'Thomas Blaikie: It is a brilliant name for a brilliant idea. ‘Gardenesque’ is a much better term than ‘picturesque.' It describes an approach to planting design that would be revolutionary in France. In fact, we had something of the effect at La Bagatelle when the Gallica roses grew wild. This was after the Revolution of 1789. It was 25 years before they were back under control. Some of the rose bushes were taller than a man and as wild as the sans culottes. Seeing their natural form was very good.' This is a quote from The Claudians: gardens, landscapes, reason and faith: John Claudius Loudon and Claudius Buchanan, Tom Turner (Kindle, 2024).
The principles behind Loudon's 'Gardenesque' idea are very clear but what followed from them was not clear in his lifetime. The idea was to create 'picturesque' compositions, inspired by natural scenery, using all the plants and skills at a gardener's disposal. Loudon launched this idea in 1829 and, always working with the fanatical energy of a steam train going for new record, he never found time to flesh out the principle. The nearest we have to an image of what he had in mind is the elevation drawing of his own front garden in Porchester Terrace. As a black and white illustration, it seems to be an entirely naturalist composition. But we know his garden was a botanical masterpiece. So the plants used must have been as varied and colourful as a master gardener could possibly make them. Loudon explains the planting design.
In the modern world, there are innumerable examples of planting design that uses John Claudius Loudon's Gardenesque principle. But the best surving illustration of the style is the front gardens of his two houses: Numbers 3-5 Porchester Terrace in Bayswater, London. The front gardens look Picturesque in his drawing but, coloured, they are Gardenesque. 'His drawing' means 'drawn to his direction by his architectural assistant E.B. Lamb'. Loudon had lost his right arm by the time it was drawn and only two fingers on his left hand could be moved. Here is his description of the front gardens' planting design. Most definitely, he did not concentrate on native species. His front gardens survive in good condition and it would be a wonderful thing if their munificent owner could restore the planting design.
'In the Front Gardens of both Houses, close by the entrance gate to each garden, there are the following trees and shrubs:a cedar of Lebanon, a walnut, a sweet chestnut, a purple beech, a Pyrus Sórbus, a Pỳrus spectábilis, a Prùnus Mahaleb, a scarlet thorn, a laburnum, purple and white lilacs, a syringa, a mountain ash, a Lycium bárbarum, a Clématis Vitálba, the common and giant ivy, and the Virginian creeper. These 18 kinds of trees and shrubs are in two groups, one on each side of the entrance, immediately within it; and they form a dense mass of shade over the walk, and project over the wall into the street. This produces a dark shade, both without and within the entrance gates, which acts like the case of a telescope to the distant glimpse caught of the steps which ascend to the front door of each house. If we imagine for a moment that there were no trees or shrubs immediately within the entrance gates, the total want of shade and foreground, and, consequently, of what artists call effect, would be felt in an instant by every man of taste. Embracing the angles of the verandas near c, [graphic] so as to connect both houses with the scenery as far as the boundary walls, are two groups, the same kinds of trees and shrubs being planted in each group; viz. a cedar of Lebanon, Robínia viscosa, Sórbus hýbrida, Cérasus Pàdus, C. nigra, C. semperflòrens, a variegated and a common holly, a Portugal laurel, pinaster, Prùnus myrobalana, Amelanchier Botryàpium, a deciduous cypress, Phillýrea angustifolia, Aúcuba japónica, evergreen and variegated hollies, Symphòria racemòsa, Persian lilac, rose acacia, and Hibiscus syriacus. These form picturesque masses, and contain a sufficient number of evergreens to look well in the winter season; while, in spring, the myrobalan plum comes into flower at the end of February or the beginning of March, and immediately afterwards the amelanchier, and then the bird-cherry, next comes the Sórbus pinnatifida, and then the Robínia viscosa. In the autumn, the purple berries of the bird-cherry, the red berries of the sorbus, and the white snow-berries have a fine effect; as have the coral berries of the holly throughout the winter and spring. There are two other main groups, the one to the north, and the other to the south, of the pedestal and vase at o, in the separation wire fence. These, in each garden, consist of a scarlet-flowered arbutus, rhododendron, azalea, kalmia, Cydònia (Pỳrus) japónica, mezereon, Méspilus arbutifòlia, and Cytisus purpureus and sessilifòlius, the two latter being grafted standard high. From the windows of the front rooms on the ground floor, this lengthened group makes an excellent middle distance between the pillars of the veranda, with the clustering foliage of the fig and the grape round the windows of the dining-rooms of the two houses as a foreground, and the trees and shrubs within the front fence as a distance. In winter, the fruit of the arbutus, and the flowers of the Cydònia japónica, make a fine appearance; and the latter shrub, which is indeed a truly valuable one, is more or less in flower during the whole year. Immediately within the front fence, which consists of a dwarf wall surmounted by an iron railing, is a row of variegated hollies, of as many kinds as there are plants; between each of which, when first planted in 1823, was a standard rose: but all these, as well as every other holly, have been since removed, in consequence of the vigorous growth of the hollies. Among the hollies are planted, as standards, nine thorns. Those next the entrance gates are the scarlet, that in the centre is the Cratæ`gus glandulòsa, and those between it and the scarlet thorn, on each side, are, the double-blossomed common thorn, C. tanacetifòlia, and C. orientalis (odoratíssima). The double-blossomed common thorn comes into leaf a week or a fortnight before any other deciduous tree in the garden, and is profusely covered with its rich white blossoms, which die off of a beautiful pale pink, every year. Had it been a single-blossomed thorn of any kind, and,consequently, a fruit-bearing tree, in all probability it would only have been prolific in flowers every other year, as we have already stated, p. 191. C. glandulòsa comes first into flower, and produces every other year a profusion of scarlet berries; though, if the blossoms were thinned out, there would be a crop of fruit every year. C. tanacetifòlia is an upright, fastigiate-growing, rather singular-looking tree, with large yellow fruit; and C. orientàlis is a low spreading tree, with somewhat drooping branches and coral-coloured fruit. Had the variety C. orientàlis sanguínea (Arb. Brit., p. 828.) been in British gardens at the time we planted this tree, we should have preferred it, its fruit being of a very deep port wine colour. The scarlet thorns, which, in both houses, are next the entrance gates, come into flower at the same time as the Pyrus spectábilis, the laburnum, and purple and white lilacs; and, at that season, when these groups are looked down on from the drawingroom windows of both houses, they appear like gigantic nosegays. As scarlet thorns seldom set their fruit, they generally flower profusely every year. Between the entrance gates (d) and the points & &, in both gardens, there are, close to the boundary wall, common hollies, planted at regular distances, and between them pears and plums alternately as standards. The plums come early into blossom, and form a fine contrast with the dark green of the hollies. The pears were 20 ft. high when planted, and bore large crops of fruit for several years, till, with the plums, the greater part of them were obliged to be cut down, on account of their smothering the hollies and other plants. Behind the hollies, and immediately against the wall, common laurels were planted, and nailed against the wall so as to cover it; but plants of the giant ivy and of the Virginian creeper being planted there at the same time, they have since destroyed the laurels, and taken entire possession of the wall, forming a rich mantle along the coping.
See also: John Claudius Loudon: An Appreciation