A history of botanical gardens

Between science and landscape art

by Yves-Marie Allain (writer)
Collection: Beaux livres
september 2025
215 x 245 format 118 pages In stock
25,00 €
120 pages Download after purchase
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Summary

The world's 3,400 botanical gardens and institutions are veritable observatories of plant biodiversity, offering the chance to discover almost 150,000 plant species.

The first botanical gardens appeared during the Renaissance, in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and France. Initially intended for scientific purposes, they developed rapidly from the 16th to the 18th century, particularly within the major European universities. The second half of the 18th century saw the emergence of a new garden aesthetic, the landscape style. Promoted by the bourgeoisie, this approach to nature sought to introduce decorative exotic trees and shrubs. To meet this demand, botanical gardens were enlarged or arboretums were created, genuine landscape parks that were both scientific and open to the public.

This book also traces the history of plant classification and conservation in these establishments. In France, awareness of the erosion of biodiversity led, in the second half of the 20th century, to the creation of a network of national botanical conservatories. On a global scale, botanical gardens have evolved considerably in recent decades. Highlighting their contemporary challenges - ecological, artistic and educational - the author illustrates their scientific, heritage and cultural value through examples of recent gardens.

A horticultural engineer and landscape gardener, Yves-Marie Allain has been in charge of the Jardin des plantes de Paris and the Arboretum de Chèvreloup. Today, he shares his knowledge through lectures and numerous books on the relationship between man and plants.


Table of contents

Introduction

Origins and evolution of botanical gardens from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century

The European world at the end of the fifteenth century

Knowledge of flora in Western Europe at the beginning of the sixteenth century

The art of gardens

The first botanical gardens

The Botanical Garden of Padua
The Garden of Leiden
The Plant Garden of Montpellier
The Plant Garden of Paris

Multiplication of botanical gardens in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

New directions for botanical gardens from the end of the eighteenth century

State of the art of European gardens

New needs for knowledge in dendrology and agronomy: the creation of new presentation and study sites

Botanical garden schools

Central schools and their botanical gardens

Contemporary botanical schools

“Rest gardens” and instructions for transporting plants

Port gardens
Instructions and techniques for transporting plants

Creation of the first gardens dedicated to botany outside Europe

Test gardens in colonial empires

The position of garden designers

Some achievements by landscape gardeners and architects

The little-known functions of botanical gardens

Botanical garden labels

Grain stores, plant distribution, index seminum

Herbaria

Botanic gardens in the contemporary world

New rules, new scientific concepts

Invasive plants: a responsibility for botanic gardens?

A French exception, the Conservatoire botanique national

Botanical garden renovations and creations

The botanical garden in a changing society

Bibliography of works consulted

Press

More contents

Features

Language(s): French

Publisher: Éditions Quae

Edition: 2th edition

Collection: Beaux livres

Published: 25 september 2025

First publishing date: 13 november 2012

Reference eBook [PDF]: 03015NUM

Reference eBook [ePub]: 03015EPB

Reference Hardback book: 03015

EAN13 eBook [PDF]: 9782759241088

EAN13 eBook [ePub]: 9782759241095

EAN13 Hardback book: 9782759241071

Interior: Colour

Format (in mm) Hardback book: 215 x 245

Pages count eBook [PDF]: 120

Pages count Hardback book: 118

Weight (in grammes): 633

Size: 115 MB (PDF), 19.5 MB (ePub)

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