Women Who Shaped Garden History
Gloucestershire, England. Created by the American-born Lawrence Johnston from 1907 onward, Hidcote is one of the most influential gardens of the 20th century. Its system of garden rooms, separated by hedges and walls, directly inspired Sissinghurst and countless other gardens.
Although Hidcote was created by a man, it has deep connections to the women profiled on this site. The garden-room concept that Johnston pioneered at Hidcote was taken up and developed by Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst, and the two gardens are often discussed together as the twin peaks of the English garden-room tradition. Norah Lindsay advised Johnston on planting, and the garden reflects the romantic, generous planting style that she championed.
Hidcote demonstrated that a garden could be organized as a series of discrete outdoor rooms, each with its own mood and color scheme, connected by hedged corridors and framed views. This idea — which drew on both Italian Renaissance gardens and the English Arts and Crafts tradition — became the dominant model for English garden design in the 20th century. Johnston donated Hidcote to the National Trust in 1948; it was the first garden the Trust acquired for its horticultural rather than its historical significance.