List of professional gardeners
Encyclopedia
This is a list of people noted for their contribution to gardening, either by working as gardeners or garden designers by occupation, or by commissioning famous gardens.
It does not include the innumerable people who count gardening
among their hobbies.
ers and landscape gardeners, who are involved chiefly in the design of gardens rather than the practical aspects of horticulture
. It also includes experts noted for their writing or broadcasting on the subject.
It does not include the innumerable people who count gardening
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
among their hobbies.
Notable gardeners
The following are or were gardeners or garden designers by occupation. The list includes garden designGarden design
Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise...
ers and landscape gardeners, who are involved chiefly in the design of gardens rather than the practical aspects of horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
. It also includes experts noted for their writing or broadcasting on the subject.
- Luis BarragánLuis BarragánLuis Barragán Morfin was a Mexican architect. He was self-trained.-Early life:Educated as an engineer, he graduated from the Escuela Libre de Ingenieros in Guadalajara in 1923 and was self-trained as an architect.After graduation, he travelled through Spain, France , and...
, 20th century Mexican architect, planner of public gardens - Lancelot "Capability" Brown, English landscape architect
- Carolus Clusius, pioneering botanist, 16th century scientific horticulturist
- Esther Dean, 20th century Australian pioneer of "no-dig gardening"
- Charlie DimmockCharlie DimmockCharlie Dimmock is an English gardening expert and TV presenter. She was one of the team on Ground Force, a BBC gardening makeover programme.-Early years:...
, English gardener and broadcaster - Andrew Jackson DowningAndrew Jackson DowningAndrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine...
, 19th century American landscape designer - Ian Hamilton FinlayIan Hamilton FinlayIan Hamilton Finlay, CBE, was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener.-Biography:Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas of Scottish parents. He was educated in Scotland at Dollar Academy. At the age of 13, with the outbreak of World War II, he was evacuated to family in the countryside...
, 20th century Scottish artist and gardener - Bob FlowerdewBob FlowerdewBob Flowerdew is an organic gardener, and television and radio presenter. He is a regular panel member of BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time. He has nearly an acre of garden in Dickleburgh, Norfolk, England, where he lives with his wife, Vonetta, a care worker, and their twins, Italia and...
, English organic gardener and broadcaster - Pippa GreenwoodPippa GreenwoodPippa Greenwood is a British plant pathologist. She appears frequently on the BBC's long running Gardeners World television programme and has been a regular panelist on Gardeners' Question Time on BBC Radio 4 since 1994....
, British plant pathologist and broadcaster - C. Z. GuestC. Z. GuestLucy Douglas Cochrane was an American stage actress, author, columnist, horsewoman, fashion designer, and socialite who achieved a degree of fame as a fashion icon. She was frequently seen wearing elegant designs by famous designers like Mainbocher. Her unfussy, clean-cut style was seen as...
, New York Post gardening columnist - Robert Hart, 20th century British forest gardener
- Gertrude JekyllGertrude JekyllGertrude Jekyll was an influential British garden designer, writer, and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA and contributed over 1,000 articles to Country Life, The Garden and other magazines.-Early life:...
, 20th century British garden designer - William KentWilliam KentWilliam Kent , born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, was an eminent English architect, landscape architect and furniture designer of the early 18th century.He was baptised as William Cant.-Education:...
, 18th century English landscape architect - André Le NôtreAndré Le NôtreAndré Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...
, 17th century French landscape architect - Peter Joseph LennéPeter Joseph LennéPeter Joseph Lenné was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect from Bonn who worked in the German classicist style.-Childhood and development:...
, 18th century Prussian landscape architect - John Beverley Nichols, 20th century author of many gardening books
- Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
, 19th century designer, father of American landscape architecture - Russell PageRussell PageMontague Russell Page was a British gardener, garden designer and landscape architect.Former partner of Geoffrey Jellicoe and author of The Education of a Gardener . In this book he includes some reference to Islamic and classical gardens...
, 20th century British landscape architect - Humphrey Repton, 18th century English landscape designer
- William RobinsonWilliam Robinson (gardener)William Robinson was an Irish practical gardener and journalist whose ideas about wild gardening spurred the movement that evolved into the English cottage garden, a parallel to the search for honest simplicity and vernacular style of the British Arts and Crafts movement...
, 20th century Irish practical gardener and journalist, who prompted the English cottage garden movement - Geoffrey SmithGeoffrey Smith (gardener)Geoffrey Denis Smith was a professional gardener, broadcaster, writer and lecturer. He was the presenter of Gardeners World from 1980 to 1982 and a number of other BBC series in the early 80s including Geoffrey Smith's World of Flowers, Mr Smith’s Flower Garden, Mr Smith's Favourite Garden and Mr...
, 20th century English gardener and broadcaster - TheophrastusTheophrastusTheophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...
, 3rd century BC philosopher, author of Enquiry into Plants and On the Causes of Plants - Percy ThrowerPercy ThrowerPercy John Thrower MBE was a British gardener, horticulturist, broadcaster and writer born at Horwood House in the village of Little Horwood in Buckinghamshire....
, 20th century British gardener and broadcaster - Alan TitchmarshAlan TitchmarshAlan Fred Titchmarsh, MBE DL is an English gardener, broadcaster and novelist. After working as a professional gardener and a garden journalist, he established himself as a media personality through appearances on gardening programmes...
, 21st century English gardener and broadcaster - John Tradescant the youngerJohn Tradescant the youngerJohn Tradescant the Younger , son of John Tradescant the elder, was a botanist and gardener, born in Meopham, Kent and educated at The King's School, Canterbury...
, 17th century botanist and gardener - Edna WallingEdna WallingEdna Walling was one of Australia's most influential landscape designers.Walling grew up in the village of Bickleigh in Devon, England...
, 20th century Australian garden designer, writer and photographer - Edith WhartonEdith WhartonEdith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
, 20th century American writer and landscape architect - Albert WilsonAlbert WilsonAlbert Wilson , was an American gardening guru, was a botanist, a landscape architect, a nationally renowned author, teacher and lecturer on gardening and landscaping, and a TV and radio talk show personality who penned several authoritative books popularizing and extolling upon the finer points...
, 20th century American botanist, landscape architect, author and broadcaster
People who have notably commissioned famous gardens
Other people whose primary profession was not gardening have made notable contributions to horticulture by planning or commissioning significant gardens.- Michael HeseltineMichael HeseltineMichael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
, 20th century British politician, noted arboriculturistArboricultureArboriculture is the cultivation, management, and study of individual trees, shrubs, vines, and other perennial woody plants. It is both a practice and a science.... - Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, 19th century American president, recognized for planning the grounds of the University of VirginiaUniversity of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson... - LucullusLucullusLucius Licinius Lucullus , was an optimate politician of the late Roman Republic, closely connected with Sulla Felix...
, 1st century BC Roman general, noted for laying out the Gardens of LucullusGardens of LucullusThe Gardens of Lucullus were the setting for an ancient patrician villa on the Pincian Hill on the edge of Rome; they were laid out by Lucius Licinius Lucullus about 60 BCE... - SolomonSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, Biblical king recorded as creating gardens, possibly near EtamEtam (biblical town)Etam is mentioned in Septuagint along with Teqoa, Bethlehem and Phagor . In 2 Chronicles 11:6 it occurs, between Bethlehem and Teqoa, as one of the cities built "for defense in Judah" by Rehoboam... - Vita Sackville-WestVita Sackville-WestThe Hon Victoria Mary Sackville-West, Lady Nicolson, CH , best known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author, poet and gardener. She won the Hawthornden Prize in 1927 and 1933...
, English author, gardening columnist, creator of Sissinghurst Castle GardenSissinghurst Castle GardenThe garden at Sissinghurst Castle in the Weald of Kent, near Cranbrook, Goudhurst and Tenterden, is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is among the most famous gardens in England.-History:...
in Kent - William ShenstoneWilliam ShenstoneWilliam Shenstone was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes.-Life:...
, 18th century English poet, one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The LeasowesThe LeasowesThe Leasowes is a 57 hectare estate in Halesowen, historically in the county of Shropshire, England, comprising house and gardens....
Fictional gardeners
- PatPat (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)-Other adaptations:*1985 television movie played by Scott Baio*1985 television series played by Jon Glover*1999 film played by Jason Byrne*1972 film played by Freddie Earlle...
, the White Rabbit's gardener in Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures... - Chance the Gardener in the film Being ThereBeing ThereBeing There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...
, a simple American whose name is misheard as "Chauncey Gardiner" and accidentally becomes a Presidential advisor and candidate - Samwise GamgeeSamwise GamgeeSamwise Gamgee, later known as Samwise Gardner and commonly as Sam, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. Samwise is one of the chief characters in Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, in which he fills an archetypical role as the sidekick of the protagonist, Frodo...
in The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
, a hobbit, the servant and companion of Frodo BagginsFrodo BagginsFrodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
, the Ring-bearer - Tom and Barbara Good in The Good Life (1975 TV series), a middle-class English couple who try to become self-sufficient on the produce of their garden in SurbitonSurbitonSurbiton, a suburban area of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is situated next to the River Thames, with a mixture of Art-Deco courts, more recent residential blocks and grand, spacious 19th century townhouses blending into a sea of semi-detached 20th century housing estates...
- Souseiseki and Suiseiseki in the manga and anime Rozen MaidenRozen Maidenis a manga series created by Peach-Pit. The story centers on Jun Sakurada, a young hikikomori boy that forms a bond with Shinku, a living doll of the "Rozen Maiden" series, who was created by the mysterious dollmaker Rozen hundreds of years ago...
, referred to as gardeners for their ability to tend not only plants but also the "soul trees" of humans - The Chief Gardener of the Imperial Palace Grounds was a key figure on TrantorTrantorTrantor is a fictional planet in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series and Empire Series of science fiction novels.Trantor was first described in a short story by Asimov appearing in Early Asimov Volume 1. Later Trantor gained prominence when the 1940s Foundation Series first appeared in print . Asimov...
, the galactic capitol in Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's Foundation Series -- a high functionary with a palatial office in the enormous Imperial complex and "an army of men and women under him."http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/Ebook687.htm - There are multiple gardeners/botanists/herbologists in the Harry Potter series:
- Pomona Sprout, the former Herbology teacher
- Herbert Beery, the former Herbology teacher
- Frank Bryce, the Riddles'Lord VoldemortLord Voldemort is the main antagonist of the Harry Potter series written by British author J. K. Rowling. Voldemort first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released in 1997...
gardener - Miranda Goshawk (in the film) and Phyllida Spore, two authors
- Elladora Ketteridge and Beaumont Majoribanks, discovered gillyweed, a fictional plant
- Hadrian Whittle, named after a real-life garden designer
See also
- Celebrity gardenerCelebrity gardenerGardeners who have achieved fame through their pioneering innovations, writing or, more often, their television personas, may be classed as Celebrity Gardeners.The writing of C. Z...
- List of gardening topics
- List of landscape architects