Carpet Bedding - a Living Tapestry

lthough similar, carpet bedding is not exactly the same as planting out bedding plants in your garden. The differences between them do sometimes blur, but the key deciding factor is this: –

Has the bedding been planted out amongst an established border to give extra seasonal colour and interest, with flowers in abundance? Or has it been all been planted out at the same time in a discernible pattern? The latter is more likely to be carpet bedding, but there is another element to it, as we shall discover…

What is Carpet Bedding?

A good definition is this: –

It is a style of gardening with mainly, but not exclusively, foliage plants to create intricate designs giving a tapestry or carpet effect. Often complex and certainly decorative, it is meant to be living art.

The small plants are placed closely together, so that the initial gaps are soon covered as they grow. There should certainly be no gaps between the plants by 2-3 weeks after planting. The overall finished effect is of a tightly woven carpet, hence the name, carpet bedding.

Visualise a Persian carpet with intermingling, brightly coloured geometric shapes; these are like the more complex designs. Simpler designs will still be decorative. Think of some of those you’ve seen in public parks, gardens open to the public and flower shows. For example, floral clocks, coats of arms, designs to celebrate the late Queen’s Jubilee.

How were the designs created?

Just as many knot garden designs had been copied from books, so too with carpet bedding.

Designs would have been copied onto graph paper and then transferred onto the prepared border. Chalk lines or pegs and twine delineated where each block of plants was to go. These days it is possible to have a design turned into a planting plan using computer software.

design for carpet bedding 1884, George Nicholson

Foliage not Flowers

Strictly speaking, carpet bedding should only be made up of non-flowering, foliage plants. This gives uniformity from beginning to end of the display’s lifespan. Echeverias and sempervivums were particularly popular among the new plant introductions. Where flowering plants were used in displays, the flowers were removed. Foliage ruled the day.

This is another way to decide whether the pattern of plants in the border is a bedding display or carpet bedding. If lots of red Pelargoniums (pot Geraniums) are included to give colour then it is the former.

How did tapestries of plants become a must have garden feature?

The history of carpet bedding lies in the formal parterre gardens of the seventeenth century and the earlier Tudor knot gardens. These geometric patterns were designed to be viewed from above. Despite many plants introduced from the New World of the Americas during the sixteenth century, there was a more limited range of plants than we have today. In order to extend the season of interest coloured stones and shells were used to create part of the pattern.

It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that a vastly increased range of plants became available. Plant explorers had been searching for new plants for some time, but generally as part of a wider remit. Much of the emphasis on discovering new lands was for political rather than horticultural reasons.

One of the main problems was the care of plants on their journey back to Europe. Most successful new introductions were from bulbs, rhizomes and seeds rather than mature plants. The creation of the Wardian case and its use for transportation from the 1830s was a momentous leap forward.

With the selection of plants available to us today, it is perhaps difficult to comprehend the impact that all these newly discovered plants had. The new finds included plants which could be grown as annuals in temperate climates. For example, tender perennials such as Pelargoniums were treated as annuals. These plants were not only new, colourful and exciting, but they also grew quickly.

Like many other fashions and fads in gardening, carpet bedding and bedding plant schemes have been in and out of favour. Popular now, in the early twenty-first century, it was also a favourite style in the 1920s and 1950s. But its heyday was most definitely the first time round in the early and mid-nineteenth century.

Victorian Carpet Bedding

The introduction of so many suitable plants conveniently dovetailed in with the repeal of the glass, or window, tax. First introduced in 1696, with later amendments, it was a deeply unpopular tax, and had negative impact on the housing and health of the poorer sections of society. The final repeal in 1851 was based on health grounds.

However, one of the unexpected results was that the urban middle classes could suddenly afford orangeries, limonaria, conservatories and glasshouses. Owning these buildings enabled them to enjoy the new exotic plant species that were being found and brought to Britain. They and their gardeners were now able to easily give the tender bedding plants the protection they needed when young.

There were different types of bedding schemes loved and used by the Victorians. Variations included

ribbon bedding
plain bedding
carpet bedding

Ribbon bedding was often used in long borders adjacent to pathways. It consisted of long strips of colour (ribbons) scroll patterns or Greek key designs. Plain bedding, obviously, consisted of less complicated patterns.

Many of the designs were cut out of lawn areas, so their bright colours were set off by the green grass. Some were edged with tiles or low ironwork. Simple geometric shapes – circles, squares, crosses – were popular. As the trend continued, the designs became more intricate.

Public parks were particular devotees of carpet bedding and bedding schemes, the latter including flowers. The changing displays over the seasons gave visitors a reason to flock in and use the park’s facilities. Some parks charged for entrance. Perhaps this ‘come and see our new bedding display’ could be one means of funding for our parks today. Although many feel annual bedding schemes are not sustainable gardening, there are ways of making it so.

Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee 1897

Carpet Bedding today

The lack of gardeners following the First World War had an enormous impact on large country house gardens in particular. Intensive gardening styles, requiring careful planning and preparation and much ongoing maintenance were to a large degree replaced with easier to maintain herbaceous borders.

Public Parks and organisations continue to use various types of bedding schemes to commemorate anniversaries and events. However, generally simpler bedding displays, often with a framework of perennial planting, have become the norm.

Waddesdon Manor has become famous again for its bedding schemes. The Rothschilds were devotees of the high Victorian style of gardening. Following the gardens’ restoration, carpet bedding schemes re-appeared. See link below for a video from Waddesdon Manor showing the gardeners planting up their annual carpet bedding display. The chosen design is created on a special computer programme, which then provides the plan for the planting.

At Hampton Court Palace, gardeners created lovely carpet bedding displays to celebrate the Year of the Garden. The Hampton Court displays were taken from an 1877 book by Nathan Cole and were replicas of a design which was originally created for the gardens. The gardeners took advantage when the cherry picker was there for tree pruning to take birds eye view photos of the beds.

High Victorian carpet bedding displays are probably too labour intensive for most of us. But it would be possible to create a simpler and effective display for a special occasion – or just as a change. It could look particularly stunning as a front garden design for example.

victorian-walled-garden-1757316_1280, carpet bedding, klemore abbey, galway, ireland

carpet bedding, cineraria, coleus, hampton court station, hampton court flower show 2016

And finally

I will return to bedding schemes another time, and share some tips on creating one for yourself including making the preparation and aftercare easy. But for now, enjoy your garden with or without carpet bedding! And if Plews can help you with anything, please do get in touch. For example –

Why not ask about our bespoke Gardening Lessons, where your classroom is actually your own garden? We can help with both gardening basics and more ‘expert tasks’, carry out worm and other experiments and for example, also show you how to plan a vegetable plot. Have a read through this pdf download for info.

For further gardening advice and inspiration, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below Plus we have a monthly Tipsheet (currently changing our provider, so there may be a delay) You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.

Feeling nosey? You can have a peek at the progress of my garden renovation, Spitfires and Slow Worms, on Instagram and Facebook

You’ll get to see it in person if you come to the Plews Gardening Workshops Although later dates and topics still need to be finalised, there are current ones on Eventbrite for you to book into. Follow for updates on topics and dates on Instagram, Eventbrite, Facebook

Plus get your local garden club, allotment, WI, U3A or other group to ask me along to give a talk (and bring plants 😉)