British gardening culture has a long history. As early as the medieval royal garden era, Britain began to pay attention to garden design and plant cultivation. In the Victorian era, gardening became a popular national fashion. With the improvement of living standards, ordinary families began to build private small gardens. The British royal family has always attached great importance to garden construction. The world-famous Buckingham Palace Garden and Kew Gardens have become models of British garden art, guiding the national gardening aesthetic trend. Different from the rigorous and symmetrical formal gardens in European continental countries, British gardens advocate natural, casual and wild beauty. British garden design does not pursue rigid geometric symmetry, but focuses on integrating artificial planting with natural landscape, retaining the natural charm of plants. Various flowers and plants are matched freely, with rich layers and diverse colors, forming a fresh, elegant and lively pastoral style. This natural aesthetic concept also reflects the British people’s love for nature and pursuit of freedom. Gardening has become an indispensable part of British family life. Every British family will carefully decorate their small front yard and backyard. Common plants include roses, lavender, daisies, tulips and various seasonal green plants. Many British people spend their spare time pruning branches, watering and fertilizing, and taking care of gardens wholeheartedly. For British people, gardening is not only labor, but also a way to relax, relieve pressure and heal mood. It is a spiritual leisure way integrating labor, aesthetics and natural contact. Britain has a complete gardening cultural system. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804, is the most authoritative gardening institution in the world. It holds regular national flower shows and gardening competitions, collects and cultivates new plant varieties, and popularizes gardening knowledge. Local villages and communities also hold annual garden evaluation activities to encourage residents to carefully maintain their gardens and jointly create a beautiful living environment. Gardening culture also shapes British social and ecological concepts. British people pay attention to ecological protection in the process of planting, advocate green planting, protect local plant varieties and butterfly and bird habitats. Many urban communities build community shared gardens to let residents participate in planting together, enhance neighborhood communication and community cohesion. Gardening has become a social way to connect neighbors and integrate communities. British gardening culture embodies the British people’s gentle life attitude, exquisite aesthetic pursuit and reverence for nature. It turns ordinary daily life into elegant and warm pastoral life, and becomes a unique and gentle cultural symbol in British civilization.
