Top tips in spades as library digs into 500 years of gardening

On display as part of the free exhibition is a fascinating collection of beautifully illustrated manuals, compiled by some of history’s most esteemed horticulturalists.

Between their antique covers can be found centuries of accumulated wisdom about the best ways to grow fabulous fruit and vibrant veg as well as colourful flowers and fragrant herb patches.

Among the treasured tomes on display is a copy of The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes, written by famed Elizabethan herbalist John Gerard.

Describing in painstaking detail the names, properties and growing locations of every plant known to western botany at the time, the book is even believed to have inspired William Shakespeare when The Bard was devising the potions which would feature in famed plays such as Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Also on display is Batty Langley’s New Principles of Gardening. Penned in 1728, the book is filled with meticulous instructions and diagrams on how geometry can be applied to the design of gardens as well as detailed pointers on the best ways to plant and care for fruit trees.

Leeds Central Library is hoping that public donations gathered through the course of the exhibition will enable the book to be repaired and restored to its former glory.

The exhibition also includes a series of stunning illustrated guides to British flowers, such as Jane Loudon’s British Wild Flowers, written in around 1850. Originally a science fiction author, Loudon married a horticulturalist and became a self-taught botanical illustrator.

She later wrote her own gardening manuals and filled them with her own vibrant lithographs of various flowers and plants, which helped make gardening more accessible for women and the middle class.

Antony Ramm, Leeds Central Library’s special collections librarian, said: “Gardening is one of those rare and wonderful common threads through history which has inspired so much dedication, passion and joy for people from all walks of life in completely different eras.

“The centuries of accumulated wisdom that we have on display at the library also captures that impulse which generations of gardeners have had to pass on their knowledge and encourage others to create beautiful gardens of their own.

“That desire to cultivate a shared, enriching experience really encapsulates the power that gardening has to bring people together to positively change and shape the world around them.”

Inspired by the British Library’s major exhibition, Unearthed sees Leeds Central Library joining 30 library services around the country celebrating gardening through the Living Knowledge Network.

As well as the books on display, the exhibition features The Speaking Garden a multimedia installation inspired by the library’s collection and the gardeners of Leeds.

Filled with colourful projected visuals and a soothing soundscape from Buffalo Sound Design, the installation seeks to create a ‘garden of voices’ by inviting local growers to submit their own audio clips about what gardening means to them.

Anyone who wants to be part of The Speaking Garden can record themselves on a phone or computer and submit a clip to the library.

Councillor Mary Harland, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, customer service and community safety, said: “Like gardening, libraries play a huge role in bringing people together and encouraging them to challenge themselves, learn and be inspired by the work of others.

“It’s wonderful to see the library’s remarkable collection being used to celebrate a subject which has brought so much life to the city and which continues to be a source of pride for our communities.”

Visitors can also make a donation to support the restoration of New Principles of Gardening online at: https://libraries.leeds.gov.uk/about-us/donate

Unearthed is open now at Leeds Central Library and runs until October 29. For more information, including how to submit a clip to the Speaking Garden, visit: Unearthed: The Power of Gardening | Leeds Library

ENDS