Garden Terms

Allée:

trees planted very close along an avenue and trimmed off the walk way

Arbor:

a frame or lattice work covered with vines for shade

Bower:

a lattice work, or wicker work covered with flowering vines, a poetic term for a Lady’s bed

Brown, Lancelot "Capability":

(1716-1783) began career in 1741 at Stowe as a student of Kent, great man of the Landscape movement.

Espalier:

a dwarf fruit tree, usually apple or pear, trained and pruned onto a frame in a flat symmetrical design to create a living fence or to grow fruit against a wall in a small space like a town garden or castle courtyard

grotto

a faux cave with a water feature and statuary (often Neptune). Also a deliberate attempt to introduce a melancholy mood (associated with creativity), and a cool retreat on a hot day.

ha-ha:

sunk fence used to open up views but keep livestock out of house gardens, a Kent trademark

Kent, William:

(1685-1748) developer of Landscape gardening. Tenants: idealized nature, nature abhors a straight line, use of vistas through hahas and view walks. His Kentian style was marked by the use of Greek temples(1725-1755) as focal points .

Knight, Richard Payne:

(1750-1824) proponent of the Picturesque movement wrote "The Landscape" 1794

Landscape Garden style:

(1755-1785)simple idealized natural area containing the elements of grass, trees , and water as a view from certain high points to which the person is lead by walks and buildings meant to engender a sense of serenity.movement was accelerated by the value of grazing animals and wood

parterres:

intricate shapes created by planting and pruning boxwood often set off with colored gravels

patte d'oie:

goose's foot an odd number of paths coming together at a center point at angles less than 90 degrees

Picturesque Garden style:

(1785-1840)a style of landscaping in which the scene is dramatic through use of sudden elevation and a sense of isolation and the dominance of nature meant to move the emotions strongly, influenced by the Lakeland poets

pleached:

to bend and to interweave branches of trees to form a living fence or wall

plashed:

to cut partly and intertwine the branches of as in a hedge

Repton, Humphry:

Landscape designer who began career in 1788 published "Sources of Pleasure in Landscape Gardening" which analized and summerized "Capibility" Brown's work

Topiary:

trees or shrubs trained and clipped into geometric or animal shapes often cut yew trees as at Levens garden

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