Great garden designers - Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll's home - Munstead Wood in Surrey - designed by Edwin Lutyens

I haven't been to any new gardens recently so thought I'd start an occasional series about British garden designers. Today focusses on Gertrude Jekyll, who spent many years working alongside influential English architect Edwin Lutyens. Born in London in 1843, she came from a wealthy and well-connected family, who allowed her to study painting and botany at the South Kensington School of Art once she finished her schooling. This was a really unusual choice for a young woman in Victorian times, but she was undoubtedly a determined character and had talent as a painter. When she started designing gardens later in life, she used her Art School training to best advantage when drawing plans for clients.

The water garden at Vann in Surrey - open every Wednesday this year under the National Gardens Scheme

When I first started visiting gardens in Britain, Jekyll reared her head repeatedly, so I tried to visit gardens she'd designed, but found that I encountered more and more that were either "attributed' to her, or "based on a Gertrude Jekyll design". There seemed to be little evidence of surviving Jekyll gardens open to the public, with the possible exception of the garden at her own home, Munstead Wood in Surrey; the parterre at Hestercombe (below) in Somerset, where she organised the planting; and the wonderful water garden at Vann in Surrey (extended opening hours this year - every Wednesday this year from 6th April - 29th June, click link for details). 

The parterre at Hestercombe Gardens, Somerset - attributed to Gertrude Jekyll

Ask any gardener to name a well-known garden designer and Jekyll will probably be the first. She worked almost exclusively with Edwin Lutyens, who she met in 1889 and commissioned to design her own house - Munstead Wood (top). This commission marked the beginning of his successful career as an architect and when completed, Jekyll used her garden there to experiment with the unusual planting style she favoured - swathes of plants in blocks of colour, similar to an artist's palette. Potential clients came to her home to see both house and garden. By the beginning of the 20th century it had become extremely fashionable to employ this formidable duo to design your house and garden. Their working relationship continued for the next 30 years and included properties like Castle Drogo in Devon (below) and Goddards in Surrey.

The garden at Castle Drogo, Devon - another Lutyens/Jekyll collaboration

Jekyll was clearly a colourful character and certainly a prolific writer, with more than 1,000 magazine articles and 14 books to her name. She wrote regularly for Country Life and produced several garden books, including "Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden", first printed in 1914, but still in print today. I have a copy of the modern edition and it's one of my favourite books because her writing is still a joy to read; her illustrations - both botanical and garden plans - are delightful; and her commentary on the seasons is extremely apt. Well worth getting a copy if you don't already have one!

Upton Grey, Hampshire - Jekyll's "Lost Garden" lovingly restored by current owner

One Jekyll garden that went missing in the archives until it was re-discovered by its present owners, was The Manor House at Upton Grey in Hampshire. It has now been faithfully restored by Rosamund Wallinger, who has also written a book telling the story of the garden, from discovering the plans right through to the completed garden that surrounds the house today. It's an amazing achievement on Rosamund's part and if you are in the area, you really should try and visit this exceptional garden.

Le Bois des Moutiers outside Dieppe, France, where Jekyll drew up the garden plans, although she did not visit

Another property where much of the garden design is attributed to Jekyll is Le Bois des Moutiers, just outside Dieppe on the North coast of France, where Lutyens designed the house. Although she never visited the property, she drew up all the garden plans for it, which were executed by her lifelong garden partner, Edwin Lutyens. The borders at the front of the house are particularly Jekyllesque. For another fine garden where the two collaborated, closer to home, visit The Salutation at Sandwich in Kent.

The water garden at Tylney Hall in Hampshire is attributed to Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll never married, but throughout her life she travelled the world and continued to draw up plans for other people's gardens. Interestingly though, she rarely visited the sites, but designed the gardens from afar. There's a Gertrude Jekyll society in England, which has information on many of her gardens, but some of her finest drawings, photographs, letters and memorabilia are held in the Reef Point Collection at the University of California - it was here that Rosamund Wallinger found the original plans for Upton Grey!

The "Secret Gardens of Sandwich" at The Salutation in Kent