Munstead Wood - a great garden

Gertrude Jekyll was born on 29 November 1843. Over a long career in horticulture and planting design she created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA (although she never visited the latter).

She is said to have fallen in love with the idea of garden design using creative planting schemes while attending Henry Coles's School of Art at South Kensington in London.

She wrote for 'The Garden' Magazine

Her importance lies both in her understanding of the characteristics of plants at the same time as having a strongly developed sense of aesthetics in terms of design and colour.

Gertude Jekyll died on 8 December 1932 and is buried in the churchyard of St. John the Baptist, Busbridge, Godalming

This is one of the most important gardens in England and in the history of garden design. It creates the notion that planting schemes should have a painterly approach. Jekyll's designs for her garden were said to be influenced by Turner and the Impressionist painters of the late nineteenth century,

Records also indicate that Gertrude Jekyll sold plants from the Munstead Wood Nursery as from 1897 and that she continued to run the nursery until her death in 1932.

Munstead Wood - the house - was an early design by Edwin Lutyens. He was just 20 and an architect with aspirations and she was 46 when they first met in 1889.

They developed a great friendship and a respect for each other's work such that many of Lutyen's great English country houses had gardens designed by Jekyll

In the past the garden has opened on two days a year as part of the National Garden Scheme (Yellow Book). However the 2011 edition suggests it is not open this year.

The address is: Munstead Wood, Heath Lane, Busbridge, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1UN England