Landscape architect Mark K. Morrison is a pioneer in the green roof and infrastructure industry. Through his work, he has cultivated a passion for antique garden tools, amassing a collection of thousands of pieces.
Mark was born in Iowa, but his family relocated to Wisconsin soon after. He has resided in New York and Connecticut for the last 50 years. While he didn’t grow up on a farm, rural life influenced his interests.
“I used to visit my grandmother in Illinois and we would frequently visit Ellis Conklin’s farm between Wyanet and Princeton in the western part of the state,” he remembers. “My uncles had pig farms and my cousins showed pigs and sheep at county and state fairs, so I was exposed to farm life as a boy.”
His family had a cottage in northern Wisconsin on Manson Lake north of Tomahawk. While some young boys growing up in a rural setting might be found hunting or fishing, at age 14, Mark could be spotted driving back roads in a 1957 Volkswagen, stopping to dig up trees that he would replant on his family’s lake property.
Travels launch a collection of antique garden tools
As a student at Carroll College in Wisconsin, Mark considered a career in dentistry but soon changed his mind. “With fortuitous guidance from my high school guidance counselor, I transferred to the University of Wisconsin at Madison and earned a degree in landscape architecture in 1973, with an emphasis in horticulture and regional planning,” he says. “When I graduated, it was the early days of landscape architecture. I’ve been in the profession for 50 years.”
He launched a construction company in 1970 and a landscape architecture firm in 1983. Today he specializes in educational environments, urban parks, rail trails, green roofs and residential gardens and frequently incorporates recycled materials designed to reduce the carbon footprint.
His work takes him around the globe, giving him opportunity to experience many cultures and visit distinctive sites. During travels in 1983, he bought his first vintage gardening tool in Stellenbosch, South Africa – a 19th century garden fork manufactured in Sheffield, England. “I brought it home in the overhead bin on the airplane,” he says. “The Sheffield garden fork really piqued my interest and started the collection.”
Antique garden tools showcase artistry of another era
Although Mark’s collection stretches from the late 1600s to present day, his primary focus is 18th and 19th century European pieces, all hand-forged and restored. The collection includes tools used in vegetable gardens, flower grades and formal gardens.
There are handblown glass cucumber straighteners, asparagus knives, metal sprayers, daisy rubbers, hand shears, fibbers, spades, potato and beet forks, along with seed packets, garden seed racks and seed boxes. Most pieces are from England, Scotland, France, Italy and the Netherlands, but some come from as far away as Africa.
“The British, French and Italians really started and maintained gardens as we know them,” he says. “During the many wars over the centuries, tools and metals were collected and melted down for munitions. But some were saved, just like art. People would hide their tools so they wouldn’t be confiscated.”
Mark takes the most pride in his collection of copper and brass watering cans. Newer pieces are crafted from galvanized steel. “The cans would be heavy,” he says. “It’d be like going to Munich and seeing women carry 12 steins of beer at one time.”
Modern gardening tools offer little in comparison. “It’s sad because most tools today are plastic and made with inferior metals,” he says. “I have watering cans from the 18th century that are made out of copper, brass and tin that are absolutely gorgeous. Most people miss out on the beauty of what garden implements used to be.”
New acquisitions turn up online and in antique shops and farm auctions. “I have people who search for me in England and France for tools that come to market,” he says. “I have gardening tools previously owned by the British royal family.” French-made tools are easy to spot. The handles of French garden shears are typically marked with a heart and the familiar fleur de lis symbol often appears on mistletoe cutters. “The French pieces are truly works of art,” he adds.
Antique garden tools were unique to every gardener, says Mark Morrison
Mark’s fascination with antique garden tools is linked to their versatility. “People were very inventive,” he says. “It’s fun to come across tools and try to figure out what they were used for. The British and French were at the forefront and tried so many different tool designs.”
Take clay spades, for example. “They didn’t have one or two types,” he says. “They had dozens. I have a lot of tools with people’s initials on them. A lot of my tools are one-of-a-kind, blacksmith-made, with shears and hoes measured to fit the length of a specific man’s arm. The users would clean, oil and properly store the tools at the end of a work day.”
These pieces sometimes reveal whether the user was left- or right-footed or left- or right-handed. “You wonder how many lives did they save, how many mouths they fed,” he says. “It’s interesting because women had ergonomic tools before they had the vote in 1921. It’s amazing how much things have really remained the same.”
The functions performed by many of these mystery tools have largely faded from memory. “Many people today probably wouldn’t know about raspberry or gooseberry hooks,” he notes. “They wouldn’t know about potato and beet forks. I have a whole selection of rabbiting spades, mole forks and mole traps, and beautiful glass wasp traps. Multi-cutting-head shears don’t exist anymore. I’ve also added a good selection of electric tools from the 1940s and ’50s. Ironically, they’re very similar to manual tools.”
Today, his focus has extended to 20th century tools and ephemera. He prefers tools with original labels. “I’ve found items for a dollar that are junk, but they make a point in comparison with the tools hand-made long ago,” he says. “I’m telling the history of gardening tools from the late 1600s to today.” FC
For more information, email Mark Morrison at mkm@markkmorrison.com.
Sara Jordan-Heintz is an author, editor and award-winning journalist. She writes for a variety of newspapers and niche publications. Email her at rose111@netins.net.
Originally published as “A Growing Collection” in the September 2023 issue of Farm Collector magazine.