The Picturesque Style

A wonder down the grassy path of the Serpentine Ride at the Arboretum takes you past beautiful glades which include collections of flowering trees and shrubs.

It defines the layout of the oldest part of the Arboretum, the original Pinetum, laid out by William Sawrey Gilpin in the 1830s. Galpin utilised certain woody plants to implement various principles of The Picturesque Style. One of Gilpin's planting styles encouraged the use of evergreen trees or shrubs as a backdrop to extenuate certain traits of plants in the foreground.