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)

Garden History – Innovation of Glass Houses

Time for more gardening history! Last time we learned about the Landscape Movement that originated in Europe in the eighteenth century, and flourished in Great Britain (see Garden History – Landscape Movement). Toward the end of the eighteenth century, the Industrial Revolution ushered in significant technological and social change in Britain. In this series, we’ll explore some of the technical innovations that changed the face of landscape gardening. As always, I refer to The Story of Gardening (Penelope Hobhouse), and The History of Gardens (Christopher Thacker).

Glass Houses

Glass houses (also called green houses, stove houses, orangeries, and so forth) are structures with roof and walls made of a transparent material in which plants live in a regulated climate. Orangeries were used in the sixteenth century to house citrus trees grown in pots, which could be moved outside during the warm season, and inside during the cold months. Orangeries evolved into glass houses for tender plants and trees brought back by explorers from around the world. They were frequently built on grand estates, or universities. Regulating light and heat was a common problem.

In 1826, Joseph Paxton (1803 – 1865) became the head gardener at Chatsworth in Derbyshire, England at age 23. He was interested in glass houses, and began experimenting with the idea of “forcing frames” to create large spaces without supporting walls, and using a “ridge and furrow” roof design to support plates of glass set at angles. Using these design principles, he built a glass house from 1836 – 1840 to house a giant water lily brought back from the Amazon. The lily leaf structure of radiating ribs connected with flexible cross-ribs also inspired him. Through his projects with iron, glass, and wood, Paxton became a recognized authority on constructing glass houses.

Crystal Palace at Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851 (from Dickinson's ''Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851"). Public domain.

In 1845 the glass tax was abolished in Great Britain (the 300% tax had been introduced in 1746 by King George II to retire wartime debt). In 1848 the cast plate glass method was developed making it possible to produce large sheets of cheap but strong glass.

Ridge and furrow roof design (engraving by George Measom, 1818-1901). Public domain.

Paxton designed the Crystal Palace at Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851. His design was based on the largest size of glass sheet available at the time (10” by 49”); the new concept of prefabricated glass and wrought iron frames assembled on site; and the ridge and furrow roof design. The work crew assembled the building (848 feet long x 408 feet wide x 108 feet high) in eight months, for a fairly low price. The Crystal Palace was moved to Sydenham in 1854, and destroyed by fire in 1936.

Crystal Palace interior (unknown, scan from a book by Royal Horticultural Society, Lindley Library). Public domain.

Although the Crystal Palace was used as an exhibition hall instead of a conservatory, its innovations were implemented in many grand conservatories, functional nurseries, and domestic greenhouses to follow.

Plant Propagation – Cuttings

In our “Birds and Bees” series, we have been learning all about plant propagation. Up to now, we have been investigating sexual reproduction, which involves combining genetic contributions from both pollen (male) and an egg (female) to produce a seed. For the next few months we’re going to learn about asexual reproduction, where a new plant is formed from cells of a single parent (a genetic clone).

Asexual propagation can occur via leaves, stems, and roots. For the gardener, propagation methods include taking cuttings of a plant, dividing plants, separating stolons, harvesting bulbets or rhizomes, layering, and grafting. This summer, inspired by Jack Kraemer’s Grow Your Own Plants, I experimented with taking leaf and stem cuttings of some of my potted succulents.

Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (Flaming Katy)

The parent plant was part of a welcome gift from a new employer. Flaming Katy is a house plant, but mine has thrived outside in the mild San Francisco Bay Area climate for many years, surviving both drought and wet feet. In May, I stuck stems into regular potting soil, and three months later have rooted plants.

Top left: parent plant (and leaf cuttings). Top right: stem cuttings.

Bottom left: transplants. Bottom right: rooted stem cutting.

Schlumbergera truncata (Christmas Cactus)

I purchased the parent plant from the grocery store last year to help decorate the house for Christmas. Christmas Cactus is also a common house plant, but mine has thrived outside during our mild summer weather. The “leaves” are actually flattened stems, called cladodes. Each stem section sports several aerial roots. I stuck several of the stems into regular potting soil, and now have several new plants.

Top left: parent plant (still in its red foil wrapper). Top right: cladode with aerial roots.

Bottom left: transplants. Bottom right: roots.

Sedum morganianum (Donkey Tail)

The parent plant was a gift from relatives in Southern California. I was quite taken with their collection of potted Donkey Tails hanging from the trees and pergola in their  Huntington Beach backyard. I stuck individual leaves and stems into regular potting soil, and three months later have healthy, rooted plants.

Top left: parent plant. Top right: stems and leaves.

Bottom left: transplants. Bottom right: roots and a pup forming at the base.

Asexual propagation is a great survival mechanism for plants, especially when sexual reproduction is not possible. For the gardener, propagation using leaf or stem cuttings is a great way to propagate plants with desirable traits, and an easy way to multiply plants for your own use, or to give as gifts to friends and family.