Christopher Lloyd | |
---|---|
Born | 2 March 1921
Northiam, East Sussex, United Kingdom |
Died | 27 January 2006 Hastings, United Kingdom | (aged 84)
Other names | Christo |
Education | |
Notable work |
|
Christopher "Christo" Hamilton Lloyd, OBE (2 March 1921 – 27 January 2006) was an English gardener and a gardening author of note, as the 20th-century chronicler for thickly planted, labour-intensive country gardening. [1]
Lloyd was born in Great Dixter, into an upper-middle-class family, the youngest of six children. In 1910, his father, Nathaniel Lloyd, an Arts and Crafts architect, author, printer and designer of posters and other images for confectionery firms, [2]), bought Great Dixter, a manor house in Northiam, East Sussex near the south coast of England. Edwin Lutyens was hired to renovate and extend the house and advise on the structure of the garden. [3] Nathaniel Lloyd loved gardens, designed some of this one himself, and passed that love on to his son. Lloyd learned the skills required of a gardener from his mother Daisy, who did the actual gardening [4] and introduced him as a young boy to Gertrude Jekyll, [3] who was a considerable influence on Lloyd, in particular with respect to "mixed borders". [5] His mother Daisy, to whom he had remained close his entire life, died at Great Dixter on 9 June 1972, aged 91. [6] [7]
After Wellesley House ( Broadstairs) and Rugby School, he attended King's College, Cambridge, where he read modern languages before entering the Army during World War II. [7] After the war he received his bachelors in Horticulture from Wye College, University of London, in 1950. He stayed on there as an assistant lecturer in horticulture [8] until 1954.
In 1954, Lloyd moved home to Great Dixter and set up a nursery specialising in unusual plants. He regularly opened the house and gardens to the public. [9] Lloyd did not do all of the gardening himself, but, like his parents, employed a staff of gardeners. In 1991, Fergus Garrett became his head gardener, and continued in that role after Lloyd's death.[ citation needed]
In 1979 Lloyd received the Victoria Medal of Honour, the highest award of the Royal Horticultural Society, for his promotion of gardening and his extensive work on their Floral Committee. [10] In 1996, Lloyd was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Open University. In 2000, he was appointed as an officer of the Order of the British Empire. [8]
Today, the Garden is run by a trust under the direction of Fergus Garrett.
Lloyd was a great-grandson of Edwin Wilkins Field, a law-reforming solicitor, and the great uncle of Christopher Lloyd, the author of numerous non-fiction books, including the popular What on Earth? Happened from the Big Bang to the Present Day and a series of children's historical Wallbook titles. [11] [12]
Lloyd was firmly rooted in the Arts and Crafts style of garden. [3] In most ways he was, like his mother and Gertrude Jekyll, a practical gardener. He said "I couldn't design a garden. I just go along and carp." [1] Despite his extensive work with flowers, he had an appreciation for the garden as a whole. He also understood human nature. One professional gardener likes to quote Lloyd from his book Foliage Plants on how "it is an indisputable fact that appreciation of foliage comes at a later stage in our education, if it comes at all." [13]
Lloyd rapidly felt the need to share his gardening discoveries and published The Mixed Border in 1957, [14] which was followed by Clematis in 1965, [15] and The Well-Tempered Garden in 1970. [16] Lloyd had begun a book on the use of exotic plants in British gardens when he died. This his gardening friends and colleagues completed as Exotic Planting for Adventurous Gardeners in 2007. [17]
In Meadows at Great Dixter and Beyond, published in 2004, Lloyd explored the use of meadow land around his own house. [18]
Christopher Lloyd | |
---|---|
Born | 2 March 1921
Northiam, East Sussex, United Kingdom |
Died | 27 January 2006 Hastings, United Kingdom | (aged 84)
Other names | Christo |
Education | |
Notable work |
|
Christopher "Christo" Hamilton Lloyd, OBE (2 March 1921 – 27 January 2006) was an English gardener and a gardening author of note, as the 20th-century chronicler for thickly planted, labour-intensive country gardening. [1]
Lloyd was born in Great Dixter, into an upper-middle-class family, the youngest of six children. In 1910, his father, Nathaniel Lloyd, an Arts and Crafts architect, author, printer and designer of posters and other images for confectionery firms, [2]), bought Great Dixter, a manor house in Northiam, East Sussex near the south coast of England. Edwin Lutyens was hired to renovate and extend the house and advise on the structure of the garden. [3] Nathaniel Lloyd loved gardens, designed some of this one himself, and passed that love on to his son. Lloyd learned the skills required of a gardener from his mother Daisy, who did the actual gardening [4] and introduced him as a young boy to Gertrude Jekyll, [3] who was a considerable influence on Lloyd, in particular with respect to "mixed borders". [5] His mother Daisy, to whom he had remained close his entire life, died at Great Dixter on 9 June 1972, aged 91. [6] [7]
After Wellesley House ( Broadstairs) and Rugby School, he attended King's College, Cambridge, where he read modern languages before entering the Army during World War II. [7] After the war he received his bachelors in Horticulture from Wye College, University of London, in 1950. He stayed on there as an assistant lecturer in horticulture [8] until 1954.
In 1954, Lloyd moved home to Great Dixter and set up a nursery specialising in unusual plants. He regularly opened the house and gardens to the public. [9] Lloyd did not do all of the gardening himself, but, like his parents, employed a staff of gardeners. In 1991, Fergus Garrett became his head gardener, and continued in that role after Lloyd's death.[ citation needed]
In 1979 Lloyd received the Victoria Medal of Honour, the highest award of the Royal Horticultural Society, for his promotion of gardening and his extensive work on their Floral Committee. [10] In 1996, Lloyd was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Open University. In 2000, he was appointed as an officer of the Order of the British Empire. [8]
Today, the Garden is run by a trust under the direction of Fergus Garrett.
Lloyd was a great-grandson of Edwin Wilkins Field, a law-reforming solicitor, and the great uncle of Christopher Lloyd, the author of numerous non-fiction books, including the popular What on Earth? Happened from the Big Bang to the Present Day and a series of children's historical Wallbook titles. [11] [12]
Lloyd was firmly rooted in the Arts and Crafts style of garden. [3] In most ways he was, like his mother and Gertrude Jekyll, a practical gardener. He said "I couldn't design a garden. I just go along and carp." [1] Despite his extensive work with flowers, he had an appreciation for the garden as a whole. He also understood human nature. One professional gardener likes to quote Lloyd from his book Foliage Plants on how "it is an indisputable fact that appreciation of foliage comes at a later stage in our education, if it comes at all." [13]
Lloyd rapidly felt the need to share his gardening discoveries and published The Mixed Border in 1957, [14] which was followed by Clematis in 1965, [15] and The Well-Tempered Garden in 1970. [16] Lloyd had begun a book on the use of exotic plants in British gardens when he died. This his gardening friends and colleagues completed as Exotic Planting for Adventurous Gardeners in 2007. [17]
In Meadows at Great Dixter and Beyond, published in 2004, Lloyd explored the use of meadow land around his own house. [18]