Reflections on 2016

The year is coming to an end, and it’s a good time to reflect on all the activities and lessons learned in 2016. Here at Eden By The Bay we had a great time delving into plant procreation, learning about the seed-to-seed life cycle processes, and cloning plants through cuttings, division, and runners. We learned more about gardening innovations that followed the Landscape Movement, visited gardens and nature in the San Francisco Bay Area, and enjoyed the rain that brought relief from our drought!

Filoli Garden	Seasonal change
Planting from seed	Japanese Tea Garden

HTML Tables

In our spare time, we read books, went to the movies, had fun with a digital microscope, and enjoyed the blossoms and fall colors of our subtle Bay Area seasons. We took our annual trip to the desert in Southern California to see tenacious blossoms despite the ongoing drought, travelled vicariously to Mediterranean climates of the world with Monty Don, and learned about native plants and the importance of legacy trees. My husband and I made several trips to the Pacific Northwest to visit our son and daughter-in-law, and to experience its gardens and natural places. Looking back, it was a great year in the garden!

Christmas in Seattle

Greetings from the Emerald City, where we are celebrating Christmas with our son and daughter-in-law in their new home, and staying as guests in the Quisenbnb! Their place is modern and sleek and full of promise, just like they are (my husband and I feel invigorated in their presence)! They have worked hard over the past few months to put their unique and artistic stamp on their home, reflecting who they are, and providing both sanctuary and a welcoming atmosphere. Here we pass the torch to the next generation – enjoying family traditions passed down through the years, and starting new ones.

Hand crafted Christmas decoration by EJ

The house is decorated, the tree is trimmed, and the stockings are hung. Sweet and savory aromas waft from the kitchen, and the holiday music collection ranges from sacred to contemporary to jazzy. Gifts are appearing under the tree (more are being wrapped in other rooms—you can hear the crinkling paper and barked orders - “don’t come in”!). Hot chocolate and egg nog are on the menu, as well as pie and molasses cookies. A puzzle, games, and Netflix have been discussed as possible activities, along with outings to Alki Beach Park, the Seattle Museum of Art, and the Space Needle.

Robot sighting in the Snow Village

At the heart of all the activity and traditions is love. Love for family, friends, and Emanuel (God with us); and gratitude for our many blessings. We take a temporary pause from busy lives, work schedules, trials and victories to enjoy the season.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Holiday Cooking – Rosemary

This month I have been exploring several familiar Mediterranean herbs, which are used in savory holiday cuisine. I’m using J.O. Swahn’s The Lore of Spices for information, and today I’m learning about the aromatic herb rosemary.

Rosmarinus officinalis is in the Lamiaceae family (mint family). Rosemary originated in the Mediterranean and Asia, and has a long history of uses from symbolic, to medicinal, to culinary. Per Swahn, rosemary was named by Pliny the historian, to indicate that it grows close to the sea shore (ros for foam, and mare for the sea spray). During ancient times, rosemary had a religious role, and was used to strengthen memory and elicit fertility in the next life.

Caption: Botanical illustration of Rosmarinus officinalis L. from Koehler's Medicinal Plants.
Published before 1923 and in public domain in the United States.

In Medieval and Renaissance times, rosemary was used as a medicine, and possibly to cover up the saltiness of preserved meats. In the 17^th century, rosemary was used to flavor pork, lamb, game, and boiled potatoes. We continue to flavor food with rosemary in modern times; to extract its oils for use in perfumes, candles, and incense; and to include it as a drought tolerant plant in the landscape.

Rosemary grows as an evergreen shrub to 2-4 feet (.6-1.2 meters) high. Stems are woody, and mostly square in cross section; young branches are pubescent, turning to woody with age. Leaves are simple, opposite, leathery, linear, ½-1 ½ inches long, somewhat rounded at the tip (obtuse), generally rounded downward to the underside of the leaf (revolute), and woolly (tomentose) beneath. Flowers grow in tiny clusters (verticillasters) along the stem, and are pale blue, and rarely pink or white. The calyx grows as a bell (campanulate), with the corolla about three times as long as the calyx to 5/16 inches long. Two-lipped, with the upper lip entire, and the lower lip 2-lobed. 

Holiday Cooking – Sage

Back to the kitchen for more holiday cooking, this time using savory herbs from the Mediterranean. Our guide for this culinary adventure continues to be The Lore of Spices, by Jan-Öjvind Swahn. Today’s herb is sage, which provides a rich and potent flavoring for chicken and pork, wild game, rice dishes, and bread stuffing. The leaves can be used fresh, dried, or ground to a powder.

Salvia officinalis is in the Lamiaceae family (mint family). Sage has long been used as a healing herb (per Swahn, sage and salvia are both derived from the Latin word for saving, and the species name officinalis indicates a healing plant). Sage was used in ancient times for snakebites, female fertility, wisdom, and warding off evil. In Medieval times, it was used to promote general good health, ward off plague, and superstitiously to influence romance. Sage was grown in monasteries, and was included in Charlemagne’s list of medicinal plants to be grown on all estates.

Botanical illustration of Salvia officinalis from Koehler's Medicinal Plants.
Published before 1923 and in public domain in the United States.

Sage grows as a low bush approximately 2 feet (.6 meter) high. Stems are white and wooly. Leaves are oblong, 1-2 ½ inches long, entire or crenulate, with wrinkled edges (rugose). Flowers grow in a cluster consisting of two crowded clusters (verticillasters), with each cyme (cluster) arising opposite each other and with a central stem bearing 5-10 flowers (a formation typical for mint). Calyx is 3/8 – ½ inches long, pubescent, corolla is 1 3/8 inches long, in white, pink, or violet blue.

Holiday Cooking – Parsley

It is December already, so time to head for the kitchen! Time to make our favorite holiday dishes (and try a few new ones) – the kind of dishes that send delicious aromas throughout the house, and conjure up tasty memories of holidays past. Over the years, we have been working through Jan-Öjvind Swahn’s book, The Lore of Spices, to explore herbs and spices from around the world. Thanks to “plants on the move” these herbs and spices have enriched cuisines all over the planet, and our holiday cooking is a beneficiary.

In this Christmas season, I’m spotlighting three herbs from the Mediterranean – parsley, sage, and rosemary (three of the four herbs immortalized in Simon and Garfunkel’s song “Scarborough Fair” from their 1966 album “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme”; itself based on an old English folk song). These herbs are used extensively in European, Middle Eastern, and American cuisine. They are mild in flavor, compared with some of the fiery and potent spices we have explored over the years, but they add an earthy and homey taste to our vegetables, meats, stews, and soups.

Botanical illustration of Petroselinum crispum from Koehler's Medicinal Plants.
Published before 1923 and in public domain in the United States.

Petroselinum crispum is in the Apiaceae family (formerly Umbelliferae), the parsley plants. Parsley originated in the Mediterranean, around southern Italy, Greece, Tunisia, and Algeria. Not much is written about cooking with parsley in ancient times, instead it was thought to reduce the feeling of drunkenness, and crowned the heads of sports champions in ancient Greece. In Medieval times, parsley was thought to ward off evil, and was included in Charlemagne’s list of medicinal plants that should be grown on all estates. By the 1800s, French cooks saw parsley as a vital ingredient. Now we recognize that parsley is high in vitamin C; use parsley to garnish our meals and freshen our breath; and include parsley for many savory dishes. Swahn notes that the best way to bring out the full taste of parsley is to deep fry it, just until it turns bright green. Something new to try!

Parsley grows 3 feet (.9 meters) tall. Flowers are greenish-yellow or reddish in compound umbels, with involucels (small floral clusters), at the base. Fruit is ovate and compressed; seeds are slow to germinate. Leaves are ternately compound. All parts of the plant, especially the seeds, contain the essential oil, apiol; and a glycoside, apiin. Soak seeds before planting to accelerate germination; and transplant the fibrous root to a container, and place in a warm window for winter use.

Sex in the Garden: Wrap Up

Understand the seed-to-seed life cycle of plants, learn how to clone plants through cuttings, division, and runners, and enjoy a few curiosities of the natural world.

Propagating succulents

Getting Started

Learn the basics about the life cycle of plants.

Sex in the Garden
Birds and Bees – Flower Parts
Birds and Bees – Pollinators
Birds and Bees – Fertilization
Birds and Bees – Seeds
Birds and Bees – Germination
Birds and Bees – Fruit Development

Plant Propagation

Increase your plant population by cloning what you have, using cuttings, runners, and division; and zoom in on a gallery of seeds from Alaska and California.

Plant Propagation – Cutting
Plant Propagation – Runners
Plant Propagation – Dividing
Seed Gallery (Alaska Ark)
Seed Gallery (California Ark)

What's Blooming?

Observe the natural bloom cycle of favorite Bay Area plants from January through June.

What's Blooming in January?
What's Blooming in February?
What's Blooming in March?
What's Blooming in April?
What's Blooming in May?
What's Blooming in June?

Curiosities

Enjoy several curiosities of the natural world.

Discriminating Squirrels
Zooming In
Twin Corn

Books

Learn more about how to grow and propagate plants.

Grow Your Own Plants

Fall Colors in the Bay Area

Is it just me, or is this one of the most beautiful fall seasons we have had for a long time? Rains in October and early November have plumped up drought desiccated leaves and foliage; moss and polypodium are flourishing in bright green; and the late afternoon light seems especially warm and golden.

The San Francisco Bay Area (and California in general), is not known for fantastic fall colors, or any seasons at all for that matter. However, to the observant, there is a brief shift in nature that could pass for fall. Here are a few of the trees and plants that I’ve observed growing in the Bay Area and exhibiting “fall colors”.

Left: Pin Oak (Quercus palustris)

Center top: Chinese Pistache (Pistacia chinensis)

Center middle: Raywood Ash, Claret Ash (Fraxinus angustifolia)

Center bottom: Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica and cultivars)

Right: Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera)

Granted, it’s not like the fall colors in Vermont, and other destinations known for their seasons, but I’d like to make a case for planting a few items in the garden that mimic fall colors!

Thanksgiving Turkey Hunt

For the last month I have been hunting for turkeys in Dublin, California. I leave the office for my late afternoon walks, armed with my camera, and on the lookout turkeys!

Several turkeys wander through a business park in Dublin, CA

About this time every year, a rafter of wild turkeys assembles to forage for food. They roam the open land near the Camp Parks training ground, and the new Alameda County, East County Hall of Justice. They invade the landscaped areas of nearby business parks. The turkeys seem equal parts wary and curious, but mostly intent on a good meal.

Wild turkeys forage for food

Apparently, turkeys can become aggressive, especially around mating season, but the ones I encounter raise their heads briefly to asses me, and then go back to their acorns, seeds, berries, small amphibians, and bulbs. Wild turkeys are beautiful and fascinating to watch.

A rafter of turkeys near Camp Parks

Hoping you have a delicious Thanksgiving, surrounded by family and friends. Thank God for life, be grateful for your blessings, and hold on to hope through the inevitable rough patches!

Seed Gallery (Alaska Ark)

I am taking advantage of my dad’s latest project of collecting seeds from all over the Western United States, by photographing some of the seeds using my Plugable Digital Microscope (a gift from my wonderful husband). Together we’re creating an informal ark of seeds and images!

Below is another gallery of seeds, this time collected from my folk’s garden in Southeast Alaska. As we’ve discussed before, gardening is tricky in Southeast Alaska because of the short growing season (albeit long summer days), and lots of rain, but my mom and dad have a beautiful garden every summer. See: Little House in Southeast Alaska, and Rainforest Gardening.

This time I scrapped the light table to illuminate the seeds from below, but am still experimenting with lighting and focusing techniques from above [compare with Seed Gallery (California Ark)]. These seeds are quite small, so I’m providing individual and group shots. Note that these seeds are not Alaska natives (although there is a native dandelion subspecies—ssp. ceratophorum). Still, the plants are hardy enough to survive the rigors of Southeast Alaska, so they are included in the Alaska ark!

Digitalis purpurea (Foxglove seeds and dried leaf bit; 1/4 inch grid)	Foxglove (group shot)
Leucanthemum x superba (Shasta Daisy seeds and dried flower bit)	Shasta Daisy (group shot)
Taraxicum officinale (Dandelion seeds and parachutes)	Dandelion (group shot)

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Seed Gallery (California Ark)

For the last year or so, my dad (the consummate naturalist and forester) has been working on a seed gathering project. Collecting seeds is a great idea, both for plant propagation in our gardens, and for preservation. Seed banks help preserve genetic diversity, provide a source for plant breeders, protect heritage plant varieties, and provide a seed source in case of natural disasters or war. In my dad’s case, I suspect he is just having pure, science fun!

Here is a gallery of some of the seeds collected throughout California. The pictures are taken with my Plugable Digital Microscope. I’m still working on techniques for using the tool to take botanical photos. In this case, I tried using a light table below the seed, but not sure it adds much (compare with Zooming In).

Pimpenella anisum (Anise)	Encelia farinose (Brittle Bush)
Washingtonia filifera (California Fan Palm)	Yucca brevifolia (Joshua Tree)
Marah macrocarpus (Wild Cucumber)	Unidentified - grass-like plant

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Plant Propagation – Dividing

A couple of months ago we changed our “Birds and Bees” series from sexual reproduction to asexual reproduction (see Plant Propagation– Cuttings, and Plant Propagation – Runners). We learned that asexual reproduction results in an offspring that is a genetic clone of its parent. Some plants produce offsets in the form of a new plant or bulbs.

Gardeners can benefit from these plant habits, by dividing a clump or digging up the bulbs, and replanting. Here are a couple of division projects I worked on this summer, using Jack Kraemer’s Grow Your Own Plants as my inspiration and guide.

Agapanthus spp. (Agapanthus)

I love Agapanthus. Our home came with a good collection of blue and white Agapanthus, and I have encouraged their growth all over the property. Some decry them as being common, and non-native. But I find them amazing and indestructible – thriving in both drought and monsoon.

Agapanthus originated in Southern Africa. They are monocots, and grow in clumps, sometimes even above soil. Periodically I dig up the clumps, and divide them by teasing apart their fleshy roots. They transplant easily to other garden beds, or to containers.

Agapanthus transplants

Agapanthus offsets ready to pull apart

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Crocosmia spp. (Crocosmia)

Our friends, Keith and Beth (both avid gardeners working their steep, terraced backyard) gave us some Crocosmia corms soon after we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. Beth warned me that the plants are a bit invasive, so I planted them in a large container. Here in the Bay Area, the plants grow, flower, and die back twice a year. They bring a dash of orange color to the back patio when in bloom, and the long, strappy leaves catch the light in a beautiful way.

Crocosmia is native to the grasslands of Southern and Eastern Africa, from South Africa to Sudan. They are monocots, and grow from underground corms (often in chains, with the youngest corm on top and the oldest buried in the soil). The leaves have parallel veins, characteristic of monocots. Periodically I dig up the corms, thinning them out to give the remainder a little more room.

Crocosmia in a container

Crocosmia corms (and seeds)

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This brings our Plant Propagation series to an end for the year. We have barely scratched the surface of the topic, so look for more articles and projects in the future. In the meantime, I encourage you to look for ways to propagate your favorite plants. Redistribute the clones in your own garden, swap them with friends for genetic diversity, or give them away as gifts. You’ll save some money, spread some cheer, and participate in fun and practical science at the same time!

Tree Registries

Big trees are good for the planet, and for our health and wellbeing. A lot of cities, states, and nations are starting to take big trees seriously by registering and protecting them. Look at a few of the local and national registries that I found:

Registry or Site	Description
Oakland Big Tree Registry	Maintained by the City of Oakland (many cities maintain a tree registry) See the current list of Oakland’s big trees. See the Coast Redwood, and the Monterey Cypress: http://www2.oaklandnet.com/oakca1/groups/pwa/documents/webcontent/oak025516.pdf
California Register of Big Trees	Maintained by the Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute of CalPoly See the current list of California’s big trees, and search through the collection of 270 Big Tree listings and 153 National Champion listings:  https://californiabigtrees-test.calpoly.edu/
National Register of Champion Trees	See the current list of big trees found throughout the United States. For example, the champion spruce tree (Picea sitchensis) is found in Grays Harbor county, in Washington). https://www.americanforests.org/get-involved/americas-biggest-trees/champion-trees-national-register/
Archangel Ancient Tree Archive	This is both an archive of ancient tree clones, and a mission to propagate old-growth trees for reforestation. You can help. https://www.ancienttreearchive.org/
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	This is not a registry, but you can access the World Heritage List, and perform an advanced search using the theme “Forests”. Peruse the resulting sites. For example, select Madagascar, and The Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve; or the Olympic National Park in Washington statue in the United States. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list

Next time you’re in the mood for trees, whether in your local neighborhood or travelling, check out a big tree registry for a registered tree near you!

Special thanks to Barry Adams, Community Outreach Coordinator at Lawn Starter, for alerting me about outdated links. He also recommended this fascinating article, Reborn – Redwoods Cloned from Giant Stumps Live Again. The article mentions the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a nonprofit organization that works to propagate the world’s most important old-growth trees before they vanish. I've added them to the list. Thank you, Barry!

--Margaret Quisenberry, 8/14/2021

Ancient Trees

Seeing all the beautiful ancient trees in Beth Moon's Ancient Trees – Portraits of Time, got me thinking about all the benefits of really old trees.

Trees provide many benefits

• Aesthetics – there is something magnificent about a tree that is really old. The gnarled branches, gigantic trunk, heaving roots, even the dead branches all tell the story of a tree. An aged tree can inspire us to persevere and adapt through the ups and downs of life.
• Sequestering carbon – scientists have found that old trees continue to sequester carbon, even as they age. Instead of slowing down, old trees continue to hold more carbon than their youthful counterparts.
• Oxygen production – trees exchange carbon monoxide for carbon dioxide, thus cleansing the air for creatures that breathe oxygen. Old trees continue to exchange oxygen.
• Wildlife habitat – as trees age they develop nooks and niches where wildlife can live, build nests, stash food, and seek shelter. An old tree supports a huge web of life.
• Genetic resilience – surviving trees have good genes. They have resisted disease, drought, infestation, and pestilence. They pass on their good genes as they produce pollen and seeds.
• Soil stabilization – their mature root systems help hold soil in place, preventing erosion. They support underground life as well –  churning and aerating the soil, providing spaces for beneficials to live.
• Real estate values – trees can add value to your property. A well-placed tree can add as much as $15,000 or more per tree. Formulas exist for determining the value of a tree, typically based on its size and health.

Roots of a thousand year old Sitka Spruce tree near Quinault, Washington

Here in the West we tend to cut down trees to clear land to build something new, but at quite a price. Luckily some cities and natures value old trees, and seek to protect them. Some landscapers, such as Thomas Church, even design their landscapes around existing trees.

Field Trip to Mount Diablo

On a beautiful fall day, my folks, husband, and I made a day trip up Mount Diablo in the Mount Diablo State Park. The mountain is 3,850 feet above sea level, and dominates the skyline from all directions.

On the way up Mount Diablo in Mount Diablo State Park

We entered near Walnut Creek, from the Ygnacio Valley and North Gate roads, through the leafy, mixed oak forest, past horse trails, and up the winding road through iconic California scenery. We shared the road with bicyclists pedaling up or whizzing down, motor cycles, joggers, and a few other cars.

Mixed oak forest at the base of Mount Diablo

We stopped periodically to look at the grand view. The skyline was a little murky with haze in the distance on the day we visited, but many San Francisco Bay Area landmarks were still recognizable. At the Diablo Valley Overlook signage helped us identify many of these landmarks from our elevated perspective.

Livermore Valley Overlook

Diablo Valley Overlook

At the top, we were treated to a 360-degree view of Northern California from the Summit Visitor Center. On a clear day, you can see the Sierra Nevada mountains to the east, the Farallon Islands to the west, and everything in between. Our view was a little hazier, but we could make out primary landmarks.

Mount Diablo Summit Visitor Center

Mount Diablo Beacon

We also enjoyed the museum housed in the Summit Building built by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) from 1933 – 1942. We learned all about the early native populations that inhabited the area for over 5,000 years, and about how Mount Diablo was important in early land surveys done of Northern California and Nevada in the 1800s.

Fantastic 360-degree view from the summit

After our adventure, we headed for Scott's Seafood in Walnut Creek for a delicious dinner, and great conversation. We definitely want to return to drink in the view, and explore the surrounding area.

Plant Propagation – Runners

Last month we switched our “Birds and Bees” series from sexual reproduction, to asexual reproduction (see Plant Propagation – Cuttings). With asexual reproduction, a new plant forms as a genetic clone of a single parent. Asexual reproduction has some advantages if sexual reproduction is impossible, or if a grower wants to propagate multiple plants with the same characteristics as the parent plant. The disadvantage is that the plants may be vulnerable to some diseases, or pests.

In this article, I’m partnering with guest bloggers Al and Bina Harris from Southeast Alaska. They are reporting on their own experiences with stolons in their summer garden. Some plants send out runners (or stolons) as an asexual means of reproduction. A runner is a stem that develops at the crown of a plan and grows horizontally from the source. New plants form at nodes on the stolon, and take root while still attached to the parent plant. Gardeners can take advantage of this tendency, and plant the nodes to grow new plants.

Ranunculus repens (Creeping Buttercup)

The common buttercup is a fixture in damp meadows and drainage ditches in Southeast Alaska. They are lovely addition to the scenery when you are out hiking. If you are a gardener though, they are not as welcome. They send out many stolons which put down a new plant at each node. For the gardener, this represents the potential of a weed at every node!

Buttercup stolon - each node is a potential weed

Fragaria spp. (Strawberry)

The strawberry plant, on the other hand, sends out many stolons, which are welcomed by gardeners. Each node represents a potential strawberry plant to add to the strawberry bed!

A productive strawberry plant to the left, sends out a stolon to the right

Nodes guided to containers in which to take root

After several days the plants are doing fine and ready to be transplanted.
The originating stolon can be severed once the starter takes root.

The new plant is already sending out its own stolon

Seven of the ten new strawberry plants produced via stolon

Good healthy root systems in the new plants (and already producing more stolon)

Special thanks to Al and Bina Harris for photographs and report. It is always interesting to share stories with gardeners in other climates!

Garden History – Innovation of Gardening Publications

Our final garden landscape innovation in this series is the spread of gardening publications in the 1800s. Technical advances brought down the cost of printing and producing color illustrations, leading to an explosion of journals, periodicals, and books. Changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution had led to an emerging urban and educated middle class, with an interest in gardening on a smaller scale. They eagerly sought out the new gardening publications.

Two prolific publishers of the time were Joseph Paxton (we learned about him in Garden History Innovations – Glass Houses), and John Claudius Loudon (1783 – 1845). Loudon was born to a farming family in Scotland, and became an influential horticulturist. He visited many of the great gardens of England and Europe, and understood their historical context. He also built glass houses, helped develop the Victorian suburban garden, and was an advocate for large public parks for recreation and nature. (Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed New York’s Central Park and the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, was influenced by his ideas).

Loudon wrote prolifically about old and new plant species, and how to grow them successfully using innovative techniques. His audience included those with grand estate gardens as well as small suburban gardens. Loudon’s publications include (dates vary by various sources):

• Encyclopedia of Gardening (1822)
• The Green-House Companion (1824)
• Gardener’s Magazine (founded in 1826)
• Arboretum et Fruiticetum Britannicum (1830)
• Remarks on Laying Out Public Gardens and Promenades (1835)
• Suburban Gardener, and Villa Companion (1838)

Gardening publication by John C. Loudon (No copyright, distributed by Google)

In 1830 Loudon met and married Jane C. Webb Loudon (1807 – 1858), who was already a published author of an early work of science fiction (The Mummy!). She worked closely with Loudon, and soon became a prolific garden writer in her own right. After Loudon’s death Ms. Loudon had continued success publishing books for women gardeners. Ms. Loudon’s publications include (dates vary by various sources):

• Young Ladies Book of Botany (1838)
• Gardening for Ladies (1840)
• Botany for Ladies (1842)
• The Ladies Magazine of Gardening (1842)
• The Ladies Companion to the Flower Garden (1840 – 44, four volumes)
• My Own Garden (1855)
• Amateur Gardener’s Calendar

Gardening publication by Jane Loudon (Creative Commons)

Many other gardening journals, periodicals, and books were available in the 1800s, but the Loudon’s had a major impact. They educated and influenced gardeners across gender and socio-economic lines via their many garden publications.

Learn More:

• The Green-House Companion (John Loudon)
• The Ladies Companion to the Flower Garden (Jane Loudon)

Garden History – Innovation of Lawn Mowers

The lawn mower is another important innovation that changed the face of landscape gardening. Prior to the 1800s, lawns were kept trimmed using skillfully wielded scythes, or grazing animals. This made lawns affordable only for the very wealthy.

In 1830, Edwin Beard Budding (1796 – 1846) filed a patent for the modern lawn mower. He worked as an engineer in a textile mill in Stroud, Gloucester, and was inspired by a machine used to trim the nap off cloth used for uniforms. He thought the same idea could be used to cut grass.

Budding lawn mower (picture from Alchetron)

The early machine was all cast iron, with a large rear roller with a cutting cylinder in front. Cast iron gear wheels transmitted power from the rear roller to the cutting cylinder. According to stories, people thought he was a lunatic for his idea, so he had to test his machine at night.

Budding went into partnership with local engineer, John Ferrebee, and they manufactured mowers in a factory at Stroud. They modified the design to enable a second person or animal to pull the heavy mower. They also allowed other companies to build copies of their mowers under license. When the early patents expired in the 1850s, the other companies introduced their own lines of machines.

An early cylinder (reel) mower. Public domain.

In 1888, the side wheel mower was introduced in England. The cast iron wheels on either side drove the cutting cylinder directly via ratchets inside the castings. This design was very light to operate, and inexpensive to manufacture. The side wheel mower became popular all over the world, including the United States. In the 1890s, motorized mowers appeared with lightweight gas powered motors, as did some small steam powered models.

Here in the Western United States, we are revisiting our love affair with the lawn, but it is interesting to see how the innovation of the lawn mower made lawns more accessible to everyone, and introduced a rise in grass-based sports such as tennis, golf, cricket, soccer, and football.

Learn More:

• The Old Lawn Mowers Club (see the video "Working Steam Mower Spotted" for nerdy fun)
• British Lawn Mower Museum (Victorian and Edwardian eras)