WHAT THE NURSERYMEN DID FOR US: THE ROLES AND INFLUENCE OF THE NURSERY TRADE ON THE LANDSCAPES AND GARDENS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

摘要

Much has been written about the great surge in landscape and garden improvement in the early eighteenth century fuelled by an influx of plant introductions following a period of trade and colonial expansion. The focus has been primarily on the great landowners, designers and plant collectors sponsored by royalty, nobility and the clergy, but, behind the scenes, a shadowy cast of characters, gardeners, nurserymen and seedsmen was also developing and expanding its skills and businesses to meet the needs of its clients. Some have made appearances in a supporting role, but almost none has taken the centre stage. It can be argued that without their skills and diversity the spread of newly introduced plants and the creation of these extraordinary landscapes could not have been achieved with such speed and effect. This paper seeks to explore the various roles such nurserymen played in the promotion of themselves, their plant material and their skills, and their influence on a generation of garden improvers. It also takes one prominent nurseryman, Christopher Gray, for a more detailed study of the ways in which these networks could operate in practice.