George Washington’s Mount Vernon and his Gardens

in Garden Focus by Britt — August 13, 2010 at 2:17 pm | 0 comments

Perched over the Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia is the home of George Washington.  Only 16 miles from the heart of Washington, D.C. Mount Vernon is breathtaking estate complete with a multitude of gardens, forests and things to see and do.  There is so much to do here it seemed impossible to get it all into a single post!

According the Mount Vernon, “The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association purchased Mount Vernon from the Washington family in 1858 and opened the estate to the public in 1860. Since that time, nearly 80 million visitors have toured Washington’s home.”  That comes as no surprise to this Bee!

Despite numerous visits, I have yet to tour the main house.  I suppose it’s because I am continually drawn to the gardens.  There are several gardens to wander.  Let’s begin with the upper garden.  This is one of two lovely boxwood mazes.  This area is normally teaming with visitors.  They offer music and traditional dance here on occassion.

continuing down any of the walking paths will lead you to flowers, herbs, benches and lovely trees.

The upper garden area is immense.  The care takers take great care to make sure the gardens are archeolgically perfect with Washington’s plans.  To get a more in depth knowledge of the gardens, there are 30 minute garden walking tours each day at 11:00 am from April to October.

I love the flowers here.  This year, I’m going to attempt to follow the plantings through the seasons.  I have to admit, I don’t know what this bloom is below.  But it feels antiquated and perfect for this garden.

Most of the flower beds reside in this area.  They consist of  an array of floral offerings between Spring and Fall.  Erika was kind enough to photograph the garden this past Spring while I was recovering at home.

One of our favorite flowers of the garden are the Crown Imperial Lillys!

But the gardens are by far not about the floral arrangements. George Washington of course had to keep him, his family, friends and staff fully feed.  To do so requires a massive garden plan and he was just the man to do it.

The large Lower Garden is home to the estates Kitchen Garden, Boxwoods, Herbs, Vegetables and even fruit trees.  Mount Vernon explains that,”Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, a Polish visitor to Mount Vernon, June 2. 1798  stated, “Corrents, Rasberys, Strawberys, Gusberys, quantities of peaches and cherries..”

Mount Vernon adds that the,

“gardens and grounds were a master mix of formal and naturalistic design sytles originating in England.  In this transitional form, Washignton borrowed strict symmetry and simple geometric lines from the earlier school while taking advantage of the natural beauty of the American Landscape.  There is an overal order to the wilderness area, vistas, groves and curing walkways that reflects Washington’s sense of balance and design.”

In the early Spring this Lower Garden is just getting started.  You can still see the design and line of the garden.

By the time Summer rolls in the garden is in full production.  The full garden is absolutely expansive!

In addition to this area, there is also a Seed Bed garden which provided seeds for planting in the year ahead, The Fruit Garden full of apples, peaches pears, cherries and plums; and several working farms complete with tobacco, wheat, corn livestock etc.  These were worked by 40 to 80 slaves throughout the year.

As part of the grounds tour you get to see all the working buildings of the estate and the Washington’s original belongings like his carriages and stables.

You  can also see the stunning trees and views!  Although much of Mount Vernon’s 8000 acres were forested, Mount Vernon states, the “Oak, pine and locust were harvested for the construction of buildings.”   Washington loved his trees and made sure there was an abundance of untouched woodlands.

Washington loved Mount Vernon for its views.  If only I had a panoramic camera to show you the left and right of this magnificent river.  This is his view from the back of his house.

You needn’t wish you could be down by the water.  There is a lovely path through the woods that will take you down to the 19th centrury wharf where one can catch a river cruise on either the Sprit of Mount Vernon or the Miss Christin.

Washington not only farmed another area a short walk from this doc, he also fished  the river heavily.  Mount Vernon describes that, “in a few short weeks, they could haul in a process nearly 1/5 million fish, securing their food for the coming year and enabling Washington to sell the rest.”

There is so much more to see and do here.  You’ll just have to put this on on your garden travel itinerary!  It’s worth the trip!

For more information visit http://www.mountvernon.org/

‘Til Tomorrow…

Britt : )

Related posts:

1. The Washington Home and Garden Show 2010!
2. Part VII: Fun Events at the Washington National Cathedral
3. Virginia’s Historic Garden Week by guest blogger Kathy Jentz, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine!
4. Part V: The Washington National Cathedral’s Herb Cottage Shop.
5. Part IV: A look at The Washington National Cathedral; home of the Bishop’s Garden.

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