Gerald Luckhurst, Landscape Architect and Horticulturist, Portugal 12 April 2023

“The Three Sintra Gardens of Monserrate, Regaleira and Queluz”
Gerald Luckhurst holds a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts, USA and a PhD from University of Bristol, UK. He is a chartered member of the Landscape Institute and the Institute of Horticulture and a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He has written widely about the history of Portuguese gardens, including books and articles on Monserrate, Regaleira and Queluz. Since the 1980's his practice has been based in Portugal. His work includes: the preservation and conservation of historic landscapes; detailed design for hotels and tourism; planning and development for commercial and residential projects in Portugal and Africa; consultancy to municipal and national government agencies; landscape design and management for large private estates; and voluntary work for charitable organisations. He is a standing consultant to the Parques de Sintra, Monte da Lua S.A. a public equity company responsible for the management of a large part of the UNESCO classified World Heritage Cultural landscape of Sintra in Portugal, where his work to restore the historic park of Monserrate was awarded the European Garden Award in 2013 and for the project to restore the Botanic Garden of the Queluz National Palace, a European Heritage Award - EuropaNostra 2018.
Gerald writes: “These historic gardens were the reason that I first came to Portugal and have spanned my career. Sintra is more Atlantic than Mediterranean, but although considered to have a mild humid climate, it is experiencing climate change. More plants are lost to summer heat and drought, than to winter cold, yet many old trees have fallen with the increasing violence of winter storms. Adapting the gardens to these changes, without altering their historic character, has been part of the challenge. All of them were "Sleeping Beauties", almost lost after decades of benign neglect. Work involved literally unearthing their hidden glories from beneath piles of leaf mould, forests of invasive trees, and well-intentioned, but totally inappropriate "new" plantings. But equally historic gardens require a great deal of time spent in dark and dusty archives, gloomy libraries, and revisiting the lives of long dead gardeners, architects and visionary owners that created them.
Gardens are living things. They germinate from seminal ideas. Carefully nurtured through their early years, they grow fine and healthy in their youthful beauty and develop interest over a long period of slow maturation. During this time some of the creational flashes of inspiration are perhaps dulled; but this is amply compensated by a gentle blending of colours and rounding of forms that comes with age. Inevitably they are beset by decay and fade away gracefully or, as so often happens, they disappear as land is developed for some other use. All cultural landscapes change over time. But there are some gardens that survive and they do so through their own continued significance and distinctive character. They are places that show signs of immortality. Their beauty is deeply ingrained, it saturates the air, and shines through the trees. These are three such gardens.”