John Abercrombie

John Abercrombie (1726 – 2 May 1806) was a Scottish horticulturist important to renovating garden techniques. He is noted for the book Every Man His Own Gardener, which he co-wrote with Thomas Mawe.

Biography

Abercrombie was born in Edinburgh.

For the last 20 years of his life, Abercrombie was a heavy consumer of tea and a vegetarian. He smoked his pipe for six hours a day and stated that tea and tobacco were promoters of his health. He died from injuries obtained from an accident.

Selected writings The Universal Gardener and Botanist; or, a General Dictionary of Gardening and Botany (1778) The Garden Mushroom (1779) The British Fruit Gardener; and Art of Pruning (1779) A General System of Trees and Shrubs (ca. 1780) Every Man His Own Gardener, 9th edition (1782)