Existing comment:
Upper Garden:
"... a neat flower garden laid out in squares and boxed with great precision."
-- Benjamin Henry Latrobe, noted architect and visitor to Mount Vernon, July 1796
The upper garden, with its dual purpose of beauty and production, featured three large planting areas, each separated by wide paths. The planting beds were edges with a tight row of short boxwoods. Immediately inside the edging was a ten-foot-wide-border of fruit trees, shrubs, roses, and annual and perennial flowers. Filling the center of each bed were cultivated vegetables of all types, which would supplement the produce of the lower garden. The upper garden's most formal element was a set of boxwood parterres, which incorporated the French fluer-de-lis as a major design element.
The garden you see today was reconstructed after years of careful archaeology and research. Explore within for more information on our meticulous historical investigation and restoration. |