(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
It was in Ancient Egypt that gardens first appeared. Aimed at offering a place of shade and a breath of fresh air in the desert, the Egyptian garden was a true oasis . Over the years, garden design has evolved from rudimentary farming to a refined art . But it was only in the last century that rising incomes, free time, and suburban living have made the designed garden a common feature of Western homes. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
But how have garden landscaping designs evolved from thousands of years ago to the present day? Below, we’ve rounded up the most popular garden designs from 4,000 years ago to the present day. Check them out! 1400 BC: Domestic Garden (Ancient Egyptian Era)
(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The Egyptian garden was an oasis: it provided shade and carefully ordered natural beauty in an arid land, but it was also a spiritual refuge, dotted with symbolic patterns and trees, including frankincense and fig. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The bold geometry of the Egyptian garden was as much about practicality as aesthetics. In addition to pleasure, gardens were cultivated for the common ingredients of everyday life – from herbs and spices to papyrus and palm trees that provided shade and fruit. 400 BC to 550 AD: Greco-Roman Courtyard (Classical Era)
(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The walled cities of Ancient Greece and Rome left little space for gardens. Only the wealthy had room for a small courtyard in the center of their home. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
It wasn't all stone and water. Herb and flower beds boasted roses, violets, crocuses, thyme, marigolds and daffodils, offering fresh scents and colours, although these areas were also augmented with statues and water fountains. 500 BC to 1700 AD: Chahar Bagh/Pleasure Garden (Indo-Persian Era)
(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
Chahar Bagh Garden celebrated natural beauty while acknowledging the imperfections of life as it was lived. Still, the landscapers often divided the four quadrants of the garden with flowing water to represent the four rivers of paradise. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The influence of Persian landscaping is still felt today, through Islamic traditions and later through Greece, thanks to the impressions made by Alexander the Great when he invaded and conquered the region. 1000 to 1450: City Garden (Medieval Era)
(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
As the medieval city developed, there was still room for city dwellers to grow a garden. Continued food insecurity made “home gardens” common. Meanwhile, doctors prescribed the scent of flowers to ward off plague and recommended walks in the garden for mental health. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
Tudor landscapers wove medieval and Renaissance influences from Italy into impressively complex gardens. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The Knot Garden began in medieval times as a practical way of dividing vegetable gardens with intertwined patterns of herbs. Under Henry VIII and later Elizabeth I, the hedge became an ornamental feature to be admired in its own right. 1600: French Garden
(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The Gardens of Versaille are one of the few “international celebrities” in the world of landscape design. And they exemplify the type of French formal garden whose enormous influence on 17th-century Europe continues to reverberate to this day. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
Versailles is an expansion of the garden unit known as a parterre : a garden divided into patterns by gravel, hedging, and flower beds. Early 1800s: Gardenesque Style
(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The famous landscaper John Claudius Loudon conceived of the gardening style as a high art, which at the same time took the responsibility for design away from architects and passed it on to landscapers. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
Loudon proclaimed that “any creation, to be recognized as a work of art, must be such that it can never be mistaken for a work of nature ,” and yet his gardening philosophy required that plants be allowed to express their natural uniqueness. 1870 to 1920: Arts and Crafts Garden (Victorian and Modernist Eras)
(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The Arts and Crafts movement valued authenticity and a hands-on approach . Its manifestation in the garden was no different. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The arts and crafts garden should express the personality of its owners. It begins as an extension of the home and then blends into the landscape beyond the owner's land, moving into the forest or countryside. From 1940 to today: American Garden (Contemporary Era)
(HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
It's a modern classic: the American lawn , a veteran of Fitzgerald's novels and David Lynch's films. The lawn is the simplest of gardens, but a great symbol for landscaping from the beginning of the 20th century until today. (HouseHoldQuotes/CASACOR)
The art of the American garden is found in its practical elements: a winding path that offers varied views of the house and surrounding landscape, a white picket fence, and a leafy tree. 
