Gertrude Jekyll VMH (1874-1948) was a British horticulturist, photographer, writer, and garden designer. She created more than 400 gardens throughout the United Kingdom and Europe and wrote more than a thousand articles for magazines. If you have a passion for gardening, you’ll want to learn more about Jekyll’s life and work. The following are some of the things you can learn about her work.
Gertrude Jekyll was a British horticulturist
Gertrude Jekyll was a world-renowned British horticulturist, photographer, and writer. She created more than 400 gardens in the United Kingdom and Europe and authored more than a thousand articles for magazines. The gardens that she designed were renowned for their beauty and elegance.
Jekyll was a prolific gardener who influenced the English gardening style. She cultivated her passion for gardening only later in life, but by the time she was a famous horticulturist, her designs were famous all over the United Kingdom. She surveyed sites and owned a variety of gardening tools.
Jekyll published several books on gardening design. Some of her work was published in magazines such as Ladies Field and The Gardening Illustrated. She also wrote numerous articles for newspapers and magazines, including the Daily Mail. Her work is still a valuable source of inspiration for gardeners.
She was also an accomplished artist. She was one of the first women to study at the Central School of Design in London. She was highly educated and had a broad interest in many fields, including optics, the science of color, and botany. She also studied under William Morris, a famous Victorian contributor and leading Arts and Crafts Movement figure.
Jekyll’s gardens were filled with exotic species, but she also cultivated plants with different forms depending on the seasons. Her garden used over 1500 different plants, many from her nursery. Her passion for perfection made it possible for her to focus on her work. Her garden is still around today, albeit with new varieties of her existing flora.
Besides being a world-renowned horticulturist, Jekyll was also a talented artist, writer, and craftswoman. Her gardens are known for their lushness and beauty. She created two gardens, Hestercombe Garden and Folly Farm, in collaboration with Sir Edwin Lutyens. Both gardens showcase her love of color and beauty. Her estate in Munstead Wood provided plants for her gardens.
She was a writer
Gertrude Jekyll was a British horticulturist, photographer, garden designer, and writer. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom and Europe and penned over 1000 articles for magazines. Her love of nature and gardening was reflected in her work.
Jekyll was influenced by Anglo-Irish garden writer William Robinson and contributed to his magazine, The Garden. She also served as its joint editor. She also wrote for other magazines, including the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society and Country Life. In all, she wrote more than 1,000 articles and 13 books. Her writings were instrumental in popularising ideas about herbaceous borders.
Born in London, Jekyll and her family moved to Surrey in 1848. Jekyll studied at the Kensington School of Art and went on to write many books on gardening. She also worked with landscape architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. They designed gardens using the Impressionist style. Jekyll also painted many landscapes, often using watercolors.
Family, religion, and art influenced Jekyll’s early years. She was a talented painter and devoted to art and nature. She also enjoyed music and crafts. As she matured, she began exhibiting her works and gained commissions from neighbors. She also devoted herself to garden design, continuing to paint for the rest of her life.
Jekyll was a writer and artist, but she also had an unusually eclectic range of talents. She was a gardener and a skilled craftswoman, and her writings on gardening and landscaping are as relevant today as they were a century ago.
She was a garden designer.
Gertrude Jekyll was a renowned British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, and writer. She created over 400 gardens across the United Kingdom and Europe. In addition, she wrote more than a thousand magazine articles. Jekyll was a prolific writer who shared her ideas through books, magazines, and exhibitions.
Jekyll was born in London and spent her early years on the family estate in Surrey. She studied under the preeminent art critic of the time, John Ruskin. This influenced Jekyll to be fascinated by artists like Turner and impressionists. She continued to paint, even into her later years.
Jekyll was interested in gardening only after her eyesight caused her to give up her other passions. However, her childhood knowledge of plants and gardening enabled her to channel her creative energy into this area. She completed over 350 commissions in England and America without leaving her home and had extensive correspondence with her clients.
The influence of Jekyll’s designs can be seen in the gardens at her home, Folly Farm, and Hestercombe. Her work was also immortalized in books, including Gertrude Jekyll and the Country House Garden, by landscape historian Judith B. Tankard. Jekyll’s designs are a testament to her love of plants and her love of color. Her estate, Munstead Wood, provided many of the plants she used in her gardens.
Gertrude Jekyll’s work is legendary and has inspired generations of gardeners and artists. Her unique style combines formal art training with a deep love of gardening. Her gardens feature water features, hardscapes, and herbaceous borders. In addition, her gardens have an artist’s eye for color and contrasts.
She was a craftswoman.
Gertrude Jekyll was not only a trained artist, but she was also an avid gardener. Her gardening writings remain as relevant today as when she wrote them. She was an incredibly prolific writer, putting together fifteen books over nine years and composing more than two thousand magazine articles.
In her later years, Jekyll became interested in interior design. She received commissions for her designs and is widely considered one of the most accomplished artist-craftswomen of her time. She continued to live in rural Surrey, where she developed an interest in plants. She started designing gardens in 1868 and had created more than twenty by the end of her life.
She was an artist
Gertrude Jekyll was a British horticulturist, garden designer, photographer, writer, and craftswoman. She was instrumental in creating more than 400 gardens in the United Kingdom and Europe. She also wrote over 1000 magazine articles. Her work and creativity helped inspire other gardeners.
Jekyll was born in London in 1843. Her family was affluent, and her father served in the army. Her mother was a talented musician, and her siblings also had artistic talents. Her parents encouraged their children to follow their interests. In 1868, Jekyll moved to a small village in Berkshire, about 40 miles from London. During this time, she began exhibiting her paintings and other craft works. She met William Morris and GF Watts and exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. Later, she worked for the architect Edwin Lutyens, and her ideas were used in a series of gardens. Jekyll also donated her collection to the Guildford Museum.
Jekyll’s love for plants was not an afterthought. In her early twenties, she had begun perusing gardens in her area. Her interest in flowers brought her home cuttings and seeds from the countryside. She also became friends with William Robinson, who edited the garden magazine. She wrote articles for Robinson’s magazine and even became a contributor.
Jekyll created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe, and America. She lived in Surrey, England, where she worked most of her life. She created a garden center in Godalming and bred many plants there. Several pieces of her work can be seen in the Godalming Museum. The Surrey Gardens Trust also houses some of her drawings and notebooks. The original drawings are housed at the University of California, Berkeley.