Georgian Gardens
Gardens of the seventeenth century were ornate, extravagant and formal. Influenced by classical gardens of the Italians and the French, Georgian gardens became a response to this classical, continental style.
Later, English garden designers such as Richard Addison began to build more natural gardens.
The beginnings of landscape gardening began during the Georgian era at Castle Howard and later at Stowe. Here, Lord Cobham, William Kent, his head gardener, and his understudy Lancelot Brown (who would become Capability Brown) began to design their gardens along the following lines:-
- Curved lines in beds and paths
- Informal vistas and views
- Classical focal points including temples, statues, ruins and benches
- Garden and surrounding parkland become integrated
- Lawns reaching up to the house
- Planting at various heights, shapes and colours created balanced view and lines of sight
 Lord Burlington was a follower of Andrea Palladio’s classical building style and began to incorporate this into his gardens. He took his influences from the picturesque landscapes found in classical Italian paintings. Lord Burlington wanted to make his English landscapes just like one of these painting. Under his influence the Palladian movements in English architecture became enmeshed in Georgian garden design.
The eighteenth century was the zenith of the British landscape garden. Changing tastes and fashions have meant that many gardens no longer exist in this style. However, there are excellent examples of Georgian garden landscaping still in existence at:
- Stowe
- Stourhead
- Blenheim Palace
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