There is a lovable quality about the actual tools. One feels so kindly to the thing that enables the hand to obey the brain. Moreover, one feels a good deal of respect for it; without it the brain and the hand would be helpless.

Her book Old West Surrey (1904) records many aspects of 19th century country life with over 300 photographs taken by Jekyll. In 1848 her family left London and moved to Bramley House Surrey where Gertrude Jekyll spent her formative years. Her concern that plants should be displayed to best effect even when cut for the house led her to design her own range of glass flower vases.

Jekyll has been described as "a premier influence in garden design" by English and American gardening enthusiasts. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom Europe and the United States and wrote over 1000 articles for to Country Life magazine The Garden and other magazines. Gertrude Jekyll (pron.