Currently viewing the category: "Chiswick Gardeners"

Richard Williams: “an ingenious cultivator of heathers”

by Val Bott on 16/08/2023 · 0 Comments

A black and white image of Erica ampullacea appears in John Harvey’s Early Nurserymen (Phillimore 1974). Harvey gives the source as plate 303 in Volume IX of Curtis’ Botanical Magazine published in 1795. However, a little searching online revealed a tinted copy of the image and Curtis’ accompanying text since the publication has been digitised […]

A Bequest to the weeder woman

by Val Bott on 07/09/2019 · 0 Comments

I first came across weeder women in 2006 – they were working in the gardens of the Chiswick manor of Sutton Court in the 1690s and early 1700s. In the accounts kept by Lord Fauconberg’s steward they were paid six pence a day. The women were rarely named, as payment was usually made within the […]

The Willow Business

by Val Bott on 20/06/2019 · 0 Comments

Baskets and willow hurdles for sheltering plants from wind and frost were an essential part of the gardener’s equipment. Willow basketwork came in many shapes and sizes: river fish traps, garden seats and arbours, bird cages, containers for for various fruits to protect them in transit, fine baskets for shopping and needlework. Willow growing and […]

Pleasure Gardens & Pineapple Stoves, 28 January 2016

by Val Bott on 06/01/2016 · 0 Comments

I shall be giving a talk on the gardeners of Chiswick House at St Nicholas Church, Chiswick on 28 January. The event is hosted by the Friends of St Nicholas and the Friends of Chiswick House. It will provide a glimpse of the gardeners who are usually ignored – not the well-known characters like Kent, […]