discover where you can find examples of each at the places we care for.

Medieval gardens

(Middle Ages to 1500)

Medieval garden style was dominated by monasteries and manor houses. Herbs were grown for medicine and gardens were an important food source.

Medieval features to look out for

Gardens enclosed with wattle fences or quickthorn hedges
Trellis walkways and arbours providing shade and privacy
Raised beds to prevent plants becoming waterlogged
Grass treated as a flowery mead, planted with low growing wild flowers
Turf seats usually built against a wall with flowers planted in the grass
Physic gardens with regimented beds of medicinal herbs
Orchards providing apples for the kitchen and for making cider
Fishponds and stew ponds (where fish were purged of muddy water before cooking) to ensure a regular supply of protein during the many fast days of the Christian calendar
Dovecotes to provide pigeons for the kitchen, feathers for cushions and dung for fertilizing the garden
Pleasances, or ornamental parks for recreation, relaxation and sport

Examples of medieval garden design

Alfriston Clergy House, East Sussex

This rare 14th-century thatched and timber-framed Wealden ‘hall house’ was the first building to be acquired by the National Trust in 1896. The idyllic garden was laid out in the 1920s by the then tenant Sir Robert Witt to evoke a medieval garden. Here you’ll see old-fashioned roses, topiary, a potager for vegetables, a herb garden and an orchard.

Lavenham Guildhall, Suffolk

The garden of this timber-framed building, one of the finest of its kind in Britain, contains plants used to dye medieval cloth from which the village derived its wealth. Madder produced red dye; weld, cardoon, dyers greenweed and tansy provided yellows; woad produced blue; and safflower yielded both yellow and red dye. Teasels were used to finish the cloth.

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Tudor gardens

(1485 to 1603)

The influence of the Renaissance left its mark on the gardens of the Tudors, seen in the inclusion of architectural features. The most recognised feature from this period is the knot garden.

Tudor features to look out for

Knot gardens, geometric beds edged with a low hedge of box or other shrubs
Flowers such as violets, marigolds, and the rose cultivated not only for their beauty but for flavouring sweets and desserts
Mounts (artificial hills) to provide views of the garden and the landscape beyond
Banqueting houses to provide an intimate room for enjoying desserts and for entertainment
Fountains and automated water features to animate the garden, reflecting an interest in hydraulics
Deer parks to provide meat for the household as well as being a symbol of wealth and status
Symbolic devices and ornaments such as poles topped with colourful heraldic animals and labyrinths associated with religious or mythological significance

Examples of Tudor garden design

Godolphin, Cornwall

Centuries of neglect meant that the 16th-century garden of this romantic old house remained virtually unchanged. As such, it's considered one of the most important of its kind in Europe and today we’re carrying out major conservation work to ensure its preservation.

The Water Garden at Lyveden New Bield, Peterborough, Northamptonshire. — The Water Garden at Lyveden New Bield | © National Trust Images/Paul Harris

Lyveden New Bield, Northhamptonshire

Created by Sir Thomas Tresham as a symbol of Catholicism, the house at Lyveden was never completed and has remained unaltered, casting a ghostly presence over the garden. Composed of orchards, terraces, moats and viewing mounts, the garden has been meticulously restored and offers a rare chance to discover Elizabethan design.

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire

The arrangements of courts and orchards in the garden have hardly changed since the house was built by the formidable Bess of Hardwick in the late 1500s. The little banqueting house is typical of the period, though the garden we see today is from a later date. The impressive herb garden was created by the National Trust in the 1960s and contains plants that would have been familiar to an Elizabethan household. There's also a rare surviving series of fishponds in the western side of the park.

The Vyne, Hampshire

This 16th-century Tudor powerhouse was visited by King Henry VIII on several occasions. Today the early 17th-century summerhouse has survived as one of the oldest garden buildings in the country. Along with an orchard, there's a good collection of ancient trees, including the Hundred Guinea Oak, believed to be about 650 years old.

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Stuart Gardens

(1600 to early 1700s)

Gardens grew larger during the Stuart period as the influence of French and Dutch formal gardens brought features such as long avenues, terraces and topiary.

Stuart features to look out for

Formal layout influenced by the great gardens of France
Terraces controlling the irregular natural landscape
Parterres evolved from the Tudor knots
Avenues, an expression of welcome as well as status
Canals reflecting the fashion for all things Dutch at the end of the 17th century
Fountains and extravagant water displays to animate the gardens
Topiary, an expression of the ultimate control over nature
Woody places for intrigue and exercise

Examples of Stuart garden design

Chastleton House, Oxfordshire

Built between 1607 and 1612, the garden at Chastleton House retains its Jacobean layout, divided into compartments according to use. Even some Jacobean planting has survived, particularly a mulberry tree and the Restoration Oak, which was planted in honour of Charles II. Most impressive of all, however, is the circle of mysterious topiary shapes in the Best Garden.

Erddig, Wrexham

The gardens at Erddig represent one of the most significant surviving examples of an early 18th-century formal garden in Britain. The central path to the canal pond is flanked by great formal lawns and apple orchards, divided by pleached lime avenues. The original gravel paths take you past fruit trees espaliered against the walls, a typical feature of gardens of this period.

Hanbury Hall, Worcestershire

The early 18th-century formal garden at Hanbury, designed by celebrated gardener of the day George London, has been painstakingly restored using a surviving plan from the period. Features include a sunken parterre, a fruit garden, a wilderness, summerhouses, an obelisk, a pool and delightful ornamental pavilions. There's also and orangery complete with citrus plants.

Visitors at East Riddlesden Hall, West Yorkshire — Visitors at East Riddlesden Hall | © National Trust Images/Trevor Ray Hart

East Riddlesden Hall, Yorkshire

A historic pond with resident ducks adorns the front garden at East Riddlesden Hall, while the intimate formal garden behind is in keeping with the 17th-century style of the house. There, we planted a herb border based on Culpeper’s Herbal of 1653. Facing this are bushes of black, red and white currants, which were highly esteemed fruit in the 17th century.

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Georgian gardens

(1714 to 1830)

Gardens and parks merged into one during the 18th century to create a British style that would influence gardens across Europe. Many of the gardens we look after have features inspired by the European Grand Tour, which was popular in the Georgian period.

Georgian features to look out for

Informal layout designed as a classical Arcadia
Lakes created to reflect the landscape as well as for recreation
Cascades to add drama and animation
Temples, grottos and follies which doubled up as tea-rooms and viewing towers
Clumps and shelterbelts to provide shelter and privacy to the park
Shrubberies planted with newly introduced exotics from abroad
The ha-ha, an invisible boundary to keep livestock away from the house
Circuit walks taking you on a tour around the park

Examples of Georgian garden design

The lead statue of Bacchus in front of the Temple of Piety at Studley Royal Water Garden, North Yorkshire — Statue of Bacchus in front of the Temple of Piety at Studley Royal Water Garden | © National Trust Images/Andrew Butler

Studley Royal Water Garden, Yorkshire

Studley Royal is one of the least-altered Georgian gardens in England. Begun in the early 18th century, this water garden transitions between the formal areas and the naturalistic park by using geometry in the shape of the Half Moon Pond, the canal and the avenues. Due it its importance, Studley Royal Water Garden has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Stowe, Buckinghamshire

Stowe is the birthplace of the 18th-century landscape garden in Britain and one of the best examples of an idealised classical landscape. It was created by the leading architects and gardeners of the day, including Vanbrugh, Bridgeman, Kent and Brown. Statues, temples and a grotto furnish the various parts of the garden which were given names to conjure up a classical Arcadia such as the Elysian Fields and the Grecian Valley.

Croome, Worcestershire

By walking the 18th-century circuit of the park you can enjoy statues, follies and temples by some of the greatest architects of the day, including Robert Adam, James Wyatt and 'Capability' Brown. Brown also designed the park with its mile-long serpentine lake and unbeatable views. This was his first complete private commission and we’re now working to restore it to reflect the architectural garden features and variety of planting styles from the Georgian era.

The Palladian Bridge at Prior Park, Bath — The Palladian Bridge at Prior Park | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

Prior Park Landscape Garden, Somerset

This intimate 18th-century landscape garden sits in a valley on the edge of Bath and has panoramic views of the city. The park is famous for having one of only three surviving Palladian bridges in the country (and one of only four in the world), complete with 18th- and 19th-century graffiti. However, there’s more to see, including a wilderness, grotto and cascade which we're in the process of restoring.

Claremont Landscape Garden, Surrey

Many of the great names in landscape design history played a part in the creation of Claremont Landscape Garden. Over the years Sir John Vanbrugh, Charles Bridgeman, William Kent and ‘Capability’ Brown all put their distinctive stamp on these pleasure grounds near Esher, Surrey. Alongside the extraordinary views, serpentine lake, grotto, Belvedere Tower and Camellia terrace, its most prominent feature is the grass amphitheatre, believed to be the largest of its kind left in Europe.

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Victorian gardens

(1837 to 1901)

Exotic plants from around the world were brought home to gardens by Victorian collectors. The bright new colours were displayed in more formal garden styles during this period.

Victorian features to look out for

Plant collections gathered from all corners of the world
Arboretums to display collections of trees on a large scale
Flower beds in bright colours
Walled kitchen gardens using advanced technology to produce ever increasing ranges of fruits and vegetables
Advances in glasshouse technology enabling the most tender of plants to be cultivated at home
Rockeries inspired by expeditions to mountainous regions
Wild gardens, which were a backlash against the industrial world

Examples of Victorian garden design

Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire

You may be forgiven for thinking you're in France when you arrive at Waddesdon as it was built by the Rothschild banking family in the 1880s in the style of a French chateau. It remains one of the best high-Victorian gardens in Britain, famous for its collection of specimen trees and its impressive formal parterres.

Sunnycroft, Shropshire

Sunnycroft is the place to go if you want to experience a late-Victorian villa garden. It has survived largely unaltered, with an avenue of wellingtonia, a kitchen garden, meadow, conservatory, peach house, orchard, shrubbery and herbaceous beds. It also has the most Victorian of all garden features: a croquet lawn.

Rowallane Garden, County Down

This plantsman’s garden was laid out in the mid-19th century and has all types of garden features enjoyed by the Victorians including a large rock garden, a semi-natural garden, wild flowers and a formal walled garden. There's also a unique collection of conifers and an outstanding collection of acid-loving plants.

Quarry face with planting in foreground at Standen, West Sussex — Quarry face with planting at Standen | © National Trust Images/Andrew Butler

Standen, Sussex

This important Arts and Crafts house was laid out in the 1890s by the architect Philip Webb. The garden sits on several levels, with spectacular views over the valley. It contains all the elements to be expected from a garden of this period, including a kitchen garden with some original fruit trees. The most impressive feature is the Quarry Garden, which was created with the help of the famous rock garden specialists, the Backhouse Nursery.

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20th-century gardens

Colour themed gardens reigned during this time and, as a backlash against the hardships of two world wars, gardens became increasingly ornamental and low maintenance, culminating in the 1970s craze for conifers and grasses.

However, as the century came to a close, the garden style became more relaxed with a new fashion for prairie planting and an interest in wildflower meadows, while many have rediscovered the joys of kitchen gardening and self-sufficiency.

20th-century features to look out for

Garden rooms to divide the garden into different themes
Cottage gardening, looking back to a less industrial age
Woodland gardens
Colour-coordinated borders influenced by artists such as Gertrude Jekyll
Perfect lawns thanks to improved lawnmower machinery and chemicals
Bedding as a direct result of the commercialisation of the nursery trade
Naturalistic prairie planting
Rose gardens as popular as ever

Examples of 20th-century garden design

Castle Drogo, Devon

This 20th-century castle, perched high on Dartmoor, was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, one of the most famous architects of the day. Crisply trimmed architectural yew hedges reflect the austere building style of the castle. These, in turn, heighten the surprise of the exuberant herbaceous garden, with beds of various colours and textures flanking paths that form an Indian motif.

Hatchlands Park, Surrey

Amidst the vast park at Hatchlands is a small formal box garden that was designed in 1914 by Gertrude Jekyll, one of the most influential garden designers of the 20th century. Flower beds edged with dwarf hedging are filled with old-fashioned roses, irises, peonies and other plants that were popular at the time.

Buscot Park, Oxfordshire

A rill running down through a series of pools and fountains to a large lake makes up this famous 1920s water garden designed by the architect and garden designer Harold Peto. Water gardens on this scale are rare and well worth seeking out. You can also appreciate the original 18th-century landscape and the large walled garden now planted up for ornamental effect.

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Low-level view of spring borders with a grand manor house beyond

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Find out more about the historical landscapes that the talented garden teams work hard to conserve at the places you love to visit.

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Discover more with the National Trust Podcast

Explore Claremont Landscape Garden in Surrey in our podcast episode 'A garden fit for Bridgerton' to uncover historic parties described as the lovechild of a music festival and a garden party. You can also find more episodes from series seven, filled with nature and history.