Both rock and water were old established garden features way before somebody considered installing lawns, flower beds or borders. Many hundreds of years ago the very first Japanese garden was not anything more than an expanse of white stone chippings with an individual Cleyera tree in the centre and the Ancient Persian 'paradise' had an extended canal and fountains at its heart.
The attraction was very easy to understand, these two elements bring a natural feel to any type of surroundings. Until quite recently however, they were primarily simply for the rich. Before the final part of the 19th century, rocks were used to produce very bold structures in large estates and it wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that ponds and fountain construction became straightforward enough and affordable enough for the normal landscaper.
This has taken a long time, but both rock and water gardening have finally come of age. There is now massive interest in all aspects of the water garden. Rock garden plants are grown in huge numbers, the range available nowadays in both rockeries and rock-free conditions is immense. I find it fascinating that both these natural elements have several features in common.
They can extend for a few square feet or in excess of a quarter of an acre and both provide the opportunity to grow a vast range of plants not found in your ordinary, every-day garden. The drawbacks that they share are that careful preparation is required and a considerable quantity of labour and money is required for their creation.
By the latter part of the 19th century the age of the larger rock garden was all but over. In 1772 the 2nd period of rock gardens began, a garden of rubble and Icelandic basaltic lava was created inside a greenhouse at Chelsea Physic Garden for the cultivation of plants collected from the Swiss Alps. Here the rocks were used as a home for plants rather than to provide just an ornamental feature. This second period got off to a slow start, although rock gardens were created at various sites in Britain and the notion of laying stones to provide the appearance of a natural outcrop was developed. Things changed in the 1860's and the rock garden eventually took its place as a very significant part of the British garden. Rockeries were built at Kew Gardens in 1867 and in Edinburgh in 1871.
In 1870 William Robinson's Alpine Flowers for English Gardens was published. During this period and into the early 20th century Pulhamite Stone was manufactured in Broxbourne in Hertfordshire and used to make private and non-private rock gardens throughout the nation. The three decades from 1900 to 1939 were the heyday of the rock garden. Reginald Farrer was the principal figure and his 'My Rock Garden' book became the first bible on this subject.
Plant hunters scoured the mountains of the world trying to find new alpine plants and the rock garden at Wisley was started in 1911. In the years prior to World War II interest in the rock garden declined. Only recently has there been a resurgence.
Through the 1920's and 1930's the idea of growing alpines in non-rock situations took root, this together with the appearance of the garden centre in the second half of the 20th century produced about the third period in this history. People began to see the full range of flowers which were accessible together with all kinds of easy and cheaper methods for cultivating alpines without having to erect a rockery. So, interest switched to the plants and far away from the rock structures, and this is the key feature of this third period in the history of rock gardening.
Author Resource:
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