History

Chamomile (camomile) lawns - a history

The Camomile Lawn has a long tradition in England. The Elizabethans enjoyed the sweet fragrance that filled the air as they walked on camomile. The poet Spencer in 1574 wrote of "Breathful Camomile" as he trod on the soft, springy lawn. Thomas Hyll, in 1577, wrote of using camomile for "benches to sytte on".

The most famous camomile lawns are at Buckingham Palace. As an integral part of the lawns, each successive head gardener has taken great effort to conserve, maintain and cultivate the camomile to make sure it thrives. Patches are present on the Main Lawn where the garden parties take place as well as in the Rose Garden and near the Herbaceous Border. 

Camomile lawns in the past had one disadvantage - they needed cutting. In the 1930s, Dorothy Sewart planted a camomile cutting in the garden of her 18th Century stone cottage near Wadebridge in Cornwall. To her surprise this camomile spread to form a low growing plant which never flowered. It formed a fragrant, rich green lawn which did not turn brown in dry weather. She had been extremely fortunate in producing a clone of the variety Treneague.

We are specialist growers of Treneague which forms a fragrant lawn that never needs mowing.