Greek and Roman Gardens

Many aspects of Greek and Roman gardens reflect what I admire and are drawn to in a garden style.  These gardens portray a soothing and relaxing atmosphere which largely feature water fountains, statues, topiary and manicured gardens.  

Greek Garden

Roman Garden

The design elements of these ancient gardens are still popular today showcasing classic lines and symmetry which can easily be incorporated into anyone’s garden.  The style of garden is designed to be pleasurable, where people can relax and entertain with the surrounds revealing remarkable views and various visual elements drawing the eye away from the house out into the garden to sculptures or water features.  Like today, kitchen gardens were also utilised to grow herbs and shrubs such as thyme, mint, basil and bay being amongst some of the most popular.  When space for plants was limited, window boxes and plants on a roof would be used instead.  Some houses also had rooftop gardens.  The flat, sunny roofs were often planted with trees, shrubs and potted plants to make attractive conservatories.  These were the original “green roofs”, a house-cooling style that has made a comeback in recent years as using gardens to conserve energy has gained popularity.  

Greek Garden

Roman Garden

A concept that is used widely today in a similar way to ancient times are small rooms that were used for entertaining and dining.  The rooms opened out onto the garden and were often painted with trees, plants, and birds to extend the garden theme indoors.  Paintings were also used on the surrounding garden walls to extend the illusion of garden space in small areas.  As time went on, gardens evolved to include hothouses for the forcing of grapes and melons.  Generally, all Roman gardens included the same basic elements to them such as a patio at the entrance, a terrace, an orchard or vineyard, several water features, a kitchen garden, shrines and other garden features that would personalise the garden.  Today’s love of container gardening can be credited to the Greeks, as Greek women often planted quick-growing seeds of lettuce, fennel, wheat and barley in pots for the festival of Adonis.  A few of the main legacies that Greek gardens leave for us today is the use of irrigation, the use of trees to enhance buildings, container growing and the reflection of plant shapes.  Large or small, Roman gardens were laid out with a keen sense of design and scale, as well as a thorough knowledge of the kind of plant materials most suited to the pleasure garden.  

Greek Garden

Roman Garden