Rome

The Romans were:

• Eminently practical. Efficient agricultural production system was a cornerstone of their strength and power. They copied and borrowed anything they thought was good from people they conquered.
• Sophisticated ornamental gardens:
  

  ornamental gardening developed as a specialty gardens were extensions of houses used pools, statues, walkways vine-covered trellises The illustration at left shows Pliny the Younger's villa, today the site of the modern Citta di Castello. 'The Plan [for the villa], showing the surrounding countryside visible from the villa, is dominated by the central 'hippodrome', with axial aleys leading through lateral garden areas... The gardens had orchards and vineyards as well as pleasure grounds.' [Hobhouse, P. Gardening Through The Ages , p. 39] The gardens included trees such as European chestnut, ash, poplar, elm, linden as well as wildflower meadows and roses.

  
  
• Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD)
  • 'Historia Naturalis' (a major written work describing Roman agriculture)
  • grafting and budding
  • use of cultivated varieties ('cultivars')
  • legume rotation
  • prototype greenhouse

Here's what a typical Roman city, Herculaneum (present day Ercolano), a popular resort, probably looked like just before it was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Note the courtyards and symmetrical plantings. The illustration is from a National Geographic article (v. 165 (5):578)

When the Roman Empire fell, Western Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages.