Defoe states was "devised by the King himself."[1] "Especially," he says, "the amendments and alterations were made by the King or the Queen's special command, or both; for their Majesties agreed so well in their fancies, and had both so good a judgment in the just proportion of things which are the principal beauties of a garden, that it may be said they both ordered everything that was done." They effected a revolution in the appearance of the garden and park. Everywhere appeared borders and hedges of box, the great feature of Dutch gardening, which endured, indeed, only so long as the Dutch king ruled, for Queen Anne, who was little of a gardener herself, took pleasure in immediately rooting up most of the memorials of her brother-in-law's taste.
Throughout the reigns of the two sovereigns the work was carried on con amore, but two special periods of activity seem to be noticeable: the beginning of the reign, when George London was appointed royal gardener, with a post also in the Queen's household, and the year 1699-1700, when William took in hand the reconstruction of the entire palace and all that belonged to it. Gardening was now become a serious business. Great firms of gardeners directed the designs of the great houses throughout the country. "Gardening," said a literary gardener, "advanced to its highest meridian." The
- ↑ Considerable caution is necessary in using any work of Defoe, and even his "Tour through the whole Island of Great Britain" is not historically correct; but in this case, though incorrect in some points, some part at least of his statement may be received.
