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Sixty Years of Gardening
How gardening has changed since the 1950s
Gardens in the 50s and 60s were
typically full of colour, but
labour- intensive to maintain.
In the 70s and 80s easy-care
plantings of shrubs and ground
cover became popular.
Gardens got smaller in the 90s
and 00s but still found room for
wildlife, and relaxation.
Gardens and gardening have seen many changes since Queen Elizabeth II came to
the throne in 1952. They have reflected major social trends such as increased
affluence, greater home ownership, extra leisure time and more foreign travel.
Gardens have also been affected by wider issues such as the growth of
environmentalism and greater concerns about healthy eating. Fashion also plays a
key part, influenced by gardening experts and designers through books and
magazines, television and show gardens.
This leaflet summarises some of the key elements to consider if you want to recreate
a garden from a previous era. For more information try second-hand book shops and
charity shops where you should be able to find books of the period that will provide
more details, and planting suggestions.
Rather than recreating an actual garden, you could use this information as a basis for
a history project involving older relatives, carers and friends in sharing their
gardening memories of what came after Dig for Victory, what happened in the era of
flower power, and how the booming economy of the eighties influenced the way we
used our gardens.

If you want to look further back in gardening history, the BBC has a useful, interactive
gardening timeline that starts with the Romans who are credited with bringing the
concept of ornamental gardens to Britain. This is the address:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/design/flash/main.shtml
Gardens in the 1950s and 60s
Emerging from wartime austerity and Dig for Victory campaigns, many ornamental
gardens had been reduced or dug up completely in order to grow food. Much new
housing was also built to replace war damage, so many gardeners were faced with a
blank canvas. Gardens tended to be relatively high maintenance, and gardening was
a popular hobby, supporting thriving flower shows and many specialist plant
societies. Common features of 50s and 60s gardens included:
∗ a carefully tended lawn, cut with a manual or petrol-driven lawnmower
∗ crazy paving, making a virtue of the lack of materials available for gardens
∗ a rockery, often over-run with rather too vigorous plants such as aubrieta
∗ traditional ornaments such as bird baths and sundials
∗ hybrid tea and floribunda roses, often grown on their own in special rose beds
arranged by colour, or as standards lining a path
∗ privet hedges, clipped by hand
∗ a vegetable plot with traditional staples such as leeks, cabbages, carrots,
potatoes, cabbages, peas and beans
∗ show flowers such as delphiniums, begonias, sweet peas and chrysanthemums
∗ colourful herbaceous borders featuring plants such as lupins, oriental poppies,
michaelmas daisies and phlox bought from specialist nurseries by mail order
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∗ bedding schemes in bright colours for example red salvia, blue lobelia and white
alyssum, bought as small plants in trays from greengrocers or ironmongers
∗ chickens where there was enough room
∗ new chemical products to control pests and improve soil fertility
∗ home-made or loam-based potting compost
∗ a garden shed, perhaps with a small, lean-to greenhouse
∗ deckchairs as the commonest garden furniture
Gardens in the 70s and 80s
In this period, more and more people had access to a garden, and garden centres
emerge to meet the demand for quick results with container-grown plants. There was
a boom in TV programmes and gardening magazines offering advice. Lowmaintenance
designs were popular, electric power tools helped make cutting lawns
and trimming hedges quicker and easier. Gardens are seen as places for relaxation
rather than hard work. Common features of 70s and 80s gardens included:
∗ island beds cut into the lawn, filled with easy-care, quick-growing shrubs such as
berberis, buddleia, cotoneaster, euonymus, eleagnus and spiraea
∗ patios for outdoor eating, inspired by Mediterranean holidays, using many
different types of paving, from large stone slabs to brick paviors
∗ a wide variety of garden furniture, making the garden an outdoor room
∗ simple water features to add to the sense of relaxation
∗ plants chosen for their foliage as well as their flowers
∗ old-fashioned roses, including the new breed of English roses
∗ weed-suppressing ground cover such as hostas and hardy geraniums
∗ architectural plants such as strap-leaved phormiums, yuccas and cordylines,
jungly fatsias and delicate Japanese maples
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∗ more adventurous vegetable crops, including courgettes, sweetcorn, Chinese
leaves and peppers, though there are fewer veg patches
∗ sentimental garden ornaments including gnomes, cherubs and animals, usually
made of concrete
∗ peat-based composts; and growing bags to make raising greenhouse crops
simpler
∗ Leyland cypress hedging, cut with an electric hedgetrimmer
∗ a conservatory, where tender plants share the space with basketwork furniture
Gardens in the 90s and 00s
As houses get smaller, the garden as an extension of the house, a room outside,
becomes more important. At the same time, growing environmental concerns lead
gardeners to also value the wildlife that shares the garden. Both trends lead to a
more relaxed approach to gardening and a reduction in the use of chemical pest
control. Organic gardening comes of age, and there is a resurgence of interest in
growing food at home. Owners are willing to spend more money on the garden to
reflect their taste
and aspirations.
Common features
of 90s and 00s
gardens include:
∗ decorative
fencing instead of
hedges
∗ raised
planters and built-in seating
∗ stylish naturalistic or abstract ornaments in metal, wood and stone
∗ perennials densely planted in broad sweeps to give a prairie-style effect
∗ garden sheds that have evolved into attractive hideaways, or substantial
structures of wood and glass used as home offices or gyms
∗ containers of all shapes and sizes filled with every type of plant
∗ vegetables used more ornamentally – grown among flowers, or in attractive
raised beds or containers
∗ an ever-increasing range of vegetables, including heritage varieties, many kinds
of salad leaves, and newly fashionable choices such as chilli pepper and garlic
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∗ perennials chosen for foliage interest such as heuchera
∗ grasses and bamboos
∗ decking to provide a more forgiving surface for entertaining and play than stone,
brick or concrete
∗ lush, tropical effects with palms and bananas, encouraged by milder winters
∗ planting and features to encourage and support wildlife
∗ peat-free potting compost and biological control of pests
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