0:00:03 > 0:00:06I love pottering around in a greenhouse and there isn't
0:00:06 > 0:00:11a gardener that doesn't relish the opportunity to grow plants
0:00:11 > 0:00:15that wouldn't thrive in our northern weather, particularly in winter.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19And so we have plants, like pelargoniums,
0:00:19 > 0:00:20that we're all familiar with
0:00:20 > 0:00:27but the story of how we arrived at a plant like this is one of intrepid
0:00:27 > 0:00:33plant-hunters, of heavy industry, of plant breeding and empire.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38In this series, I'm exploring the secrets behind the history
0:00:38 > 0:00:42of British gardens over the last four centuries and looking at not
0:00:42 > 0:00:47just how they've changed, but why and who drove their transformation.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49These guys were incredibly intrepid.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52'I've already explored the gardens of the 17th century,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56'which were shaped by religious beliefs and superstition...'
0:00:56 > 0:00:58Am I reading this right,
0:00:58 > 0:01:00that what we're looking at is a labyrinth?
0:01:02 > 0:01:06'..and the 18th century, when formal planting was swept away
0:01:06 > 0:01:10'and the landscape movement transformed our great estates.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12'And in this episode, I'm investigating
0:01:12 > 0:01:17'the gardens of the 19th century, when a new breed of plant-hunters
0:01:17 > 0:01:20'scoured the earth to bring back exotic specimens...'
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Look how beautiful it is!
0:01:26 > 0:01:30'..when developing industrial technology meant that British
0:01:30 > 0:01:33'gardens started to include innovations that were
0:01:33 > 0:01:37'magnificent, practical and occasionally eccentric...'
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Not everybody had a camel.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42No, I can imagine that.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46'..and social changes meant that everyone from royalty...'
0:01:46 > 0:01:49And this is where Albert would come to look at his tree planting.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51'..to ordinary working people...'
0:01:51 > 0:01:55So Paxton was flogging to the masses?
0:01:55 > 0:01:58'..could enjoy gardens for the first time ever.'
0:01:58 > 0:02:03I believe that gardens are every bit as important as the buildings
0:02:03 > 0:02:08that we live and work in, and if we can unearth their secrets
0:02:08 > 0:02:13and listen to the stories that they can tell us, we get a unique insight
0:02:13 > 0:02:18into our history and what makes us the people that we are today.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34I'm beginning my exploration of the 19th-century gardens
0:02:34 > 0:02:36and the way that they reflect the huge changes
0:02:36 > 0:02:38brought about by the Industrial Revolution
0:02:38 > 0:02:43and the expansion of empire at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47This was the home of Queen Victoria and her husband, Albert -
0:02:47 > 0:02:50the two figures who dominated the era.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55When Victoria and Albert came here in 1845, they knocked down
0:02:55 > 0:02:59the existing building. They wanted to make an absolutely fresh start.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Although Queen Victoria inherited at least ten official residences when
0:03:04 > 0:03:09she succeeded to the throne, she and Albert bought Osborne five years
0:03:09 > 0:03:10into their marriage
0:03:10 > 0:03:13specifically to make the first home of their own together.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18They took their inspiration from the villas of Renaissance Italy.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Prince Albert was the driving force behind this
0:03:23 > 0:03:25and, apparently, this view
0:03:25 > 0:03:29out across the Solent reminded him of his visit to the Bay of Naples.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35This Italianate style was not just a question of personal preference but
0:03:35 > 0:03:39was also highly fashionable and made a clear political statement.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Of course, one of the great virtues of the Italian influences -
0:03:44 > 0:03:49it wasn't French. We'd just spent 20-odd years fighting the French.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54So to find this new, rather different culture was
0:03:54 > 0:03:58absorbed eagerly, and the whole difference between Italian gardens
0:03:58 > 0:04:05and, say, French, was the French were cool, formal, elegant and balanced.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Italian gardens had more verve.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Yes, you had the formality but also lots of statues, lots of water,
0:04:12 > 0:04:18pots with lemons in them, and the formality was filled with plants.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23And, of course, this exactly chimed with what the Victorians wanted.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26I've been to lots of Italian gardens and you see the paths,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29they tend to be rather smaller than this, the beds rather bigger.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33I was trying to work out why, here at Osborne, you have such wide paths.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37And then I realised it's because you have this queen, diminutive
0:04:37 > 0:04:41in height but wearing enormous dresses,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44and her ladies-in-waiting, sweeping
0:04:44 > 0:04:48round these paths, and they needed to be wide or else they wouldn't fit.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56By the mid-1840s, when Victoria and Albert began laying out
0:04:56 > 0:05:00the house and garden at Osborne, Italianate garden design had
0:05:00 > 0:05:03become widespread and was a reflection of Britain's renewed
0:05:03 > 0:05:08confidence and wealth that followed the end of the Napoleonic wars.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10But despite being in high fashion
0:05:10 > 0:05:14and the very best contemporary taste, what's really striking is
0:05:14 > 0:05:17just how personal every aspect of this royal garden was.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24We've got an extract from Victoria's diary, her journals.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26"Breakfast out of doors."
0:05:26 > 0:05:30- She loved having breakfast outside, in this very place, I think.- Really?
0:05:30 > 0:05:31The garden was really important.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34Now, you've got this lovely little drawing,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37which has been pasted on to it, which is her, isn't it?
0:05:37 > 0:05:40- Yes.- This is her sketch of the large flower vase.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43- Rather good, isn't it?- I was going to say, she's very good at it.
0:05:43 > 0:05:44- She's very good.- Yeah.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46And this is completely fascinating because
0:05:46 > 0:05:51if you look at these drawings here, these are pages from a catalogue
0:05:51 > 0:05:55of works in artificial stone, and we know that Albert and Victoria
0:05:55 > 0:06:00actually bought quite a lot of the urns and the vases in the garden
0:06:00 > 0:06:03from this catalogue, which is sort of not quite IKEA,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05let's say Homebase.
0:06:05 > 0:06:06SHE LAUGHS
0:06:06 > 0:06:08And I suppose, if you're used to living
0:06:08 > 0:06:10in the splendour that they lived in,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13it's actually rather nice to come somewhere that's much simpler.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15It wasn't as thought they didn't have a few bits and pieces
0:06:15 > 0:06:16- elsewhere, was it?- No.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22There is something endearing about the image of Victoria
0:06:22 > 0:06:24and Albert poring over catalogues
0:06:24 > 0:06:28and choosing a mass-produced urn or statue, and indicates
0:06:28 > 0:06:33a restraint that earlier monarchs and grandees rarely displayed.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37And if it also displays a lack of flamboyance, it does show
0:06:37 > 0:06:40a monarchy that is in tune with the modern world around them.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44What makes this garden so Victorian...
0:06:45 > 0:06:50..is the combination of the energy that just runs through everything.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55And also this infatuation with process and industry.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Everything is new, everything is changing - so the fact that the
0:06:59 > 0:07:03terrace took an enormous amount of earthwork, so needed a
0:07:03 > 0:07:0525-foot retaining wall,
0:07:05 > 0:07:10so much the better. And that this - which in Renaissance Italy
0:07:10 > 0:07:14would have been lovely, soft, carved stone - is concrete.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18It's as though the aesthetic is in thrall to the process.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22Victoria and Albert seemed to take real
0:07:22 > 0:07:26pleasure in the process of constructing their garden.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28Once the terraces were finished, and the various pots
0:07:28 > 0:07:32and ornaments duly purchased, they, and in particular Albert,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36took an active part in its planting, and if not actually wielding
0:07:36 > 0:07:40a spade, he was managing every detail from his control tower.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45And then look, isn't it amazing?
0:07:46 > 0:07:49It feels like a ship's mast or something like that.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53It feels like something built by a naval builder, doesn't it?
0:07:53 > 0:07:56So you come out of this little door.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00- Ooh!- Ooh!
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Bang your head, that's all right. And then this view.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06And this is where Albert would come to look at his tree planting.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10When he wanted to plant a tree, he would get a man to stand out there
0:08:10 > 0:08:13with a flag. And Albert would be on the tower and he would sort of,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16you know, tell them to move it a bit that way, you know,
0:08:16 > 0:08:17adjust the position.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21- So he would be standing up here and going, "Left, left", like that. - Yes!
0:08:21 > 0:08:22LAUGHTER
0:08:22 > 0:08:24And they would get it right.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27You look around and there are trees everywhere.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Did he really control the planting of all of these trees
0:08:29 > 0:08:32or was it something that happened once or twice
0:08:32 > 0:08:34and has become part of the Albert myth?
0:08:34 > 0:08:38Well, I think he had a huge interest in trees and tree planting.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40He made his own nursery.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Victoria complained vigorously that he spent far too much
0:08:43 > 0:08:48time in the woods, sort of, you know, clearing them up and planting.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50There is a wonderful letter that he writes in which he tells his
0:08:50 > 0:08:54daughter in Germany that gardening, and I think he meant landscape gardening,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57is a great art because it is like sculpture and you
0:08:57 > 0:09:00are modelling the land and then you are cutting it and editing it
0:09:00 > 0:09:04and it grows and it changes, then you sort of cut and polish.
0:09:04 > 0:09:05And he loved doing it.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09And this was something he could control, unlike politics or Queen Victoria,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11he could really control this land and I think you do
0:09:11 > 0:09:14get that from that view, which I am sure was created by Albert.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20In the light of this description of Albert's involvement,
0:09:20 > 0:09:22I want to explore the grounds,
0:09:22 > 0:09:27because it's still possible to identify individual trees planted
0:09:27 > 0:09:32under Albert's watchful eye and each of them has a story to tell.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36This...
0:09:36 > 0:09:39is what we now call a Sequoiadendron giganteum.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43But it was known back then as the Wellingtonia,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46named after the Duke of Wellington.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48And it was planted in the 1850s -
0:09:48 > 0:09:52and like ALL the other trees planted here at Osborne,
0:09:52 > 0:09:57it's been logged, and it goes, "Wellingtonia gigantea,
0:09:57 > 0:10:03"HRH the Prince Consort, 24th of May, 1855, garden lawn."
0:10:03 > 0:10:0624th of May was Victoria's birthday,
0:10:06 > 0:10:12so this was planted as a present to commemorate Victoria's birthday.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17And then it had a column saying - "Remarks - Native of California."
0:10:18 > 0:10:23And the point about 1855 is the seed was only introduced into this
0:10:23 > 0:10:26country a couple of years earlier. So this would have been
0:10:26 > 0:10:31one of the very, very first seedlings of these incredible trees.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36So what was extraordinary was that Albert wasn't just part of
0:10:36 > 0:10:41the new Italianate garden movement, that he was actively involved
0:10:41 > 0:10:47in the positioning of plants and the choice of them, but also he was
0:10:47 > 0:10:49planting here at Osbourne,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53trees that were COMPLETELY new to Europe.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57One of the very, very first specimens
0:10:57 > 0:10:59ever placed into the ground.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Albert's Wellingtonia was just one of a number of rare
0:11:04 > 0:11:08and unusual trees planted at Osborne,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and it reflected the growing wealth and confidence of the nation
0:11:11 > 0:11:15and the rapidly expanding empire that they were reigning over.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20And as their dominions grew, so did the horticultural ambitions
0:11:20 > 0:11:24of the nation's gardeners.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Increasingly hungry for new,
0:11:26 > 0:11:31exotic plants, not least as a symbol of growing colonial power.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37The supplier of over 350 of Osborne's specimens,
0:11:37 > 0:11:41and the dominant force behind the mania for plant hunting,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44was Kew Botanic Gardens in London.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46And in many ways, this was
0:11:46 > 0:11:50one of the most influential gardens of the whole of the 19th century.
0:11:51 > 0:11:57A visitor to Kew in 1800 would have seen what was fundamentally
0:11:57 > 0:12:01an 18th-century landscaped garden. It was dominated
0:12:01 > 0:12:03by Capability Brown's designs
0:12:03 > 0:12:06and then there was the Royal Garden with its temples acting
0:12:06 > 0:12:09as eye-catchers, and the pagoda,
0:12:09 > 0:12:12and a few botanical plants.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18But by 1850, in the middle of the 19th century, it had changed utterly.
0:12:20 > 0:12:21Dominated by the Palm House
0:12:21 > 0:12:28but also this sense of becoming a fully-fledged public botanic garden.
0:12:28 > 0:12:33And this change was really down to the work of just one man -
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Joseph Banks.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Born into a wealthy Lincolnshire family, and showing a keen
0:12:40 > 0:12:44botanical interest from an early age, Joseph Banks became Kew's
0:12:44 > 0:12:49first official director in 1797, under the patronage of George III.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54At that time, Kew was also a royal retreat, with its 18th-century
0:12:54 > 0:12:58landscaped gardens adjoining the relatively modest Georgian palace.
0:12:59 > 0:13:00Now, transforming this
0:13:00 > 0:13:03into a 19th-century centre of botanical excellence
0:13:03 > 0:13:05was a huge undertaking,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07and I want to piece together his story.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11He was invited to go on the expedition with Captain Cook,
0:13:11 > 0:13:14the Endeavour expedition to Tahiti.
0:13:14 > 0:13:15Now, as well as being invited,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18it was a really expensive thing to do, wasn't it?
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Well, it did cost a lot of money, but then, of course, he did have
0:13:21 > 0:13:24the money to support it and he was self-supported and all that.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27- So he was prepared to spend his considerable wealth...- Yes - ..on plant hunting.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30- Yes, absolutely.- That's, that's... That's unusual, isn't it?
0:13:30 > 0:13:33- That's quite something, yes.- Yeah. - Yes, yes.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37He brought back about 1,300 new species of plants, plants that
0:13:37 > 0:13:40would have never been seen before, were unknown to science before that.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44It's worth just stopping there and taking that in.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49- 1,300 new specimens to science.- Yes, Yes.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54If you and I went for a jaunt to Tahiti and parts thereabout and came
0:13:54 > 0:13:57back with that many plants,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59it would be earth-shattering, wouldn't it?
0:13:59 > 0:14:01- Well, absolutely earth-shattering. - Yeah.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04And well, I mean, the physical amount of space it's going to take
0:14:04 > 0:14:07- to bring those specimens back, for a start.- Yeah.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10But just seeing those, those new plants, just,
0:14:10 > 0:14:14just getting that, you know, the experience of seeing them,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17it would be absolutely awe-inspiring.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19And once he had been on the
0:14:19 > 0:14:22expedition to Tahiti, his personal plant collecting essentially came
0:14:22 > 0:14:25to an end at that point. But then he started to encourage and influence
0:14:25 > 0:14:29others to go out collecting. And we've got some lists here
0:14:29 > 0:14:33of some of the collections that came from different parts of the world.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36- So what have we got here? - This is a list of plants from China.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40So - "A list of plants from China by Captain Wilson for favour
0:14:40 > 0:14:43"of Sir Joseph Banks, 1802."
0:14:43 > 0:14:46And these are extraordinary plants,
0:14:46 > 0:14:51these are really, really exotic and unusual for them.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54- Yes.- And even now, Gardenia, Plumbago, Hibiscus,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56Passiflora...
0:14:56 > 0:14:58We've got gingers...
0:14:58 > 0:15:03- So he really was the instigator... - Yes.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06- ..of that great 19th-century drive... - Yes.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08- ..to, to bring plants back. - Yes, yes, yes.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Joseph Banks' personality dominated everything at Kew,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18even down to how they handled individual plants.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23There is a story I love of a plant coming in and Banks coming to
0:15:23 > 0:15:27inspect it and grabbing it and putting it on top of his head as
0:15:27 > 0:15:31he walked away, so that no-one else could physically get hold of it.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37Banks triggered a plant-hunting frenzy, and people now travelled
0:15:37 > 0:15:41to the extremities of the globe in the search for new specimens.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Banks was determined that Kew should become the greatest botanical garden
0:15:46 > 0:15:50in Europe and he jealously laid first claim to any new
0:15:50 > 0:15:52plant that arrived on British shores.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57I have always been fascinated by these early plant hunters,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00not least because one of my forebears, George Don,
0:16:00 > 0:16:05was one of them. And he, like so many plant hunters, was Scottish,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08so my next stop is Edinburgh Botanic Garden.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11These guys were incredibly intrepid.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14If we take David Douglas as an example...
0:16:14 > 0:16:18This gentleman here, in his mid-20s, some time around...
0:16:18 > 0:16:21In the 1820s... Was sent out to North America...
0:16:21 > 0:16:23And he walked across North America from
0:16:23 > 0:16:26sort of near Hudson's Bay right across to British Columbia -
0:16:26 > 0:16:28I think it's about 3,000 miles, something like that.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31Collected a whole lot of plants, and then walked all the way
0:16:31 > 0:16:33back across again - 6,000 miles.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35- That's in a straight line, let's assume he probably did...- Yeah.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38- ..10,000 miles of walking. - Incredible.- It's amazing.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I suppose most people know him for the Douglas fir
0:16:40 > 0:16:43that was named after him. But he also introduced lots
0:16:43 > 0:16:45of other plants, like flowering currants, skunk cabbage...
0:16:45 > 0:16:47- Right.- ..things like that.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50- Plants that many of us are growing in our gardens now.- Yeah.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54Few of us probably don't have something that David Douglas introduced, in our gardens.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59It wasn't, I suppose, just tough terrain that they were having
0:16:59 > 0:17:00to deal with it, was it?
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Well, no, in the case of poor Robert Fortune -
0:17:03 > 0:17:08This guy was sent out to China, on a sort of industrial-espionage trip
0:17:08 > 0:17:11to take, to find particular plants.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13But he was really walking into the Opium Wars.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16The British were, essentially, bombarding the Chinese ports
0:17:16 > 0:17:18into submission.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And so he was sent off, behind enemy lines, if you like...
0:17:20 > 0:17:22He had a shopping list of plants.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24"We want you to find a yellow Camellia.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27"We've heard that there's a peach that's three pounds -
0:17:27 > 0:17:28"you're going to find that, too."
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Chrysanthemums, I think, they wanted.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34And there was various other things. And so he was sent off to China to get these
0:17:34 > 0:17:38in what really must have been a terrible political turmoil at the time.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40- A warzone.- A warzone, essentially.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44And he had some sense that this was the case,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47because he wrote to people who were sponsoring him,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50and asked if they would supply some weapons for him.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53If you look at this letter here, basically, what they do
0:17:53 > 0:17:56is they suggest he that he take a stout stick...
0:17:56 > 0:18:00"I'm much disappointed at the resolution of the committee...
0:18:00 > 0:18:03"with regard to firearms.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05"I may have an opportunity, at some time,
0:18:05 > 0:18:07"to get a little way into the country,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11"and a stick will scarcely frighten an armed Chinaman."
0:18:11 > 0:18:13You couldn't make that up, could you?
0:18:13 > 0:18:16"I'm off, dear, I'm going to fight the Chinese,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18"and I've got my thick stick."
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Well, you'll be pleased to hear, he got his arms.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Did he make good use of them?
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Well, turned out that on his way back from China with all
0:18:25 > 0:18:26his booty, he was on a boat...
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Sailing down the river, I think it was out into Shanghai...
0:18:29 > 0:18:31And was attacked by six lots of pirates.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34And he was the only armed man on the boat.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36So he waited till the pirates came almost alongside...
0:18:36 > 0:18:40And they were firing at him at the time, and he, basically, shot them.
0:18:40 > 0:18:42I don't know how many pirates he actually shot dead.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Although the plant hunters went to incredible lengths to
0:18:47 > 0:18:51collect their trophies, the hardest part was keeping the plants alive
0:18:51 > 0:18:53between collection and delivery.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Indeed, there are contemporary accounts of up to
0:18:57 > 0:19:0195% of specimens failing to survive the journey home.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07But this was the age of invention, and when a problem presented itself,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11it didn't take long for someone to come up with a solution.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16That goes on like that.
0:19:16 > 0:19:24This is a replica, quite an old replica of an 1836 Wardian case.
0:19:24 > 0:19:29Now, the Wardian case was invented around about 1829 by
0:19:29 > 0:19:34Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward. And although it does manage to look like a
0:19:34 > 0:19:38cross between a sort of weather station and a chicken shed -
0:19:38 > 0:19:40it changed everything.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Because it meant that for the first time, plant collectors
0:19:45 > 0:19:48could bring live plants back home with them.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50And what happened was...
0:19:50 > 0:19:53The sides lifted up, this is quite fragile, so I'm actually
0:19:53 > 0:19:55just going to take that off...
0:19:56 > 0:19:59But in this area here you make a bed.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02You fill this bottom layer with soil or compost,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04and then you plant into it.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06And basically it becomes
0:20:06 > 0:20:09a travelling greenhouse.
0:20:09 > 0:20:14And so the specimens that you've forded rivers
0:20:14 > 0:20:18and climbed mountains and fought off bandits to collect
0:20:18 > 0:20:20can be brought back live,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23and if they are brought back live - A) you can impress
0:20:23 > 0:20:26and show people and B) you can take cuttings and collect seed and
0:20:26 > 0:20:28grow them on.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32And of course, for trade purposes that was really important.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36So if I take some plants here, all of which are from China...
0:20:36 > 0:20:38In fact, we've got here Robert Fortune's,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40this is Trackycarpus fortunei.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45So he would have taken it out...
0:20:45 > 0:20:48Probably wouldn't have got it in a pot with the roots nice
0:20:48 > 0:20:50and neat but there would have been a bit of...
0:20:50 > 0:20:54And he could just pop it in... And it's in a growing medium.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59And it would take quite large plants, obviously the shape means
0:20:59 > 0:21:02that there's rooms for plants to grow...
0:21:04 > 0:21:06And once they are in here,
0:21:06 > 0:21:07they can be watered,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11you can let air in by opening the sides.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16You've got light, you've got shade, you've got a little micro system.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19And of course, they can be kept warm if you're moving around.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22My ancestor, George Don,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25collected plants in the 1820s in...
0:21:25 > 0:21:27West Africa
0:21:27 > 0:21:30and Brazil and the West Indies. Now, these are all plants that
0:21:30 > 0:21:34needed heat. And then he went up to New York where he intended to stop
0:21:34 > 0:21:37and collect more plants but it was below freezing, and the plants that
0:21:37 > 0:21:42he had from the warmer countries were dying. So he had to return home
0:21:42 > 0:21:46as quickly as possible, and, as it was, still quite a few of them died.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51Had he had a Wardian case, the chances are they would've survived.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54For all its simplicity, the Wardian case
0:21:54 > 0:21:57transformed the movement of plants around the world.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59As one of London's leading nurserymen stated - "Whereas I
0:21:59 > 0:22:03"used to formerly lose 19 out 20 I imported during a voyage,
0:22:03 > 0:22:07"19 out of 20 is now the average of those that survive."
0:22:08 > 0:22:12Once plants could be reliably brought back to this country,
0:22:12 > 0:22:14the next challenge lay in successfully growing them
0:22:14 > 0:22:18in our British climate. And the man who would gain greatest fame
0:22:18 > 0:22:22for addressing this problem was Joseph Paxton.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24He was a gardener, engineer, inventor
0:22:24 > 0:22:27and one of the 19th century's towering figures.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31So I have now come to Chatsworth in Derbyshire, the home
0:22:31 > 0:22:35of the Dukes of Devonshire and where Joseph Paxton forged his career.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Funded by the enormously wealthy 6th Duke, Paxton created
0:22:41 > 0:22:45some of the greatest engineering feats of the age here.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48The most famous surviving example is the Emperor Fountain,
0:22:48 > 0:22:50which he created in 1840
0:22:50 > 0:22:55to commemorate an upcoming visit of the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00To celebrate this royal visit,
0:23:00 > 0:23:07Paxton devised an outrageous piece of theatrical engineering.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10He had a reservoir, nine acres big, dug...
0:23:11 > 0:23:15..and then over a mile of metal piping put in the ground and brought
0:23:15 > 0:23:18down to the canal.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22And all this was to create a gravity-fed fountain.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27Still as it is, operation turned on by this key
0:23:27 > 0:23:29exactly as it was back then.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35But the point about this fountain was that it was to be the
0:23:35 > 0:23:37biggest EVER created.
0:23:38 > 0:23:46And today...it's still operating in the same manner.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51It is astonishingly impressive.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57As it turned out, the tsar cancelled his visit
0:23:57 > 0:23:59and never saw the fountain.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04The Chatsworth estate provided Paxton with the perfect arena
0:24:04 > 0:24:08to nurture and parade his genius, and the present, 12th, duke,
0:24:08 > 0:24:09is in no doubt about the impact
0:24:09 > 0:24:14Paxton had as a result of being employed by his ancestor.
0:24:14 > 0:24:18This is a painting of the Bachelor Duke, the 6th Duke of Devonshire
0:24:18 > 0:24:21and he did many wonderful things at Chatsworth,
0:24:21 > 0:24:26but perhaps the most important was employing Joseph Paxton
0:24:26 > 0:24:29and there is rather a charming account in here.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33This is the Bachelor Duke quoting Paxton's own diary.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35Paxton's account of his arrival -
0:24:35 > 0:24:38"I left London by the Comet coach to Chesterfield,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41"arrived at Chatsworth at half past four o'clock in the morning
0:24:41 > 0:24:44"of the 9th May, 1826.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47"As no person was to be seen at that early hour,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50"I got over the greenhouse gate by the old covered way.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54"I then went down to the kitchen gardens, scaled the outside wall
0:24:54 > 0:24:56"and saw the whole of the place.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59"Set the men to work at six o'clock and
0:24:59 > 0:25:05"afterwards went to breakfast with poor dear Mrs Gregory and her niece.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08"The latter fell in love with me and me with her
0:25:08 > 0:25:13"and thus completed my first morning at Chatsworth before nine o'clock."
0:25:13 > 0:25:17- That's extraordinary! - Not a bad day, not a bad start.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19Do you think that was a caricature,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21he was making fun of himself?
0:25:21 > 0:25:25Or he really was this extraordinary man just bursting with energy?
0:25:25 > 0:25:27I think he was amazingly energetic.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30He was 23, it was a great opportunity.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34Chatsworth was already a well-known garden and the Duke was
0:25:34 > 0:25:38a well-known collector of plants and to go there as head man
0:25:38 > 0:25:40aged 23 was a great opportunity.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42So of course, he was very, very excited.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Did it start straightaway with radical change or did that grow?
0:25:46 > 0:25:49I think it started straightaway, I think
0:25:49 > 0:25:52they sort of... They were absolutely suited to each other
0:25:52 > 0:25:55and the Duke had lots of money and lots of energy.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58Paxton had even more energy and brilliant ideas.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Do you think that this would've happened
0:26:01 > 0:26:05if these two men hadn't met here at Chatsworth?
0:26:05 > 0:26:08I think Paxton would've done it, I cannot believe that that
0:26:08 > 0:26:12genius, which is what he was, really, would have been suppressed.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14He would've found another opportunity somewhere else.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Chatsworth would've lost.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20The 6th Duke and Paxton between them
0:26:20 > 0:26:23created one of the great gardens of the age.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26The Duke used his wealth to indulge his passion for plant collecting
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and Paxton employed his energy
0:26:28 > 0:26:33and genius to create 22 glasshouses to contain them.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37One of these was revolutionary and was to have a huge influence
0:26:37 > 0:26:41on glasshouse design and gardens for the rest of the century.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46This site where the modern maze stands is all that
0:26:46 > 0:26:51remains of Joseph Paxton's incredible Great Conservatory.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53I've got a photograph of it here.
0:26:53 > 0:26:59This monumental glass structure - and the base of it is this wall and
0:26:59 > 0:27:03there they are, they are the walls. I've seen pictures but until you
0:27:03 > 0:27:08come here you don't get the feeling of what an audacious project it was.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12The glass must have been as tall as those trees, and the path through it
0:27:12 > 0:27:16was wide enough for two carriages to go side by side, and Paxton,
0:27:16 > 0:27:20with no training, made this structure in four years,
0:27:20 > 0:27:22that transformed everything.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26It took glasshouses and conservatories, which did exist,
0:27:26 > 0:27:31but in a modest way, it took them completely to another level.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Rare and precious plants coming in from around the world, could be
0:27:34 > 0:27:39put together like a garden. And what he did was to unlock the door
0:27:39 > 0:27:45through which a completely new style of gardening passed through.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48The creation of the Great Conservatory at Chatsworth
0:27:48 > 0:27:51was a result of the combination of Paxton's genius
0:27:51 > 0:27:52and the Duke's great wealth.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56But its construction was also entirely dependent on
0:27:56 > 0:27:59new developments in industrial technology.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03I've come to the English Antique Glass company at Alvechurch,
0:28:03 > 0:28:08near Birmingham, to discover how the transformation of glass manufacture
0:28:08 > 0:28:11made the Great Conservatory possible.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14In the 1830s, techniques were devised of blowing glass into
0:28:14 > 0:28:19huge cylinders and Paxton realised that these could be turned into
0:28:19 > 0:28:24panes of glass that were bigger than any that had been made before.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Right, so this is the moth
0:28:29 > 0:28:33- and once it has cooled down... - Right.- What we've done is cut
0:28:33 > 0:28:36the top off and taken a strip out of the middle.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38And why did you do that?
0:28:38 > 0:28:39It's so that when it heats up
0:28:39 > 0:28:42and goes through the tunnel, it doesn't stick back together again.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45By taking the strip out of the middle, it will soften
0:28:45 > 0:28:48and fall inside the cylinder.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52So, it can cause all sorts of problems if they get stuck together.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55So, you're loosening it, so obviously, you want it to open out and unfold.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59- Yes.- Yes.- That's, that's the idea, yes!- That's the theory.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01THEY CHUCKLE OK.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07Right, this is 900 degrees in there,
0:29:07 > 0:29:10so the glass starts to soften.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13And if I just pick it up and then
0:29:13 > 0:29:16draw it into the heat - and I'm just giving it a bit more heat
0:29:16 > 0:29:21to soften it up. And then when the table comes in...
0:29:21 > 0:29:23I will just drop it on.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39So that's just simply flattening it?
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Yes, just push down on it and flatten it as best as you can.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51When the process has finished, this is what you end up with.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55A sheet of slightly wobbly, very beautiful glass,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58not particularly big by our standards, quite heavy...
0:30:00 > 0:30:01But...
0:30:01 > 0:30:03this process meant
0:30:03 > 0:30:07that glass could be made that was much bigger than anything previous,
0:30:07 > 0:30:13was lighter, let in more light - and it revolutionised the way that
0:30:13 > 0:30:18glasshouses could be used and the plants that could be grown in them.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22Paxton's experimental use of technology
0:30:22 > 0:30:24to create his Great Conservatory
0:30:24 > 0:30:26spurred on others to push the boundaries of
0:30:26 > 0:30:30glasshouse design, and his greatest influence was at Kew,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33which by then was in dire need of outside inspiration.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39In 1820, Joseph Banks died. And this was a blow
0:30:39 > 0:30:44because he was absolutely the guiding light of Kew.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46Nevertheless, the garden was still functioning.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48It was receiving plants,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51pouring in from all over the world, and this in itself was
0:30:51 > 0:30:55proving to be a problem, because the glasshouses weren't up to the job.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57These plants were growing.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Some of them were bursting through the glass
0:31:00 > 0:31:05at the top and Kew was literally running out of space.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Something had to be done.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13William Hooker was appointed as new director
0:31:13 > 0:31:16and his first priority was to create a new Palm House.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19In 1844, Hooker employed Decimus Burton,
0:31:19 > 0:31:22who had worked on Paxton's Great Conservatory,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25to design the greatest glasshouse the world
0:31:25 > 0:31:30had ever seen, and it was to be 25% bigger than the one at Chatsworth.
0:31:32 > 0:31:36Burton based his design on the upturned hull of a ship,
0:31:36 > 0:31:39and used the latest wrought-iron technology
0:31:39 > 0:31:45to span its enormous widths, that were clad with 18,000 panes of glass.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Now, for the first time,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Kew had the perfect home for its collection of exotic plants.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57It feels like the rainforest which presumably very,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00very few people would have known what that was like.
0:32:00 > 0:32:03I agree, you know, nowadays we take it for granted,
0:32:03 > 0:32:06we can jump on a plane and end up half the other side of the world.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08I like the fact that I am being dripped on.
0:32:08 > 0:32:10That's part of the rainforest experience.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13- That's the rainforest experience. - It was very experimental.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15They had to try different things out at some points
0:32:15 > 0:32:18and increase the ventilation from the roof, to draw the heat up.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21What do you use for the ventilation, how does it work?
0:32:21 > 0:32:22I can show you.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26We've got box vents that run around the lower part of the house.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29- Yeah.- And then we've got vents on the vertical parts that are above,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32and they're all manually controlled here in the Palm House.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35So essentially, in all of these little boxes here,
0:32:35 > 0:32:37you've got a few buttons...
0:32:37 > 0:32:39- and if I press...- Well, that's not manual, that's electronic.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42It's electronic. As you say, back in those days you would have had
0:32:42 > 0:32:45a winding system and it would have been a lot more intensive
0:32:45 > 0:32:48to work on - but here I just press this little button
0:32:48 > 0:32:51and you'll see the vents opening above you.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54Now, it's really important to maintain this humid,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57- tropical climate. - Yeah.- So we do control it.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02I tend to try to keep it at about 25 degrees before opening up these vents.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04In 1848, how was this heated?
0:33:04 > 0:33:06It was heated by having boilers underneath the ground,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08beneath where we are standing.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11- Yes.- And then having cast iron pipes that ran under these grates.
0:33:11 > 0:33:12So it came up through the vents?
0:33:12 > 0:33:15They came up through the base of the house.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17There's still something beneath the ground.
0:33:17 > 0:33:18Let's have a look.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22Now, what's this?
0:33:22 > 0:33:25So this is where the original boilers would have been.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27There were six in this wing of the house and six in the northern
0:33:27 > 0:33:30wing of the house, so they were split across the basement.
0:33:30 > 0:33:31And how were they fired?
0:33:31 > 0:33:35Well, they were fired by coal, which was brought in from a tunnel.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37- Yeah.- Which is just through here.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43So that's... that's the end of the tunnel.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45This is the end of the tunnel.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48It goes about 150 metres, pretty much to Kew Road.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52- Yes.- And there was a miniature train track running down here and
0:33:52 > 0:33:56then they would have had the carts being pushed along this little train track,
0:33:56 > 0:34:01up and down this all day to fill these boilers full of coal.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03So a little... A railway system.
0:34:03 > 0:34:08A mini railway system underneath the lawns of Kew gardens.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12See, I love the way that it's just such a fearless
0:34:12 > 0:34:14energy about this, isn't there?
0:34:14 > 0:34:17"Let's build the biggest glasshouse ever been done.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19"Let's use the new material,
0:34:19 > 0:34:23"let's build a railway system underneath, to fuel it."
0:34:23 > 0:34:26I tell you, the Victorians, they were really forward-thinking
0:34:26 > 0:34:29- and ambitious.- And presumably quite a lot of coal
0:34:29 > 0:34:33at that, because it's warm, it must have always been quite a big thing.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35It would have been a huge amount.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38If you think, on a winter's day when it could be minus five outside.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40- Yes.- They're still having to heat this building
0:34:40 > 0:34:42to at least 20 degrees Celsius.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45It would have been a huge amount of materials.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56It's fascinating to think that
0:34:56 > 0:35:00beneath the lakes and the lawns of Kew...
0:35:01 > 0:35:06..is this Victorian, industrialised complex servicing it.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09And this astonishing building,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12which could not have been made 25 year earlier.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16It was right at the cutting edge of all technology,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20with its use of wrought iron and its new use of glass,
0:35:20 > 0:35:24and the heating system, with the coal wheeled in by railway underneath.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27And also the smoke taken away underneath the ground, too.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30The smoke came out underground,
0:35:30 > 0:35:34and right over there, that tower is the chimney stack
0:35:34 > 0:35:35for those 12 boilers.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42And I love this idea of the subterranean
0:35:42 > 0:35:49energy creating this rather settled, triumphant domestic domain.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53Kew's Palm House was bold and experimental
0:35:53 > 0:35:57and, in true Victorian spirit, practical.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00The garden now had space for new introductions,
0:36:00 > 0:36:03and its existing collections had a permanent home.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06And you can still see one of them growing here today.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12Encephalartos altensteinii is hardly a household name...
0:36:13 > 0:36:17..but this is probably the most extraordinary plant here at Kew.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19It's certainly the oldest.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24Claims to be the oldest container plant in the world.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27Here it is still growing in its box.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30These are plants that were exactly the same
0:36:30 > 0:36:33when dinosaurs roamed the planet.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37It grows incredibly slowly, just one inch a year.
0:36:37 > 0:36:43But it's growing steadily and will go on growing long after
0:36:43 > 0:36:48you and I and probably all the other plants at Kew have faded away.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58By 1849, Kew's tropical plants were housed in the greatest
0:36:58 > 0:37:01glasshouse the world had ever seen,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04but during its four-year construction,
0:37:04 > 0:37:06another factor meant that
0:37:06 > 0:37:09even bigger and better glasshouses were now possible.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14For over 20 years until 1815, Britain was desperate to
0:37:14 > 0:37:17raise money to fight the Napoleonic Wars and amongst many other things,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21glass had been taxed and was therefore very expensive.
0:37:21 > 0:37:26But in 1845, the glass tax was removed.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29So William Hooker commissioned Decimus Burton to create
0:37:29 > 0:37:31a glasshouse that was even bigger.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37These are some of Decimus Burton's fabulous drawings
0:37:37 > 0:37:40that he did for the Temperate House,
0:37:40 > 0:37:44which was built about ten years after his Palm House.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48And whereas the Palm House was an extraordinary, adventurous
0:37:48 > 0:37:50building, experimental,
0:37:50 > 0:37:55trying out techniques that no-one was quite sure would work,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58Burton's design for the Temperate House - it's a celebration.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01100,000 panes of glass,
0:38:01 > 0:38:05looking itself like a palace, as well as a working machine.
0:38:05 > 0:38:11It does seem to me as almost the perfect example of the Victorian
0:38:11 > 0:38:19combination of materials, technique and design expressed in a garden.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29As a result of the technology used in these buildings,
0:38:29 > 0:38:32the Victorian gardener was spurred on
0:38:32 > 0:38:35to grow more and more exotic plants,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38although some attempts were more successful than others.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48In 1837, seeds from the biggest waterlily ever seen
0:38:48 > 0:38:53were brought back from South America to Kew, and they spent ten years
0:38:53 > 0:38:56trying to induce it to flower, but without success.
0:38:56 > 0:39:01So they grudgingly agreed to let Joseph Paxton grow it at Chatsworth.
0:39:03 > 0:39:09Not only did Paxton manage to grow this amazing plant with
0:39:09 > 0:39:16its enormous leaves, but also he persuaded it to come into flower.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18So it was Chatsworth
0:39:18 > 0:39:23and Paxton that had the honour of presenting this flower to
0:39:23 > 0:39:29Queen Victoria, and not Kew, that had shared the precious plant with them.
0:39:30 > 0:39:36Behind Paxton's success lay the combination of botanical curiosity
0:39:36 > 0:39:37and practical horticulture -
0:39:37 > 0:39:42the two coming together to grow this wonderfully exotic plant.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46I have come to Edinburgh Botanical Gardens,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49where they continue to nurture this extraordinary waterlily with
0:39:49 > 0:39:52the same passion as our 19th-century forebears.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58- You know how deep it is. This is uncharted...- Uncharted territory.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00..water for me.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03So what we will do is we will collect the flower.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08- Now, obviously...- I like the way you're reaching into your drawers to...
0:40:08 > 0:40:10LAUGHTER
0:40:10 > 0:40:12So these have a very prickly stem.
0:40:13 > 0:40:16- Yes.- I bet when he presented it to Queen Victoria
0:40:16 > 0:40:20he didn't hand it to her - it's too spiky for anyone to hold.
0:40:20 > 0:40:21LAUGHTER
0:40:21 > 0:40:24They had problems getting it to flower, didn't they, originally?
0:40:24 > 0:40:27- How did Paxton do it, what was...- I think the secret was,
0:40:27 > 0:40:30obviously he realised where the plant came from,
0:40:30 > 0:40:33he realised the water temperature - and I think that was
0:40:33 > 0:40:35- the secret, you know, by keeping the...- It's warm, isn't it?
0:40:35 > 0:40:39Keeping it warm, yes, and I think, he, from the records I've seen,
0:40:39 > 0:40:42I think he tried to get the water up in the high 20s, low 30s,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45so obviously at that time, that was quite an undertaking. And obviously
0:40:45 > 0:40:49- he had a mission to get this plant to flower and he achieved that. - Yeah.
0:40:49 > 0:40:50He thought it through.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54Good gardener. OK, we've got this, that's cut free.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57Yes, and then what I will also do is cut this larger one here,
0:40:57 > 0:40:59just so you can see the sizes.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02Well, I would be quite happy not to be too ripped to shreds,
0:41:02 > 0:41:06and without gloves how are we going to flip that out?
0:41:06 > 0:41:09With great difficulty and maybe a bit of perseverance.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17- All right, that's the... Hang on...- OK...
0:41:17 > 0:41:19- it's doubled back on itself, hasn't it?- Yeah.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25That is really spiny...
0:41:25 > 0:41:26DAVID LAUGHS
0:41:26 > 0:41:30It's like cactus rather than bramble, isn't it?
0:41:30 > 0:41:34Look how beautiful it is, the colour, the structure, the shape.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37It's more beautiful on the underside than on the top.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40But you can see how... Someone like Paxton would have looked at that...
0:41:40 > 0:41:44And as well as his horticultural eye, his engineer's eye
0:41:44 > 0:41:50would have seen how structured it is to take this big span.
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Nature's very own engineering.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56It's a kind of cliche but we've got
0:41:56 > 0:42:01so blase about the wonderful, the extraordinary, the amazing things...
0:42:01 > 0:42:03We see it on television, we see it on the internet,
0:42:03 > 0:42:05we're flooded with images.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10You forget the wonder that they must have had when this first came back
0:42:10 > 0:42:14and they saw this enormous leaf or heard about it.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18Yes, and then obviously for Paxton then to have this, this urge,
0:42:18 > 0:42:22this need and also the skill to grow it successfully to this size,
0:42:22 > 0:42:27and to flower it for the first time, it must have been a phenomenal achievement.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31And then we close it up, fold it like that.
0:42:31 > 0:42:32Really... Just, wow...
0:42:34 > 0:42:37We've preserved it for posterity.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41As the new technology meant that exotic plants weren't just
0:42:41 > 0:42:44being collected, but successfully grown,
0:42:44 > 0:42:47so more people had the opportunity to see and enjoy them.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51And when Paxton succeeded in inducing the giant waterlily
0:42:51 > 0:42:56to flower, what rankled Kew was that he advertised his triumph
0:42:56 > 0:42:59by standing his daughter on one of the giant leaves.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06By the 1840s, horticultural news of this kind was
0:43:06 > 0:43:10spreading beyond a botanical inner circle.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Improved print technology, an end to the tax on paper,
0:43:14 > 0:43:19and increased literacy, meant that a growing middle class could read about it.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24Right, tell me what we've got.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28This is the first popular gardening magazine.
0:43:28 > 0:43:33- And this is 1826.- This is 1826.- "Conducted by JC Loudon."
0:43:33 > 0:43:35Tell me about Loudon.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39This is John Claudius Loudon - and he's this incredible,
0:43:39 > 0:43:43workaholic, writer, journalist, campaigner...
0:43:43 > 0:43:47And he sets upon himself to, I think the quote is,
0:43:47 > 0:43:51"Raise the intellect and character of all who conduct horticulture."
0:43:51 > 0:43:53And who is this for?
0:43:53 > 0:43:56Well, this started off quarterly and cost five shillings,
0:43:56 > 0:43:59which is about £20-equivalent, so this is
0:43:59 > 0:44:05not your working-man gardener, this is somebody who employs a gardener.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09So what you find in here is a mixture of the latest
0:44:09 > 0:44:12news about new procedures, it's about keeping up to date.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15- Right.- But it also... He goes around the world.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17The gardens of Denmark, for example.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20It's not the sort of thing that's going to leap
0:44:20 > 0:44:21out of the newsstand, is it?
0:44:21 > 0:44:23- Well, it did.- Did it?
0:44:23 > 0:44:26- Actually.- How many, what sort of sales are we talking about?
0:44:26 > 0:44:29The first issue sold 4,000 copies, which in those days...
0:44:29 > 0:44:32that's pretty, pretty impressive.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36Was this the only garden magazine around?
0:44:36 > 0:44:37No, not by a long shot.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40This was such a success, there was such an appetite.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44The really successful, arguably most successful garden magazine
0:44:44 > 0:44:46of the 19th century, is this one.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Gardener's Chronicle. This is a weekly magazine.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52- Yes.- And this is sixpence, so this is really affordable
0:44:52 > 0:44:55- now for... - And full of adverts, I see.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57Absolutely chock-a-block with adverts,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59and here we've got an advert for...
0:44:59 > 0:45:03Sir J Paxton's Patent Hothouses For The Million.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06It's a really catchy little... title.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10So, not costing a million but just for the hoi polloi.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13- Very different to Chatsworth.- Mm.
0:45:13 > 0:45:16So, Paxton was flogging to the masses.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18He was, and got very rich in the process.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24The middle classes could now keep abreast of all the latest
0:45:24 > 0:45:28horticultural advances and as well as reading about them,
0:45:28 > 0:45:32they could now see them, too.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35Until the mid-19th century, gardens full of new and unusual plants
0:45:35 > 0:45:39were largely the preserve of the wealthy and botanical elite.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Even at Kew, where there had been limited access,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45the masses were hardly made welcome.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50If they wanted to come in and see things, they really had to
0:45:50 > 0:45:55struggle and there is a report from the time, saying what it was like.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59"You rang at a bell by the side of a wooden gate, which of itself
0:45:59 > 0:46:03"was perfectly emblematic of the secrecy working within.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06"You were let in as if by stealth. And when you were there,
0:46:06 > 0:46:10"you were dogged by an official, you entered unwelcome,
0:46:10 > 0:46:11"you rambled about suspected
0:46:11 > 0:46:15"and you were let out with manifest gladness shown at your departure."
0:46:19 > 0:46:22But in 1840, Queen Victoria gave Kew to the nation,
0:46:22 > 0:46:25and it quickly became a favourite place for the
0:46:25 > 0:46:29horticulturally empowered middle classes to visit.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32At the same time, there was a growing feeling that gardens
0:46:32 > 0:46:36should be available to everyone, regardless of wealth and class.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40So I have come to Derby,
0:46:40 > 0:46:44where Britain's first public park was created.
0:46:47 > 0:46:52In 1800, Derby had a population of just over 10,000...
0:46:52 > 0:46:57but by 1850 that had quadrupled to over 40,000,
0:46:57 > 0:47:02and it was a big, busy industrial town. And most of that population
0:47:02 > 0:47:07was made up of workers who had come in to serve the factories that were
0:47:07 > 0:47:14growing up. And they were poor and living in pretty grim conditions.
0:47:14 > 0:47:18However, there was at the same time a sense of social responsibility,
0:47:18 > 0:47:23a sense that these people needed recreation, they needed some kind
0:47:23 > 0:47:29of urban facility. And so in Derby they set about providing just that.
0:47:33 > 0:47:38After all, it was the urban working class that enabled
0:47:38 > 0:47:40the transformation of the gardens of the elite,
0:47:40 > 0:47:44so it was fitting that they should now have a garden of their own.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47It was the brainchild of a local mill owner, Joseph Strutt,
0:47:47 > 0:47:52who spent £10,000, about a quarter of a million at today's values,
0:47:52 > 0:47:55in creating it. And he turned to John Claudius Loudon,
0:47:55 > 0:47:58the editor of the Gardener's Magazine, to design
0:47:58 > 0:48:02the arboretum on the 11-acre site on the edge of the city.
0:48:02 > 0:48:08Loudon's design was carefully contrived to maximise the available space
0:48:08 > 0:48:11with serpentine paths running through the trees,
0:48:11 > 0:48:17which in turn were planted on landscaped mounds to contour the view.
0:48:19 > 0:48:21To find out more about the story of the park,
0:48:21 > 0:48:23I spoke to its manager, Mick McNaught.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29So all the, the earthworks were done by Loudon?
0:48:29 > 0:48:33- Yes.- Why was that, do you think?
0:48:33 > 0:48:36There's two real forms for the sculpted landscape in here.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38One is it's a very small site. It is only 11 acres.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42So everyone was aware that if it was left flat, if it was
0:48:42 > 0:48:43left entirely flat,
0:48:43 > 0:48:45you would be able to see from one side to the other.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47- Yes.- And you would really get a sense of how small it was.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50So the mounds were there to give a sense of space and seclusion,
0:48:50 > 0:48:54so that people walking down this path wouldn't see the people walking down that path.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56- Did Loudon do a plan?- He did.- Can I see that?
0:48:56 > 0:48:59- He did a fantastic plan. I will have to get my glasses out.- Yeah, me too.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01We're all going blind. We'll go with that.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03LAUGHTER Two old boys having a look at this.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07- There are several plans in here. - So, where are we standing now?
0:49:07 > 0:49:11We are now standing - it's upside down from where we are, so you are
0:49:11 > 0:49:15actually best looking from up here and we are along this path here.
0:49:15 > 0:49:17Round about this point there.
0:49:17 > 0:49:20And these numbers relate to trees that were planted by Loudon?
0:49:20 > 0:49:21Yes. There's a whole...
0:49:21 > 0:49:25- So are there any original ones that we can see?- There are. There are.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29I mean, there's a fantastic example of a pseudoacacia here.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33Specifically demonstrates Loudon's desire to show a tree
0:49:33 > 0:49:34to its full advantage.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36He very much wanted to see the root structure being displayed,
0:49:36 > 0:49:39so as such, left instructions that all the major
0:49:39 > 0:49:42planting should be on top of mounds to encourage the show of the roots.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46He goes into the minutest detail of the tree through a season,
0:49:46 > 0:49:50from the fresh verdant growth and how it changes.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52All the different colour changes to trees and leaves.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55Most of us just don't notice, and he very much wanted to show
0:49:55 > 0:49:59trees off to their absolute best and that was a passion that he held.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05Now, it might seem that an arboretum is an odd choice,
0:50:05 > 0:50:10but actually it exactly fits the time.
0:50:10 > 0:50:12For a start - they are beautiful.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15Arboreta are lovely places to visit.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17Secondly - it was an open space.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20Consider that most of these industrial workers had come in from
0:50:20 > 0:50:24the countryside and they were living in what we would regard as slums.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27So just a space like this was a lung,
0:50:27 > 0:50:32it was a green piece of freedom. And the third consideration,
0:50:32 > 0:50:37and probably the most important, was the education that was involved.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41Arboretums aren't just trees, they are collection of rare
0:50:41 > 0:50:44and unusual trees gathered from all over the world.
0:50:44 > 0:50:49Plants, remember, coming in from the world as plant hunters were
0:50:49 > 0:50:52bringing them back home. And then they're grouped in collections,
0:50:52 > 0:50:55so you can see different types of a certain species.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00And for example, I came in today and this tree behind,
0:51:00 > 0:51:03I couldn't recognise her, I couldn't identify it.
0:51:03 > 0:51:06Looked it up - and it's Magnolia acuminata,
0:51:06 > 0:51:07surrounded by other
0:51:07 > 0:51:12magnolias in this area - so I've just had the most perfect
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Victorian experience.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17I've wandered around... Wonderful trees,
0:51:17 > 0:51:22light filtering through the leaves, it's an open space, free from the
0:51:22 > 0:51:27hurly-burly of Derby and the town outside - and I've learnt something.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32The park was an instant success
0:51:32 > 0:51:37and 8,000 people attended the opening in 1840.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42It also began a trend, and by 1880 nearly every town
0:51:42 > 0:51:47and city in the country had its own municipal park,
0:51:47 > 0:51:51complete with lakes, fountains, lawns and promenades.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55Like Derby, many were sponsored by philanthropists,
0:51:55 > 0:51:58from local industrialists to the wealthy landowners,
0:51:58 > 0:52:01like the Dukes of Devonshire.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04Some were designed by the greatest gardeners of the day, like Loudon
0:52:04 > 0:52:07and Paxton, who created Buxton and Birkenhead parks.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12And all, like here at Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham,
0:52:12 > 0:52:15were established with the same Victorian belief
0:52:15 > 0:52:20in technological, social and moral improvement.
0:52:21 > 0:52:26It's extraordinary that this land, which was marshland...
0:52:27 > 0:52:31..was converted into a park in just a few months.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34It was commissioned in March 1873,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37and opened on the 1st September of the same year.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40We couldn't do that now, and it's a tribute above all to the
0:52:40 > 0:52:44incredible Victorian energy. But once it was opened,
0:52:44 > 0:52:48it then had to be maintained, and energy alone wouldn't do that.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52To keep this in the manner to which the people of Birmingham
0:52:52 > 0:52:55needed it, and wanted it, you needed technology.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01This led to a machine that is very familiar to our modern eye,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04although with an unusually literal take on horsepower.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08- Right, what date's this? - This was from the 1880s.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11- It's called a Green's Silens Messor. - Right.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14Which was a new super-duper model, which in Latin means
0:53:14 > 0:53:16silent cutter.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Well, let's see it cut silently.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Let's see how this works.
0:53:22 > 0:53:23There we go.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29It's cutting nicely, isn't it?
0:53:31 > 0:53:33Can I have a go?
0:53:33 > 0:53:34Stay, stay...
0:53:34 > 0:53:38- Whoa, whoa!- No, she's not going to stop, she's going... Right.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40And anything I have to do?
0:53:40 > 0:53:44- So, walk on.- OK, fine. Walk on, Star. Walk on.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46Oops, she's off.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54Whoa. Good girl.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57How much would this have cost in 1885?
0:53:57 > 0:54:00- Around about £50. Quite a lot of money.- Yes.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03The lady that asked us to have a look at this one...
0:54:03 > 0:54:06She said the coachman had some tricks that...
0:54:06 > 0:54:09Didn't want the horse to sort of poo on the lawn,
0:54:09 > 0:54:12so he used to take the horse and the lawnmower
0:54:12 > 0:54:15over to the bushes where he would do a little whistle - the horse would
0:54:15 > 0:54:19relieve itself and then they could go back out and cut more grass.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22That is really clever, isn't it? I mean, to poo on the whistle...
0:54:22 > 0:54:24BRIAN CHUCKLES
0:54:24 > 0:54:27..is extraordinary and a great trick.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30One of which, one could... HE CHUCKLES
0:54:30 > 0:54:32We'll just leave that... There it is. Er...
0:54:34 > 0:54:36So... That's actually not a stupid consideration.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38You don't want horse muck all over a lawn.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41- What about hoof prints?- They would have had leather boots.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43Why is she not wearing leather boots?
0:54:43 > 0:54:45We tried them on this morning but she didn't like them.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48- I think they are the wrong colour for her.- Really?
0:54:48 > 0:54:50- The wrong style? - Yes, wrong heel on them.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53These are the leather boots. This would have been a donkey boot
0:54:53 > 0:54:55and you can see how much wear it has had.
0:54:55 > 0:54:57- It's worn.- Oh, yes... That's worn out.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00It's ready for resoling. These would have been pony boots.
0:55:00 > 0:55:02Sweet, isn't it? Those are even bigger.
0:55:02 > 0:55:03Those are the horse boots.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07Up to the shire horse boot.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09That's absolutely wonderful, isn't it?
0:55:09 > 0:55:12They even went up to an elephant lawnmower and a camel lawnmower.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14- Really?- Of course, elephant and camels
0:55:14 > 0:55:19ideal for walking on grass, because they've got such a big foot.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22I've got a picture here of a camel lawnmower in the 1800s.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24So you have.
0:55:24 > 0:55:26And that would have been a normal horse mower
0:55:26 > 0:55:30- from the same sort of period.- But presumably that's a gimmick.- Not everybody had a camel!
0:55:30 > 0:55:32No, I can imagine that.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35Although these mowers required quite a lot of man,
0:55:35 > 0:55:39horse and occasionally camel power, it meant that it was possible to
0:55:39 > 0:55:44cut grass more quickly, more often and more easily than ever before.
0:55:44 > 0:55:49And for a public park, it meant it could all be done more cheaply.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54Manicured lawns and exotic trees became a mainstay of public parks,
0:55:54 > 0:55:57subtly reflecting the technological advances and
0:55:57 > 0:56:01inventiveness that had transformed gardens across the country.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04But it was the arrival of colour that provides probably
0:56:04 > 0:56:07the most enduring legacy of Victorian gardens.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09We take this for granted now
0:56:09 > 0:56:13but it wasn't until about 1860 that flowerbeds were introduced
0:56:13 > 0:56:18at all into public parks. And these were the fruits of the plant hunters
0:56:18 > 0:56:21who had risked life and limb to collect them, and the
0:56:21 > 0:56:23botanical gardens like Kew and Edinburgh
0:56:23 > 0:56:25who had learnt to nurture them.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29To find out more about these famous Victorian planting schemes,
0:56:29 > 0:56:33I spoke to the horticultural historian, Brent Elliot.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38Here is a particularly famous carpet bed.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42This was carried out at the Crystal Palace in 1875,
0:56:42 > 0:56:46depicts a butterfly. And in the 1880s, this style of...
0:56:48 > 0:56:51..emblematic patterns in carpet beddings spread around the world.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54You could say it was the first international style
0:56:54 > 0:56:56since the English landscape garden.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59But that creativity doesn't come out of nowhere.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02What was it that provoked it or enabled it?
0:57:02 > 0:57:05You needed a range of plants that weren't available as natives.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08So you needed the plant introduction
0:57:08 > 0:57:10and you needed the technology to keeps these plants going.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13Why couldn't this be done with native plants?
0:57:13 > 0:57:15They all have a tendency to be basically green.
0:57:17 > 0:57:19And if you wanted different reds, blues
0:57:19 > 0:57:21and yellows, then you did have to rely on foreign plants.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24The one plant of European origin in this bed
0:57:24 > 0:57:26provides the green background here.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28So the combination of all these things means
0:57:28 > 0:57:31that until the second half of the 19th century,
0:57:31 > 0:57:34this sort of thing would just not have been very feasible.
0:57:37 > 0:57:42From flowers in a public park, concrete urns in royal gardens,
0:57:42 > 0:57:47popular magazines for a new middle class, Wardian cases to collect
0:57:47 > 0:57:52plants by the thousand, to Kew's triumphant glasshouses -
0:57:52 > 0:57:56all were symbols of Victorian innovation,
0:57:56 > 0:57:59technology and supreme confidence.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03This century of UNPARALLELED energy
0:58:03 > 0:58:06and industry ended serenely
0:58:06 > 0:58:09with one of the richest and largest empires
0:58:09 > 0:58:12ever seen on earth - and the fruits of it were enjoyed
0:58:12 > 0:58:17by many, if not most, of its citizens, not least with gardens, packed with
0:58:17 > 0:58:19plants from all over the world.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22And they might have imagined this
0:58:22 > 0:58:26would continue indefinitely - but on the horizon, a few years away,
0:58:26 > 0:58:30was one of the greatest catastrophes the world has ever known.