Andrew Jackson Downing

Andrew Jackson Downing (October 31, 1815–July 28, 1852)...

History

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Texts

• Downing, A. J., August 1836 (1836: 283)

"There can scarcely be a more appropriate, agreeable and beautiful residence for a citizen who retires to the country for the summer, than a modern Italian villa, with its ornamented chimneys, its broad verandah, forming a fine shady promenade, and its cool breezy apartments. Placed where a pleasant prospect could be enjoyed—a few statues distributed with taste over the well-kept lawn—a few Italian poplars, with their conical summits rising out of the gracefully-rounded clumps of foliage which should surround it—the whole would be quite perfect and delightful."

• Downing, A. J., January 1837 (1837: 8)

“The branch of the art least understood and least practised in the United States is landscape gardening. The modern or picturesque style of laying out grounds is most generally attempted of late, and, we regret to see, in some cases where the geometric would be more in character with the country and the situations. The finest single example of landscape gardening, in the modern style, is at Dr. Hosack’s seat, Hyde Park, and the best specimens of the ancient or geometric style may probably be met with in the neighborhood of Philadelphia.”

• Downing, A. J., December 31, 1846, in a letter to Thomas P. Barton, describing Montgomery Place, country home of Mrs. Edward (Louise) Livingston, Dutchess County, N.Y. (quoted in Haley 1988: 21)

“I am delighted to learn that you are about to add to the great charms of Montgomery Place by the formation of an arboretum. How few persons there are yet in this country who know any thing of the individual beauty of even our own forest trees! I wish you success in so laudable an undertaking.”

• Downing, A. J., April 1847 (1847: 443–444)

"...our own taste leads us to prefer the modern English style of laying out flower gardens upon a ground work of grass or turf, kept scrupulously short. Its advantage over a flower garden composed only of beds with a narrow edging and gravel walks, consists in the greater softness, freshness and verdure of the green turf, which serves as a setting to the flower beds, and heightens the brilliancy of the flowers themselves. Still, both these modes have their merits, and each is best adapted to certain situations, and harmonizes best with its appropriate scenery.

"There are two other defects in many of our flower gardens, easily remedied, and about which we must say a word or two in passing.

"One of these is the common practice, brought over here by gardeners from England, of forming raised convex beds for flowering plants. This is a very unmeaning and injurious practice in this country, as a moment's reference to the philosophy of the thing will convince any one. In a damp climate, like that of England, a bed with a high convex surface . . . by throwing off the superfluous water, keeps the plants from suffering by excess of wet, and the form is an excellent one. In this country, where most frequently our flower gardens fail from drouth, what sound reason can be given for forming the beds with a raised and rounded surface of six inches in every three feet, so as to throw off four-fifths of every shower? The true mode, as a little reflection and experience will convince any one, is to form the surface of the bed nearly level . . . so that it may retain its due proportion of all the rains that fall."

• Downing, A. J., October 1847, describing Montgomery Place, country home of Mrs. Edward (Louise) Livingston, Dutchess County, N.Y. (1847: 154–160)

Fig. a, Alexander Jackson Davis, "Montgomery Place," in A. J. Downing, ed., The Horticulturist 2, no. 4 (October 1847): pl. opp. p. 153.

"About four hundred acres comprise the estate called Montgomery Place, a very large part of which is devoted to pleasure grounds and ornamental purposes. The every varied surface affords the finest scope for the numerous roads, drives and walks, with which it abounds. Even its natural boudnaries are admirable. On the west is the Hudson, broken by islands into an outline unusually varied and picturesque. On the north, it is separated from Blithewood, the adjoining seat, by a wooded valley, in the depths of which runs a broad stream, rich in waterfalls. On the south is a rich oak wood, in the centre of which is a private drive. On the east it touches the post road. Here is the entrance gate, and from it leads a long and stately avenue of trees, like the approach to an old French chateau. Halfway up its length, the lines of planted trees give place to a tall wood, and this again is succeeded by the lawn, which opens in all its stately dignity, with increased effect, after the deeper shadows of this vestibule-like wood. . . .

"Without going into any details of the interior, we may call attention to the unique effect of the pavilion, thirty feet wide, which forms the north wing of this house. It opens from the library and drawing-room by low windows. Its ribbed roof is supported by a tasteful series of columns and arches, in the style of an Italian arcade. As it is on the north side of the dwelling, its position is always cool in summer; and this coolness is still farther increased by the abundant shade of tall old trees, whose heads cast a pleasant gloom, while their tall trunks allow the eye to feast on the rich landscape spread around it. . . . [Fig. a]

"THE MORNING WALK.

Fig. b, Anonymous, "Rustic Seat," Montgomery Place, in A. J. Downing, ed., The Horticulturist 2, no. 4 (October 1847): 157, fig. 26.

"Leaving the terrace on the western front, the steps of the visitor, exploring Montgomery Place, are naturally directed towards the river bank. A path on the left of the broad lawn leads one to the fanciful rustic-gabled seat, among a growth of locusts at the bottom of the slope. Here commences a long walk, which is the favorite morning ramble of guests. . . . Half-way along this morning ramble, a rustic seat, placed on a bold little plateau, at the base of a large tree, eighty feet above the water and fenced with a rustic barrier, invites you to linger and gaze at the fascinating river landscape here presented. . . .

"A little farther on, we reach a flight of rocky steps, leading up to the border of the lawn. At the top of these is a rustic seat with a thatched canopy, curiously built round the trunk of an aged pine. . . . [Fig. b]

"THE WILDERNESS.

"Leaving the morning walk, we enter at once into 'The Wilderness.' This is a large and long wooded valley. . . . It is covered with the native growth of trees, thick, dark, and shadowy, so that once plunged in its recesses, you can easily imagine yourself in the depths of an old forest, far away from the haunts of civilization. . . .

"But the Wilderness is by no means savage in the aspect of its beauty; on the contrary, here as elsewhere in this demesne, are evidences, in every improvement, of a fine appreciation of the natural charms of the locality. The whole of this richly wooded valley is threaded with walks, ingeniously and naturally conducted so as to penetrate to all the most interesting points; while a great variety of rustic seats, formed beneath the threes, in deep secluded thickets , by the side of the swift rushing stream, or on some inviting eminence, enables one fully to enjoy them. . . .

"THE CATARACT.

"But the stranger who enters the depths of this dusky wood by this route, is not long inclined to remain here. His imagination is excited by the not very distant sound of waterfalls.

'Above, below, aerial murmurs swell,

From hanging wood, brown heath and bushy dell;

A thousand gushing rells that shun the light,

Stealing like music on the ear of night.'

"He takes another path, passes by an airy looking rustic bridge, and plunging for a moment into the thicket, emerges again in full view of the first cataract. Coming from the solemn depths of the woods, he is astonished at the noise and volume of the stream, which here rushes in wild foam and confusion over the rocky fall, forty feet in depth. Ascending a flight of steps made in the precipitous banks of the stream, we have another view, which is scarcely less spirited and picturesque.

"This waterfall, beautiful at all seasons, would alone be considered a sufficient attraction to give notoriety to a rural locality in most country neighborhoods. But as if nature had intended to lavish her gifts here, she has, in the course of this valley, given two other cataracts. These are all striking enough to be worthy of the pencil of the artist, and they make this valley a feast of wonders to the lovers of the picturesque. . . .

Fig. c, Anonymous, "The Lake," Montgomery Place, in A. J. Downing, ed., The Horticulturist 2, no. 4 (October 1847): 158, fig. 27.

"THE LAKE

". . . . The peninsula, on the north of the lake, is carpeted with the dry leaves of the thick cedars that cover it, and form so umbragous a resting place that the sky over it seems absolutely dusky at noon day. On its northern bank is a rude sofa, formed entirely of stone. Here you linger again, to wonder afresh at the novelty and beauty of the second cascade. The stream here emerges from a dark thicket, falls about twenty feet, and then rushes away on the side of the peninsula opposite the lake. . . . [Fig. c]

Fig. d, Anonymous, "The Conservatory," Montgomery Place, in A. J. Downing, ed., The Horticulturist 2, no. 4 (October 1847): 159, fig. 28.

"Winding along the sides of the valley, and stretching for a good distance across its broadest part, all the while so deeply immersed however, in its umbrageous shelter, as scarcely to see the sun, or indeed to feel very certain of our whereabouts, we emerge in the neighborhood of the CONSERVATORY.

"This a large, isolated, glazed structure, designed by MR. CATHERWOOD, to add to the scenic effect of the pleasure grounds. On its northern side are, in summer, arranged the more delicate green-house plants; and in front are groups of large Oranges, Lemons, Citrons, Cape Jasmines, Eugenias, etc., in tubs—plants remarkable for their size and beauty. Passing under neat and tasteful archways of wirework, covered with rare climbers, we enter what is properly [Fig. d]

"THE FLOWER GARDEN.

"How different a scene from the deep sequestered shadows of the Wilderness! Here all is gay and smiling. Bright parterres of brilliant flowers bask in the full daylight, and rich masses of colour seem to revel in the sunshine. The walks are fancifully laid out, so as to form a tasteful whole; the beds are surrounded by low edgings of turf or box, and the whole looks like some rich oriental pattern of carpet or embroidery. In the centre of the garden stands a large vase of the Warwick pattern; others occupy the centres of parterres in the midst of its two main divisions, and at either end is a fanciful light summer-house, or pavilion, of Moresque character. The whole garden is surrounded and shut out from the lawn, by a belt of shrubbery, and above and behind this, rises, like a noble framework, the background of trees of the lawn and the Wilderness. If there is any prettier flower garden scene than this ensemble in the country, we have not yet had the good fortune to behold it. . . .

"THE DRIVE

"On the southern boundary is an oak wood of about fifty acres. It is totally different in character from the Wilderness on the north, and is a nearly level or slightly undulating surface, well covered with fine Oak, Chestnut, and other timber trees. Though it is laid out the DRIVE; a sylvan route as agreeable for exercise in the carriage, or on horseback, as the 'Wilderness,' or the 'Morning Walk,' is for a ramble on foot. . . .

"Though Montgomery Place itself is old, yet a spirit ever new directs the improvements carried on within it. Among those more worthy of note, we gladly mention an arboretum, just commenced on a fine site in the pleasure grounds, set apart and thoroughly prepared for the purpose. Here a scientific arrangement of all the most beautiful hardy trees and shrubs, will interest the student, who looks upon the vegetable kingdom with a more curious eye than the ordinary observer."

• Downing, A. J., February 1848 (1848: 363–364)

"But the more humble and simple cottage grounds, the rural walks of the ferme ornée, and the modest garden of the suburban amateur, have also their ornamental objects and rural buildings—in their place, as charming and spirited as the more artistical embellishments which surround the palladian villa.

"These are the seats, bowers, grottoes and arbors, of rustic work—than which nothing can be more easily and economically constructed, nor can add more to the rural or picturesque expression of the scene.

"Those simple buildings, often constructed only of a few logs and twisted limbs of trees, are in good keeping with the simplest or the grandest forms of nature."

• Downing, A. J., December 1848 (1848: 258)

“There are many of our readers who enjoy the luxury of green-houses, hot-houses, and conservatories,—large, beautifully constructed, heated with hot water pipes, paved with marble, and filled with every rare and beautiful exotic worth having, from the bird-like air plants of Guiana to the jewel-like Fuchsias of Mexico. They have taste, and much ‘money in their purses.’ . . .

“The idea that comes straightway into one’s head, when a green-house is mentioned, is something with a half roof stuck against a wall, and glazed all over,—what gardeners call a lean-to or shed-roofed green-house. This is a very good form where economy alone is to be thought of; but not in the least will it please the eye of taste. We dislike it, because there is something incomplete about it; it is, in fact, only half a green-house.

“We must have, then, the idea, in a complete form, by having the whole roof—what in garden architecture is called a ‘span-roof’—which, indeed, is nothing more than the common form of the roof of a house, sloping both ways from the ridge pole to the eaves.

“A green-house may be of any size, from ten to as many hundred feet; but let us now, for the sake of having something definite before us, choose to plan one 15 by 20 feet. We will suppose it attached to a cottage in the country, extending out 20 feet, either on the south, or the east, or the west side.”

• Downing, A. J., 1849, A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, Adapted to North America;... (1849: 21, 30, 36, 42–44, 47–48, 57, 62, 63, 89–90, 92, 95–97, 154, 161, 168, 182, 193, 237, 257, 364, 428–431, 437, 443, 448–449, 454, 455–457, 471, 507, 531)

Section I, "Historical Sketches": "THE ANCIENT STYLE. A predominance of regular forms and right lines is the characteristic feature of the ancient style of gardening. The value of art, of power, and of wealth, were at once easily and strongly shown by an artificial arrangement of all the materials; an arrangement the more striking, as it differed most widely from nature. And in an age when costly and stately architecture was most abundant, as in the times of the Roman empire, it is natural to suppose, that the symmetry and studied elegance of the palace, or the villa, would be transferred and continued in the surrounding gardens. . . .

"Whatever may have been the absurdities of the ancient style, it is not to be denied that in connexion with highly decorated architecture, its effect, when in the best taste—as the Italian—is not only splendid and striking, but highly suitable and appropriate. . . .

"It is not a little remarkable that the Chinese taste in gardening, which was at first made known to the English public about this time, is by far the nearest previous approach to the modern style. Some critics, indeed, have asserted that the English are indebted to it for their ideas of the modern style. However this may be, and we confess it has very little weight with us, the harmonious system which the taste of the English has evolved in the the Chinese manner to admit of any comparison. The first is imbued with beauty of the most graceful and agreeable character, based upon nature, and refined by art; while the latter abounds in puerilities and whimsical conceits—rocky hills, five feet high—miniature bridges—dwarf oaks, a hundred years old and twenty inches in altitude—which, whatever may be our admiration for the curious ingenuity and skill tasked in their production, leave on our mind no very favorable impression of the taste which designed them. . . .

"The seat of the late Judge Peters, about five miles from Philadelphia, was, 30 years ago, a noted specimen of the ancient school of landscape gardening. . . . Long and stately avenues, with vistas terminated by obelisks, a garden adorned with marble vases, busts, and statues, and pleasure grounds filled with the rarest trees and shrubs, were conspicuous features here. . . .

"Lemon Hill, half a mile above the Fairmount waterworks of Philadelphia, was, 20 years ago, the most perfect specimen of the geometric mode in America, and since its destruction by the extension of the city, a few years since, there is nothing comparable with it, in that style, among us. All the symmetry, uniformity, and high art of the old school, were displayed here in artificial plantations, formal gardens with trellises, grottoes, spring-houses, temples, statues, and vases, with numerous ponds of water, jets-d’eau, and other water-works, parterres and an extensive range of hothouses. The effect of this garden was brilliant and striking; its position, on the lovely banks of the Schuylkill, admirable; and its liberal proprietor, Mr. Pratt, by opening it freely to the public, greatly increased the popular taste in the neighborhood of that city.

"On the Hudson, the show place of the last age was the still interesting Clermont, then the residence of Chancellor Livingston. Its level or gently undulating lawn, four or five miles in length, the rich native woods, and the long vistas of planted avenues, added to its fine water view, rendered this a noble place. The mansion, the greenhouses, and the gardens, show something of the French taste in design, which Mr. Livingston’s residence abroad, at the time when that mode was popular, no doubt, led him to adopt. . . .

"Judge Peters' seat, Lemon Hill, and Clermont, were [the best specimens] of the ancient style, in the earliest period of the history of Landscape Gardening among us. . . .

"Montgomery Place..., the residence of Mrs. Edward Livingston, which is also situated on the Hudson near Barrytown, deserves a more extended notice than our present limits allow, for it is, as a whole, nowhere surpassed in America in point of location, natural beauty, or the landscape gardening charms which it exhibits. . . .

"Among the fine features of [Montgomery Place] are the wilderness, a richly wooded and highly picturesque valley, filled with the richest growth of trees, and threaded with dark, intricate, and mazy walks, along which are placed a variety of rustic seats. . . .This valley is musical with the sound of waterfalls, of which there are several fine ones in the bold impetuous stream which finds its course through the lower part of the wilderness. . . .

"In the environs of New Bedford are many beautiful residences. Among these, we desire particularly to notice the residence of James Arnold, Esq. There is scarcely a small place in New England, where the pleasure-grounds are so full of variety, and in such perfect order and keeping, as at this charming spot; and its winding walks, open bits of lawn, shrubs and plants grouped on turf, shady bowers, and rustic seats, all most agreeably combined, render this a very interesting and instructive suburban seat. . . .

"Cottage residence of Mrs. Carmac.. . .The lawn is prettily varied in surface, and there is a conservatory attached to the house, in which the plants in pots are hidden in beds of soft green moss, and which, in its whole effect and management, is more tasteful and elegant than any plant house, connected with a dwelling, that we remember to have seen."

Section II, "Beauties of Landscape Gardening": "The beauties elicited by the ancient style of gardening were those of regularity, symmetry, and the display of labored art. These were attained in a merely mechanical manner. . . .The geometrical form and lines of the buildings were only extended and carried out in the garden. . . .

"Indeed, as, to level ground naturally uneven, or to make an avenue, by planting rows of trees on each side of a broad walk, requires only the simplest perception of the beauty of mathematical forms, so, to lay out a garden in the geometric style, became little more than a formal routine, and it was only after the superior interest of a more natural manner was enforced by men of genius, that natural beauty of expression was recognised, and Landscape Gardening was raised to the rank of a fine art.

"The ancient style of gardening may, however, be introduced with good effect in certain cases. In public squares and gardens, where display, grandeur of effect, and a highly artificial character are desirable, it appears to us the most suitable; and no less so in very small gardens, in which variety and irregularity are out of the question. Where a taste for imitating an old and quaint style of residence exists, the symmetrical and knotted garden would be a proper accompaniment; and pleached alleys, and sheared trees, would be admired, like old armor or furniture, as curious specimens of antique taste and custom."

Section III, "Wood and Plantations": "In these gardens, nature was tamed and subdued. . . . The stately etiquette and courtly precision of the manners of our English ancestors, extended into their gardens, and were reflected back by the very trees which lined their avenues, and the shrubs which surrounded their houses . . . the gay ladies and gallants of Charles II’s court . . . fluttering in glittering processions, or flirting in green alleys and bowers of topiary work. . . .

"The beautiful and the picturesque are the new elements of interest, which, entering into the composition of our gardens and home landscapes, have to refined minds increased a hundred fold the enjoyment derived from this species of rural scenery. Still, there is much to admire in the ancient style. Its long and majestic avenues, the wide-spreading branches interlacing over our heads, and forming long, shadowy aisles, are, themselves alone, among the noblest and most imposing sylvan objects. Even the formal and curiously knotted gardens are interesting, from the pleasing associations which they suggest to mind, as having been the favorite haunts of Shakespeare, Bacon, Spenser, and Milton. They are so inseparably connected, too, in our imaginations, with the quaint architecture of that era, that wherever that style of building is adopted . . . this style of gardening may be considered as highly appropriate, and in excellent keeping with such a country house. . . .

"And as the Avenue, or the straight line, is the leading form in the geometric arrangement of plantations, so let us enforce it upon our readers, the GROUP is equally the key-note of the Modern style. The smallest place, having only three trees, may have these pleasingly connected in a group; and the largest and finest park—the Blenheim or Chatsworth, of seven miles square, is only composed of a succession of groups, becoming masses, thickets, woods. . . .

"Nothing, at first thought, would appear easier than to arrange a few trees in the form of a natural and beautiful group,—and nothing really is easier to the practised hand. Yet experience has taught us that the generality of persons, in commencing their first essays in ornamental planting, almost invariably crowd their trees into a close, regular clump, which has a most formal and unsightly appearance, as different as possible from the easy, flowing outline of the group.

"'Were it made the object of study' said Price, 'how to invent something, which, under the name of ornament, should disfigure a whole park, nothing could be contrived to answer that purpose like a clump. Natural groups, being formed by trees of different ages and sizes, and at different distances from each other, often too by a mixture of those of the largest size with others of inferior growth, are full of variety in their outlines; and from the same causes, no two groups are exactly alike. But clumps, from the trees being generally of the same age and growth, from their being planted nearly at the same distance, in a circular form, and from each tree being equally pressed by his neighbor, are as like each other as so many puddings turned out of one common mould. Natural groups are full of openings and hollows, of trees advancing before, or retiring behind each other; all productive of intricacy, of variety, of deep shadows and brilliant lights: in walking about them the form changes at every step; new combinations, new lights and shades, new inlets present themselves in succession. But clumps, like compact bodies of soldiers, resist attacks from all quarters; examine them in every point of view; walk round and round them; no opening, no vacancy, no stragglers; but in the true military character, ils sont face partout!'" [See Fig. 3]

Section IV, "Deciduous Ornamental Trees": "It [the White American Elm] is one of the most generally esteemed of our native trees for ornamental purposes, and is as great a favorite here as in Europe for planting in public squares and along the highways. Beautiful specimens may be seen in Cambridge, Mass., and very fine avenues of this tree are growing with great luxuriance in and about New Haven. . . .

"In avenues it [the plane tree] is often happily employed, and produces a grand effect. It also grows with great vigor in close cities, as some superb specimens in the square of the State-house, Pennsylvania Hospital, and other places in Philadelphia fully attest. . . .

"In this country the European lime is also much planted in our cities; and some avenues of it may be seen in Philadelphia, particularly before the State-house in Chestnut-street. . . .

"When handsome avenues or straight lines are wanted, the Horse-chestnut is again admirably suited, from its symmetry and regularity. . . .

"It is unnecessary for us to recommend this tree [the maple] for avenues, or for bordering the streets of cities, as its general prevalence in such places sufficiently indicates its acknowledged claims for beauty, shade, and shelter. . . .

"To these offices of pensive melancholy, [the Weeping willow] appears to be dedicated in almost all countries. The Chinese and other Asiatic nations, and the Turks, as well as the enlightened Europeans, universally plant it in their cemeteries and last places of repose. . . .

"Where there is a taste for avenues, the Tulip tree ought by all means to be employed, as it makes a most magnificent overarching canopy of verdure, supported on trunks almost architectural in their symmetry."

Section VIII, "Treatment of Water": "Cascades and water-falls are the most charming features of natural brooks and rivulets. Whatever may be their size they are always greatly admired, and in no way is the peculiar stillness of the air, peculiar to the country, more pleasingly broken, than by the melody of falling water. . . .Now any one who examines a small cascade at all attentively, in a natural brook, will see that it is often formed in the simplest manner by the interposition of a few large projecting stones, which partially dam up the current and prevent the ready flow of the water. Such little cascades are easily imitated."

Section X, "Embellishments; Architectural, Rustic, Floral": "In almost all the different kinds of flower-gardens, two methods of forming the beds are observed. One is, to cut the beds out of the green turf, which is ever afterwards kept well-mown or cut for the walks, and the edges pared; the other, to surround the beds with edgings of verdure, as box, etc., or some more durable material, as tiles, or cut stone, the walks between being covered with gravel. . . .

"The irregular flower-garden is surrounded by an irregular belt of trees and ornamental shrubs of the choicest species, and the beds are varied in outline, as well as irregularly disposed, sometimes grouping together, sometimes standing singly, but exhibiting no uniformity of arrangement. . . .[Fig. 12]

"Where the flower-garden is a spot set apart, of any regular outline, not of large size, and especially where it is attached directly to the house, we think the effect is most satisfactory when the beds or walks are laid out in symmetrical forms. Our reasons for this are these: the flower-garden, unlike distant portions of the pleasure-ground scenery, is an appendage to the house, seen in the same view or moment with it, and therefore should exhibit something of the regularity which characterizes, in a greater or less degree, all architectural compositions; and when a given scene is so small as to be embraced in a single glance of the eye, regular forms are found to be more satisfactory than irregular ones, which, on so small a scale, are apt to appear unmeaning.

"The French flower-garden is the most fanciful of the regular modes of laying out the area devoted to this purpose. The patterns or figures employed are often highly intricate, and require considerable skill in their formation. . . . The walks are either of gravel or smoothly shaven turf, and the beds are filled with choice flowering plants. It is evident that much of the beauty of this kind of flower-garden, or indeed any other where the figures are regular and intricate, must depend on the outlines of the beds, or parterres of embroidery, as they are called, being kept distinct and clear. To do this effectually, low growing herbaceous plants or border flowers, perennials and annuals, should be chosen, such as will not exceed on an average, one or two feet in height.

"In the English flower-garden, the beds are either in symmetrical forms and figures, or they are characterized by irregular curved outlines. The peculiarity of these gardens, at present so fashionable in England, is, that each separate bed is planted with a single variety, or at most two varieties of flowers. Only the most striking and showy varieties are generally chosen, and the effect, when the selection is judicious, is highly brilliant. Each bed, in its season, presents a mass of blossoms, and the contrast of rich colors is much more striking than in any other arrangement. No plants are admitted that are shy bloomers, or which have ugly habits of growth, meagre or starved foliage; the aim being brilliant effect, rather than the display of a great variety of curious or rare plants. To bring about more perfectly, and to have an elegant show during the whole season of growth, hyacinths and other fine bulbous roots occupy a certain portion of the beds, the intervals being filled with handsome herbaceous plants, permanently planted, or with flowering annuals and green-house plants renewed every season. . . .

"The mingled flower-garden, as it is termed, is by far the most common mode of arrangement in this country, though it is seldom well effected. The object in this is to dispose the plants in the beds in such a manner, that while there is no predominance of bloom in any one portion of the beds, there shall be a general admixture of colors and blossoms throughout the entire garden during the whole season of growth.

"To promote this, the more showy plants should be often repeated in different parts of the garden, or even the same parterre when large, the less beautiful sorts being suffered to occupy but moderate space. The smallest plants should be nearest the walk, those a little taller behind them, and the largest should be furthest from the eye, at the back of the border, when the latter is seen from one side only, or in the centre, if the bed be viewed from both sides. A neglect of this simple rule will not only give the beds, when the plants are full grown, a confused look, but the beauty of the humbler and more delicate plants will be lost amid the tall thick branches of sturdier plants, or removed so far from the spectator in the walks, as to be overlooked. . . .

"Those who have seen the shrubbery at Hyde Park, the residence of the late Dr. Hosack, which borders the walk leading from the mansion to the hot-houses, will be able to recall a fine example of this mode of mingling woody and herbaceous plants. The belts or borders occupied by the shrubbery and flower-garden there, are perhaps from 25 to 35 feet in width, completely filled with a collection of shrubs and herbaceous plants; the smallest of the latter being quite near the walk; these succeeded by taller species receding from the front of the border, then follow shrubs of moderate size, advancing in height until the background of the whole is a rich mass of tall shrubs and trees of moderate size. The effect of this belt on so large a scale, in high keeping, is remarkably striking and elegant. . . .

"The Conservatory or the Green-House is an elegant and delightful appendage to the villa or mansion, when there is a taste for plants among the different members of a family. Those who have not enjoyed it, can hardly imagine the pleasure afforded by a well-chosen collection of exotic plants, which, amid the genial warmth of an artificial climate, continue to put forth their lovely blossoms, and exhale their delicious perfumes, when all out-of-door nature is chill and desolate. The many hours of pleasant and healthy exercise and recreation afforded to the ladies of a family, where they take an interest themselves in the growth and vigor of the plants, are certainly no trifling considerations where the country residence is the place of habitation throughout the whole year. . . .

"The difference between the green-house and conservatory is, that in the former, the plants are all kept in pots and arranged on stages, both to meet the eye agreeably, and for more convenient growth; while in the conservatory, the plants are grown in a bed or border of soil precisely as in the open air. . . .

"Though a conservatory is often made an expensive luxury, attached only to the better class of residences, there is no reason why cottages of more humble character should not have the same source of enjoyment on a more moderate scale. A small green-house, or plant cabinet, as it is sometimes called, eight or ten feet square, communicating with the parlor, and constructed in a simple style, may be erected. . . .

"The simplest variety of covered architectural seat is the latticed arbor for vines of various descriptions, with the seat underneath the canopy of foliage; this may with more propriety be introduced in various parts of the grounds than any other of its class, as the luxuriance and natural gracefulness of the foliage which covers the arbor, in a great measure destroys or overpowers the expression of its original form. Lattice arbors, however, neatly formed of rough poles and posts, are much more picturesque and suitable for wilder portions of the scenery.

"There is scarcely a prettier or more pleasant object for the termination of a long walk in the pleasure-grounds or park, than a neatly thatched structure of rustic work, with its seat for repose, and a view of the landscape beyond. On finding such an object, we are never tempted to think that there has been a lavish expenditure to serve a trifling purpose, but are gratified to see the exercise of taste and ingenuity, which completely answers the end in view. . . .

"Figure 84 is a covered seat or rustic arbor, with a thatched roof of straw. Twelve posts are set securely in the ground, which make the frame of this structure, the openings between being filled in with branches (about three inches in diameter) of different trees—the more irregular the etter, so that the perpendicular surface of the exterior and interior is kept nearly equal. In lieu of thatch, the roof may be first tightly boarded, and then a covering of bark or the slabs of trees with the bark on, overlaid and nailed on. The figure represents the structure as formed round a tree. For the sake of variety this might be omitted, the roof formed of an open lattice work of branches like the sides, and the whole covered by a grape, bignonia, or some other vine or creeper of luxuriant growth. The seats are in the interior. . . .[Fig. 10]

"A prospect tower is a most desirable and pleasant structure in certain residences. Where the view is comparatively limited from the grounds, on account of their surface being level, or nearly so, it often happens that the spectator, by being raised some twenty-five or thirty feet above the surface, finds himself in a totally different position, whence a charming coup d'oeil or bird's-eye view of the surrounding country is obtained.

"Those of our readers who may have visited the delightful garden and grounds of M. Parmentier, near Brooklyn, some half a dozen years since . . . will readily remember the rustic prospect-arbor or tower, Fig. 87, which was situated at the extremity of his place . . . from its summit, though the garden walks afforded no prospect, a beautiful reach of neighborhood for many miles was enjoyed.

"Figure 88 is a design for a rustic prospect tower of three stories in height, with a double thatched roof. It is formed of rustic pillars or columns, which are well fixed in the ground, and which are filled in with a fanciful lattice of rustic branches. A spiral staircase winds round the interior of the platform of the second and upper stories, where there are seats under the open thatched roof. . . . [Figs. 10 and 11]

"A simple jet . . . issuing from a circular basin of water, or a cluster of perpendicular jets (candelabra jets), is at once the simplest and most pleasing of fountains. Such are almost the only kinds of fountains which can be introduced with propriety in simple scenes where the predominant objects are sylvan, not architectural." [Fig. 12]

Appendix II, "Description of an English suburban residence, Cheshunt Cottage": "85, Double ascent of the steps to a mound formed of the earth removed in excavating for the pond. From the platform to which these steps lead, there is a circuitous path to the Chinese temple, and the steps are ornamented with Chinese vases, thus affording a note of preparation for the Chinese temple. The outer sides of the steps are formed of rockwork, and between the two stairs is a pedestal with Chinese ornaments.

"86, The Chinese temple, on the highest part of the mount formed of the soil taken from the excavation now constituting the pond. The view from the interior of this temple is shown in. . . . [Fig. 9]

"87, Rustic steps descending from the Chinese temple to the walk which borders the pond."

Appendix V, "Note on roads and walks": "The only situation where this brilliant [white] gravel seems to us perfectly in keeping, is in the highly artificial garden of the ancient or geometric style, or in the symmetrical terrace flower garden adjoining the house. In these instances its striking appearance is in excellent keeping with the expression of all the surrounding objects, and it renders more forcible and striking the highly artificial and artistical character of the scene; and to such situations we would gladly see its use limited."

• Downing, A. J., February 1849 (1849: 380)

"At the end of this wall, we come to the semicircular Italian arbor, D. This arbor, which is very light and pleasing in effect, is constructed of slender posts, rising 8 or 9 feet above the surface, from the tops of which strong transverse strips are nailed, as shown in the plan. The grapes ripen on this kind of Italian arbor much more perfectly than upon one of the common kind, thickly covered with foliage.

"Beyond this arbor, and at the termination of the central walk, is a vase, rustic basket, or other ornamental object, e. The semi-circle, embraced within the arbor, is a space laid with regular beds. This is devoted to kitchen garden crops, as is also all the outside border behind it. The other borders (under the vines, E,) may be cropped with strawberries, or lettuces, and other small culinary vevetables [sic], with a narrow grouping of flowers near the walk or not, as the taste of the owner may dictate. The small trees, planted in rows on the border, between the walk, E, and the ornamental lawn, are dwarf pears and apples." [Fig. 11]

• Downing, A. J., July 1849 (1849: 9–10)

"The great attraction of these cemeteries, to the mass of the community, is not in the fact that they are burial places, or solemn places of meditation for the friends of the deceased, or striking exhibitions of monumental sculpture, though all these have their influence. All these might be realized in a burial ground, planted with straight lines of willows, and sombre avenues of evergreens. The true secret of the attraction lies in the natural beauty of the sites, and in the tasteful and harmonious embellishment of these sites by art. Nearly all these cemeteries were rich portions of forest land, broken by hill and dale, and varied by copses and glades, like Mount Auburn and Greenwood, or old country seats, richly wooded with fine planted trees, like Laurel Hill. Hence, to the inhabitant of the town, a visit to one of these spots has the united charm of nature and art,—the double wealth of rural and moral associations. It awakens, at the same moment, the feeling of human sympathy and the love of natural beauty, implanted in every heart. His must be a dull or a trifling soul that neither swells with emotion, or rises with admiration, at the varied beauty of these lovely and hallowed spots.

"Indeed, in the absence of great public gardens, such as we must surely one day have in America, our rural cemeteries are doing a great deal to enlarge and educate the popular taste in rural embellishment. They are for the most part laid out with admirable taste; they contain the greatest variety of trees and shrubs to be found in the country, and several of them are kept in a manner seldom equalled in private places.*

"The character of each of the three great cemeteries is essentially distinct. Greenwood, the largest, and unquestionably the finest, is grand, dignified, and park-like. It is laid out in a broad and simple style, commands noble ocean views, and is admirably kept. Mount Auburn is richly picturesque, in its varied hill and dale, and owes its charm mainly to this variety and intricacy of sylvan features. Laurel Hill is a charming pleasure-ground, filled with beautiful and rare shrubs and flowers; at this season, a wilderness of roses, as well as fine trees and monuments. . . .[Fig. 9]

*"Laurel Hill is especially rich in rare trees. We saw, last month, almost every procurable species of hardy tree and shrub growing there—among others, the Cedar of Lebanon, the Deodar Cedar, the Paulownia., the Araucaria, etc. Rhododendrons and Azaleas were in full bloom; and the purple Beeches, the weeping Ash, rare Junipers, Pines, and deciduous trees were abundant in many parts of the grounds. Twenty acres of new ground have just been added to this cemetery. It is a better arboretum than can easily be found elsewhere in the country." [Fig. 4]

• Downing, A. J., 1850, The Architecture of Country Houses (1850: 112–113, 281, 288, 307, 350–351, 354, 356, 360–361)

Part I, Section IV: “In the Design before us . . . there is an air of rustic or rural beauty conferred on the whole cottage by the simple, or veranda-like arbor, or trellis, which runs round three sides of the building; as well as an expression of picturesqueness, by the roof supported on ornamental brackets and casting deep shadows upon the walls.

“To become aware how much this beauty of expression has to do with rendering this cottage interesting, we have only to imagine it stripped of the arbor-veranda and the projecting eaves, and it becomes in appearance only the most meagre and common-place building, which may be a house or a barn: at the most, it would indicate nothing more by its chimneys and windows, than that it is a human habitation, and not, as at present, that it is the dwelling of a family who have some rural taste, and some love for picturesque character in a house.” [see Fig. 1]

Part II, Section X, "Designs for Country Villas or Country Houses": "[Referring to Design XX.] As a marked defect in this design . . . was the absence of all veranda, arcade, or covered walk—without which no country-house is tolerable in the United States, we have added a veranda in the angle between the library and drawing-room. . . .

"[Referring to Design XXI.] In the second story plan . . . we find four bedrooms of good size, with two small ones, one of them used as a dressing-room. There is also a bath-room, with space for a water-closet at the end of the entry. At a, a narrow flight of stairs ascends to the apartment, 9 by 9 feet, in the top of the tower—which may be a museum or a prospect gallery. . . .

"[Referring to Design XXV.] The green-house communicates directly with the parlor, and is supposed to have a south aspect—though an east or west exposure is found to answer perfectly well in this climate. It will be easily heated by the same furnace which heats the house—a 10 inch hot-air pipe and a large register, running through the basement, and entering by the floor or side of the green-house. There should be a large door at the outer end of the green-house, for taking in the plants, and a cistern beneath it, to collect water from the roof for watering them. . . .[Fig. 15]

"[Referring to Design XXXI.] A smaller and lighter flight of stairs ascends in the tower, from the chamber floor to the top, where there is an apartment, 10 feet square, which may be the private sanctum of the master of the house, or a general belvedere or 'look-out' for visitors, as the taste of the proprietor may lead him to appropriate it. . . .[Fig. 12]

"[Referring to Design XXXII.] We see refined culture symbolized in the round-arch, with its continually recurring curves of beauty, in the spacious and elegant arcades, inviting to leisurely conversations, in all those outlines and details, suggestive of restrained and orderly action, as contrasted with the upward, aspiring, imaginative feeling indicated in the pointed or Gothic styles of architecture. . . .

"Standing in the middle of the vestibule, the arcade extends to the drawing-room, affording a broad and airy promenade, nearly 60 feet long, sheltered from sun and rain. . . .[Fig. 11]

"This latter apartment, a charming prospect gallery or belvedere in a country of varied scenery, would be a very agreeable feature."

• Downing, A. J., June 1850 (1850: 540)

"The indispensable desiderata in rural villages of this kind [newly planned in the suburbs of a great city], are the following: 1st, a large open space, common, or park, situated in the middle of the village—not less than 20 acres; and better, if 50 or more in extent. This should be well planted with groups of trees, and kept as a lawn. The expense of mowing it would be paid by the grass in some cases; and in others a considerable part of the space might be enclosed with a wire fence, and fed by sheep or cows, like many of the public parks in England.

"This park would be the nucleus or heart of the village, and would give it an essentially rural character. Around it should be grouped all the best cottages and residences of the place; and this would be secured by selling no lots fronting upon it of less than one-fourth of an acre in extent."

• Downing, A. J., 1851, describing plans for improving the public grounds in Washington, D.C. (quoted in Washburn 1967: 54, 55)

"My object in this Plan has been three-fold:

"1st: To form a national Park, which should be an ornament to the Capital of the United States; 2nd: To give an example of the natural style of Landscape Gardening which may have an influence on the general taste of the Country; 3rd: To form a collection of all the trees that will grown in the climate of Washington, and, by having these trees plainly labelled with their popular and scientific names, to form a public museum of living trees and shrubs where every person visiting Washington could become familiar with the habits and growth of all the hardy trees.

"The Public Grounds now to be improved I have arranged so as to form six different and distinct scenes: viz."

"1st: The President's Park or Parade.

“This comprises the open Ground directly south of the President’s House. Adopting suggestions made me at Washington I propose to keep the large area of this ground open, as a place for parade or military reviews, as well as public festivities or celebrations. A circular carriage drive 40 feet wide and nearly a mile long shaded by an avenue of Elms, surrounds the Parade, while a series of foot-paths, 10 feet wide, winding through thickets of trees and shrubs, forms the boundary to this park, and would make an agreeable shaded promenade for pedestrians.

“I propose to take down the present small stone gates to the President’s Grounds, and place at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue a large and handsome Archway of marble, which shall not only form the main entrance from the City to the whole of the proposed new Grounds, but shall also be one of the principal Architectural ornaments of the city; inside of this arch-way is a semicircle with three gates commanding three carriage roads. Two of these lead into the Parade or President’s Park, the third is a private carriage-drive into the President’s grounds; this gate should be protected by a Porter’s lodge, and should only be open on reception days, thus making the President’s grounds on this side of the house quite private at all other times. . . .

“2nd: Monument Park.

“This comprises the fine plot of ground surrounding the Washington monument and bordered by the Potomac. To reach it from the President’s Park I propose to cross the canal by a wire suspension bridge, sufficiently strong for carriages, which would permit vessels of moderate size to pass under it, and would be an ornamental feature in the grounds. I propose to plant Monument Park wholly with American trees, of large growth, disposed in open groups, so as to al[l]ow of fine vistas of the Potomac river. . . .

“4th: Smithsonian Park or Pleasure Grounds.

“An arrangement of choice trees in the natural style, the plots near the Institution would be thickly planted with the rarest trees and shrubs, to give greater seclusion and beauty to its immediate precincts.

“5th: Fountain Park.

"This Park would be chiefly remarkable for its water features. The Fountain would be supplied from a basin in the Capitol. The pond or lake might either be formed from the overflow of this fountain, or from a filtering drain from the canal. The earth that would be excavated to form this pond is needed to fill up low places now existing in this portion of the grounds.

“6th: The Botanic Garden.

“This is the spot already selected for this purpose and containing three green-houses. It will probably at some future time, be filled with a collection of hardy plants. I have only shown how the carriage-drive should pass through it (Crossing the canal again here) and making the exit by a large gateway opposite the middle gate of the Capitol Grounds. . . .

“The pleasing natural undulations of surface, where they occur, I propose to retain, instead of expending money in reducing them to a level. The surface of the Parks, generally, should be kept in grass or lawn, and mown by the mowing machine used in England, by which, with a man and horse, the labor of six men can be done in one day. . . .

“A national Park like this, laid out and planted in a thorough manner, would exercise as much influence on the public taste as Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston, has done. Though only twenty years have elapsed since that spot was laid out, the lesson there taught has been so largely influential that at the present moment the United States, while they have no public parks, are acknowledged to possess the finest rural cemeteries in the world. The Public Grounds at Washington treated in the manner I have here suggested, would undoubtedly become a Public School of Instruction in every thing that relates to the tasteful arrangement of parks and grounds, and the growth and culture of trees, while they would serve, more than anything else that could be devised, to embellish and give interest to the Capital. The straight lines and broad Avenues of the streets of Washington would be pleasantly relieved and contrasted by the beauty of curved lines and natural groups of trees in the various parks. By its numerous public buildings and broad Avenues, Washington will one day command the attention of every stranger, and if its un-improved public grounds are tastefully improved they will form the most perfect background or setting to the City, concealing many of its defects and heightening all its beauties.”

• Downing, A. J., December 1851 (1851: 540)

"A peculiar feature of what may be called the scenery of ornamental grounds in this country, at the present moment is, as we have before remarked, to be found in our rural cemeteries. They vary in size from a few, to three or four hundred acres, and in character from pretty shrubberies and pleasure grounds, to wild sylvan groves, or superb parks and pleasure grounds—laid out and kept in the highest style of the art of landscape gardening."

Images

• 

  Alexander Jackson Davis, "Montgomery Place," in A. J. Downing, ed., The Horticulturist 2, no. 4 (October 1847): pl. opp. p. 153.

• 

  Anonymous, "Rustic Seat," Montgomery Place, in A. J. Downing, ed., The Horticulturist 2, no. 4 (October 1847): 157, fig. 26.

• 

  Anonymous, "The Lake," Montgomery Place, in A. J. Downing, ed., The Horticulturist 2, no. 4 (October 1847): 158, fig. 27.

• 

  Anonymous, "The Conservatory," Montgomery Place, in A. J. Downing, ed., The Horticulturist 2, no. 4 (October 1847): 159, fig. 28.

Other Resources

Library of Congress Authority File

The Cultural Landscape Foundation

American National Biography