Percy Stephen Cane facts for kids

Percival Stephen Cane (born 1881, died 1976) was a famous English garden designer and writer. He created many beautiful gardens and also wrote books about them.

About Percy Cane

Percy Cane was born and went to school in Essex, England. He studied horticulture (which is the art and science of growing plants) and architecture (designing buildings).

He designed many gardens throughout his long career. He often won awards for his garden designs at the famous Chelsea Flower Show.

Cane also loved to write. He published four books about gardening. He even owned and published two magazines about plants and gardens. His gardens were often in the "Arts and Crafts" style. This style focused on natural materials and traditional craftsmanship.

Amazing Gardens by Cane

Percy Cane started designing gardens around 1919. Within ten years, he became one of the most popular designers of his time. His gardens were very different in size and location.

He designed the grounds of the Jubilee Palace for Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa. He also designed a tiny town garden in Sheffield, England.

Here are some other places where he designed gardens:

• Caythorpe Court in Lincolnshire
• Ivy House in Hampstead for the famous dancer Anna Pavlova in 1926
• Llannerch Hall in North Wales from 1927 to 1929
• Hascombe Court in Godalming from 1928 to 1929
• The King's House, Burhill, in 1935
• The grounds of the British Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair
• Dartington Hall from 1945 to 1971
• Falkland Palace in Fife, Scotland, starting in 1946
• Sutton Park, Yorkshire in 1962
• Mellerstain House in Scotland
• Sulgrave Manor in Oxfordshire

Awards and Special Recognition

Percy Cane's work is recognized in many important ways. Nine of his gardens are listed in the Historic England Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. This list celebrates special landscapes in England.

Some of these include:

• The terrace at St Ann's Hill in Chertsey (1927).
• His additions to gardens at Hascombe Court in Godalming (late 1920s).
• Gardens at Seven Stones House in Kent.
• Developments at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire (1930s).
• Features like the tiltyard and steps at Dartington Hall in Devon.

Two of his gardens in Scotland are also very important. They are on the Historic Scotland Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes. His work at Falkland Palace in the late 1940s is considered an "outstanding Work of Art." He also designed the river garden at Monteviot House in the 1960s.

Cane was very successful at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show. He won eight gold medals for his garden designs. He won these in 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, and 1952. He also won three silver-gilt medals.

In 1963, he received the Veitch Memorial Medal. This is an international award given to people who have greatly helped the art or science of growing plants.

Books and Magazines

Percy Cane wrote four books about gardening during his career:

• Modern Gardens British and Foreign (1927)
• Garden design of to-day (1934)
• The Earth Is My Canvas (1956)
• The creative art of garden design (1967)

He also owned and edited two magazines about gardening:

• My Garden, Illustrated (1918–1920)
• Garden Design (1930–1938)

A book about his life, called Percy Cane, Garden Designer, was written by Ronald Webber in 1975.

Gallery

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  Falkland Palace Garden

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  Falkland Palace Garden

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  Falkland Palace Garden

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  The Glade, Dartington Hall Gardens

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  The Glade, Dartington Hall Gardens

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  Flight of Steps, Dartington Hall Gardens

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  The Tiltyard, Dartington Hall Gardens

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  Azalea Dell, Dartington Hall Gardens

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  A Paulin statue in the garden at Ivy House

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  British Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair

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  Sutton Park, Yorkshire

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  St Ann's Hill, Chertsey

See also

• English gardeners
• British garden writers
• Landscape design history