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Diggin’ In: Landscaping at Mount Vernon
George Washington’s historic home of Mount Vernon contains landscaping designed by Washington himself. (Mount Vernon/Newport News Daily Press/MCT)
As a young surveyor and before serving as our country’s first president, George Washington developed the ability to measure up a landscape and to take advantage of its natural features. He also had an eye for spatial awareness, and learned by observation, by reading, and by the study of new styles of landscape design.
Later, he put those skills to use creating a landscape plant for his now-historic home, Mount Vernon in Fairfax, Va., along the banks of the Potomac River, according to Mount Vernon curators.
The public can see Washington’s vision and purpose for the estate’s grounds in a new exhibit “Gardens Groves: George Washington’s Landscape and Mount Vernon.” The exhibit includes five 18th-century views of Mount Vernon — oil paintings of the river and land fronts of the mansion. Two special drawings that detail the layout of the grounds will be on view through Aug. 17, while the entire exhibit can be seen until January 2016.
“These artwork records record details of the landscape we would not otherwise know, information that continues to inform our ongoing research and restoration efforts,” says exhibit curator Adam Erby.
Built in stages 1758-1778, Washington’s estate and its gardens are owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, which was found as a preservation group in 1853.
When George Washington returned to Mount Vernon after the American Revolution, 1775-1783, he found the estate needed extensive repairs and improvements. The buildings and grounds surrounding the mansion lacked a cohesive design because they had happened over time out of necessity rather than beauty, according to curators. Instead, he wanted a plan for “pleasure grounds” that enhanced the site’s natural beauty, which featured the crest of a hill overlooking the Potomac River.
the gardens landscape
Three of the four principle gardens — the upper or pleasure garden; the fruit garden and nursery; and the botanical garden — have all been restored to their 18th-century appearance, using recent research and archaeological evidence as guidelines.
“The lower or kitchen garden remains as it was implemented in 1937, based on research at the time and its design is reflective of the Colonial Revival landscape movement,” says Dean Norton, director of horticulture
Washington included a modern greenhouse in the upper garden, according to curators. Completed in 1789, it housed his semi-tropical and tropical plants during winter months. In spring, container plants were put out in the garden. Tall triple-hung windows allowed beneficial southern light, and could be opened to allow good air flow. A heating system with a stove room on the north side of the greenhouse attached to a series of flues that ran under the stone floor, heating the floor of the greenhouse.
What were the original gardens like?
The lower or kitchen garden was the first space created in 1760. It was a garden of necessity, benefitting survival and good health. For 254 years, vegetables, fruits, and berries have been cultivated within those garden walls.
The upper garden began in 1763 as a fruit and nut garden but became a pleasure place whe Washington began his new landscape plan. Pleasure gardens — plots flowers were grown for beauty and not for use — were not that common in the 18th century. Even in Washington’s pleasure garden, flowers were only grown in borders that surrounded larger beds of edibles.
The botanical garden was Washington’s own experimental space. He fondly called this small space his little garden and kept detailed records as to what he planted and where, according to curators. The space was intended to try out different types of plants that might be “Virginia-proof,” or could survive the harsh conditions of both winter and the summer.
The area known as fruit garden and nursery began as a failed attempt at a vineyard, according to curators. Today, fruit trees are planted in the arrangement that Washington recorded in his diaries. The nursery area was where plants that required more space were planted — grasses, vegetables and ornamentals.
What notes of interest did Washington leave about his gardens?
At age 16, in his “Journal of my Journey over the Mountains” he wrote “. about 4 miles higher up the river we went through the most beautiful Groves of Sugar trees spent the best part of the Day admiring the Trees and the richness of the land.” Washington loved nature and upon return from the Revolutionary War he decided to mimic nature by creating a naturalistic garden. He spent 18 months on the design. Once it was completed, he returned to his passion — farming — and let the gardeners he hired take care of day-to-day maintenance.
Washington left a great deal of information about his plans for Mount Vernon Estate, through his letters and diary entries, and there are a few drawings — for example, the arrangement of greenhouse spaces and the ha-ha wall (a landscape barrier that keeps grazing animals from entering turf spaces) on the east lawn.
Washington mentions specific landscape features in his writings, such as a deer park, groves, shrubberies, and wilderness areas, but in most cases does not go into much detail, according to curators.
In a letter to his land manager in 1776, he shares his intention to create groves to the north and south of his house. They are to be planted in a random fashion, “And that at the South, of all the clever kind of Trees (especially flowering ones) that can be got, such as Crab apple, Poplar, Dogwood.”
Some of Washington’s best quotes are about agriculture, nature, and trees, and the comfort and peace he derived from the cultivation of the earth and the plants themselves, including one to Arthur Young in August 1786: “Agriculture has ever been amongst the most favourite amusements of my life.”
Did Washington favor certain plants?
Washington seemed to be partial to trees and shrubs that bloomed. He especially favored dogwoods and redbuds, so much so that he planted a circle of dogwood with a redbud in the center. The forests that surrounded Mount Vernon were full of native plants needed to lushly landscape a country seat — like poplars, elms, maples, catalpas, ash, mulberries, dogwoods, redbuds, fringe trees, service berries, sassafras that were available for transplanting. He also ordered trees from three nurseries, John Bartram’s and William Hamilton’s, both near Philadelphia, and William Prince’s in Flushing, Long Island, N.Y. Washington was interested in new plants and called them exotic, which could mean from a different state or from far distances.
Is the landscape re-creation complete?
Research is ongoing to make sure his estate is represented as accurately as possible, according to curators. Archaeologists are looking for gravel paths that were created in the wilderness areas in the hope that those landscape features can be restored. Exploration for the six ovals Washington mentions he wants to create on the bowling green to highlight the plants that he purchased from John Bartram’s nursery will begin within the next few years.
What does the landscape says about his love for the land?
Washington’s desire to conserve forest trees meant he tried to create living fences, trees planted close enough together to keep animals out of cultivated areas. He also preferred that his work force make fence rails out of already downed trees rather than cut live trees down, according to curators.
Washington wrote to William Drayton on March 25, 1786: “Nothing in my opinion would contribute more to the welfare of these states, than the proper management of our lands; and nothing in this State particularly, seems to be less understood. The present mode of cropping practiced among us, is destructive to landed property; and must, if persisted in much longer, ultimately ruin the holders of it.”
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BEST BOOK
-Learn more about George Washington’s early days through author Phil Levy, who wrote the book “Where the Cherry Tree Grew: The Story of Ferry Farm, George Washington’s Boyhood Home” at www.mountvernon.org/interviews/levy
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ABOUT MOUNT VERNON
Location: A picturesque drive to the southern end of the scenic George Washington Memorial Parkway, Mount Vernon is located in Fairfax County, Va., about 16 miles from Washington, D.C.
Size: 500 acres; 50 acres are open to the public. Mount Vernon consisted of 8,000 acres during George Washington’s lifetime. Gardens comprise more than six acres, and the George Washington: Pioneer Farmer site encompasses four acres.
Hours: April-August, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; March, September, October, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; November — February, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: adults, $18; senior citizens, $17; children age 6-11, when accompanied by an adult, $9; and children under age 5, free. Learn more at www.mountvernon.org or 703-780-2000.
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