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History of Early American Landscape Design

Grove

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History

The term grove referred to both natural and planted arrangements of trees, as indicated by Noah Webster’s definition of 1828. American gardeners such as Bernard M’Mahon (1806) realized the potential of indigenous vegetation and simply thinned existing trees to create so-called “natural” groves. Trees could also be planted where none existed to create “artificial” groves. Whether natural or artificial, groves of trees were an important element in the ornamental landscape, serving aesthetic and agricultural purposes. As Samuel Deane explained in the New-England Farmer (1790), groves could provide shade and windbreaks as well as syrup, firewood, and fruit. As a formal element, groves defined borders of gardens, created backdrops, and, as seen in the sketch of St. Augustine’s orange grove [Fig. 1], offered sites for collecting specific plants.

While generally composed of trees, groves sometimes included shrubs and flowers. These plants were also found in woods, shrubberies, and wildernesses, thus blurring the lines of distinctions between these features—several treatise writers and lexicographers defined groves, for example, as small woods. The overlapping and indistinct uses of the terms “grove,” “wilderness,” and “shrubbery” are exemplified by George Washington’s notations on the garden at Mount Vernon. In 1782, he wrote that he would immediately plant groups of “shrubs and ornamental trees,” and decide later which constituted “the grove and which the wilderness,” implying that the grove would ultimately be the less thickly planted of the two. To add to the confusion, Washington on another occasion referred to the arrangement of trees and shrubs just south of his house as both a grove and a shrubbery. Nineteenth-century texts mentioned shrubs and flowers in groves less frequently, because these types of plants were increasingly associated with shrubberies (see Shrubbery). Thus, as time passed, the distinction between the terms became more clearly drawn.

When attempting to distinguish groves from other features that employed trees (particularly woods and clumps), treatise writers often focused on the question of whether groves should contain undergrowth. Various opinions emerged. Batty Langley argued in New Principles of Gardening (1728) for the inclusion of flowering shrubs with evergreens and deciduous trees. Thomas Whately, however, in Observations of Modern Gardening (1770), believed that a grove consisted of trees without undergrowth in contrast to woods or clumps, which did contain undergrowth. Philip Miller, in The Gardeners Dictionary (1754), considered undergrowth as one factor that distinguished a “closed” grove from an “open” one. The “open” form of the feature was made by planting large trees at a distance that permitted tree tops to knit together to create a shady canopy for the walks below. The “closed” type was composed of a denser planting of trees, shrubs, and flowers that could be arranged in figures cut through and circumscribed by walks.

The appellations “open” and “closed,” however, were not common in American discourse, despite Noah Webster’s inclusion of such distinctions in his definition. Although these adjectives were not employed to a significant degree, groves fitting these characteristics can be identified. Thomas Jefferson, in his 1807 account of Monticello, described his intention to trim the lower limbs of the trees in his grove, composed of a mixture of hardwoods and evergreens, “so as to give the appearance of open ground,” suggesting an “open” grove [Fig. 2]. Eliza Lucas Pinckney, in 1742, evoked the sense of a “closed” grove when she delineated her collection of trees and flowers. Likewise, in 1776 George Washington suggested a similar type of grove for Mount Vernon, which he described as an arrangement of flowering trees and evergreens underplanted with flowering shrubs.

Washington’s account of this “closed” grove also provides a significant clue as to the arrangement of plants. In his 1776 letter to Lund Washington, he specified that the trees “be Planted without any order or regularity,” an aesthetic in keeping with the recommendations of Langley, whose treatises were owned by Washington. The texts of Langley and Miller exemplify the gradual shift away from formal or rectilinear arrangements of trees toward more irregular or “natural” designs. Seventeenth-century groves might be planted in geometrical, or otherwise such patterned figures as “the star, the direct Cross, St. Andrew’s Cross,” described by A.-J. Dézallier d’Argenville (1712). By contrast, Langley insisted that groves be planted with “regular Irregularity; not planting them . . . with their Trees in straight Lines ranging every Way, but in a rural Manner, as if they had receiv’d their Situation from Nature itself.” In contrast to authors of earlier treatises, nineteenth-century American writers, including Samuel Deane (1790), Bernard M’Mahon (1806) and the anonymous author of the New England Farmer (1828), advocated regular arrangements. Few if any signs, however, indicate that Americans made “closed” groves in geometrical figures, such as those described in James. Pierre Pharoux’s unexecuted plans for the new town Sperenza, N.Y. [Fig. 3], and for Baron von Steuben’s estate in Mohawk Valley, N.Y. [Fig. 4], are rare exceptions.

In either the regular or irregular arrangement, groves were often designed to accommodate garden structures or decorative elements. William Bentley (1791), for example, called attention to the pond with statuary found in the midst of the grove at Pleasant Hill, Joseph Barrell’s estate in Charlestown, Mass.; Margaret Bayard Smith (1809) recorded that Jefferson intended to place a monument to a friend in the midst of a grove at Monticello. William Russell Birch situated a Gothic chapel in the grove at Springland [Fig. 5].

In addition to providing settings for decorative objects, groves sometimes displayed rare or unusual tree specimens. At Mount Vernon, Washington contrasted his northerngrove, to be made up entirely of locust trees, with his southern grove, to be planted with “clever,” “curious,” and “ornamental” trees and shrubs. At the Woodlands, William Hamilton also filled his groves with rare ornamental trees.

Groves provided shade and settings for walks that linked buildings in a unified composition. They sheltered or highlighted important architectural features. Groves of evergreens or shade trees were well suited for graves and church settings because of the associations with perpetual life. Pinckney and Charles Willson Peale both spoke of the aura of solemnity found in the deep shade and quiet of their respective groves. Alexander Hamilton (1744) called the “darkened and shaded” grove very “romantick.” Architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe depicted a temple deep in a grove, a scene that recalled idealized landscapes associated with the classical past [Fig. 6]. Funerary associations of the grove, dating back to antiquity, made the feature an especially appropriate setting for commemorative monuments and landscape cemeteries.

Groves also connoted cultivation and improvement. They were frequently featured in images, such as Christian Remick’s Prospective View of part of the Commons (1768) [Fig. 7].In Timothy Dwight’s descriptions of the cultivated American landscape, for example, he repeatedly called attention to groves as marking the transition from the wilder or unplanned landscape to the “improved” or worked landscape. Even A. J. Downing, who avoided the term in his treatise, found it useful in describing his ideal park for the city of New York in 1851.

-- Anne L. Helmreich

Texts

Usage

Smith, John, 1612, describing Native American life in America (quoted in Billings 1975: 215)

“Some times from 2 to 100 of these houses [are] togither [sic], or but a little separated by groves of trees. Neare their habitations is [a] little small wood, or old trees on the ground, by reason of their burning of them for fire.”

Pinckney, Eliza Lucas, 1742, describing Wappoo Plantation, property of Eliza Lucas Pinckney, Charleston, S.C. (1972: 36)

“You may wonder how I could in this gay season think of planting a Cedar grove, which rather reflects an Autumnal gloom and solemnity than the freshness and gayty of spring. But so it is. I have begun it last week and intend to make it an Emblem not of a lady, but of a compliment which your good Aunt was pleased to make to the person her partiality has made happy by giving her a place in her esteem and friendship. I intend then to connect in my grove the solemnity (not the solidity) of summer or autumn with the cheerfulness and pleasures of spring, for it shall be filled with all kind of flowers, as well wild as Garden flowers, with seats of Camomoil and here and there a fruit tree—oranges, nectrons, Plumbs, &c., &c.”

Norris, Isaac, 22 June 1743, describing Fairhill, seat of Isaac Norris, near Philadelphia, Pa. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Norris Letter Book, 1719–56)

“opening my woods into groves, enlarging my fishponds and beautifying my springs.”

Moore, Francis, 1744, describing the Trustees’ Garden, Savannah, Ga. (quoted in Marye 1933: 15)

“On the North-part of the Garden is left standing a Grove of Part of the old Wood as it was before the arrival of the Colony there. The Trees in the Grove are mostly Bay, Sassafras, Evergreen Oak, Pellitory, Hickary [sic], American Ash, and the Laurel Tulip.”

Hamilton, Alexander, 14 July 1744, describing a house in Rhode Island (1948: 98)

“we passed by an old fashioned wooden house att the end of a lane, darkened and shaded over with a thick grove of tall trees. This appeared to me very romantick and brought into my mind some romantick descriptions of rural scenes in Spencer’s Fairy Queen.”

Washington, George, 19 August 1776, in a letter to Lund Washington, describing Mount Vernon, plantation of George Washington, Fairfax County, Va. (quoted in Riley 1989: 7)

“Plant Trees in the room of all dead ones in proper time this Fall. and as I mean to have groves of Trees at each end of the dwelling House, that at the South end to range in a line from the South

grove

East Corner to Colo. Fairfax’s, extending as low as another line from the Stable to the dry Well, and towards the Coach House . . . from the No. Et. Corner of the other end of the House to range so as to show the Barn &ca. in the Neck . . . these Trees to be Planted without any order or regularity (but pretty thick, as they can at any time be thin’d) and to consist that at the North end, of locusts altogether. 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, Sasafras, Laurel, Willow (especially yellow and Weeping Willow, twigs of which may be got from Philadelphia) and many others which I do not recollect at present; those to be interspersed here and there with ever greens such as Holly, Pine, and Cedar, also Ivy; to these may be added the Wild flowering Shrubs of the larger kind, such as the fringe Trees and several other kinds that might be mentioned.”

Rush, Dr. Benjamin, 15 July 1782, describing the country seat of John Dickinsen, near Philadelphia, Pa. (quoted in Caemmerer 1950: 87)

“The ground contiguous to this shed was cut into beautiful walks and divided with cedar and pine branches into artificial groves. The whole, both the buildings and walks, were accommodated with seats.”

Washington, George, 25 December 1782,

describing Mount Vernon, plantation of George Washington, Fairfax County, Va. (quoted in Johnson 1953: 87–88)

“I wish that the afore-mentioned shrubs and ornamental and curious trees may be planted at both ends that I may determine hereafter from circumstances and appearances which shall be the grove and which the wilderness. It is easy to extirpate Trees from any spot but time only can bring them to maturity.”

Shippen, Thomas Lee, 31 December 1783,

describing Westover, seat of William Byrd III, on the James River, Va. (1952: n.p.)

“The crooked line markd x [on the accompanying drawing] shews you where the garden is which is very large and exceedingly beautiful indeed. The one opposite to it &c is the place where there is a pretty grove neatly kept, from which the walk thro’ one of the pretty gates markd g leads you to the improved grounds before the house.” [Fig. 8]

Washington, George, 1785 and 1786, describing Mount Vernon, plantation of George Washington, Fairfax County, Va. (Jackson and Twohig, eds., 1978: 4:99, 107, 304)

“[7 March 1785] Planted all my Cedars, all my Papaw, and two Honey locust Trees in my Shrubberies and two of the latter in my groves—one at each (side) of the House and a large Holly tree on the Point going to the Sein landing. . . .

“Finished Plowing the Ground adjoining the Pine Grove, designed for Clover & Orchard grass Seed. . . .

“[24 March 1785] Finding the Trees round the Walks in my wildernesses rather too thin I doubled them by putting (other Pine) trees between each.

“Laid off the Walks in my Groves, at each end of the House. . . .

“[6 April 1786] Transplanted 46 of the large Magnolio of So. Carolina from the box brought by

G. A. Washington last year—viz.—6 at the head of each of the Serpentine Walks next the Circle—26 in the Shrubbery or grove at the South end of the House & 8 in that at the No. end. The ground was so wet, more could not at this time be planted there.” Cutler, Rev. Manasseh, 13 July 1787, describing the State House Yard, Philadelphia, Pa. (1987: 1:262)

“It was so lately laid out in its present form that it has not assumed that air of grandeur which time will give it. The trees are yet small, but most judiciously arranged. The artificial mounds of earth, and depressions, and small groves in the squares have a most delightful effect.”

Cutler, Rev. Manasseh, 14 July 1787, describing Gray’s Tavern, Philadelphia, Pa. (1987: 1:275–77)

“As we were walking on the northern side of the Garden, upon a beautiful glacis, we found ourselves on the borders of a grove of wood and upon the brow of a steep hill. . . . At a distance, we could just see three very high arched bridges, one beyond the other. . . . We saw them through the grove, the branches of the trees partly concealing them, which produced the more romantic and delightful effect. As we advanced on the brow of this hill, we observed a small foot-path, which led by several windings into the grove. We followed it; and though we saw that it was the work of art, yet it was a most happy imitation of nature. It conducted us along the declivity of the hill, which on every side was strewed with flowers in the most artless manner, and evidently seemed to be the bounty of nature without the aid of human care. At length we seemed to be lost in the woods, but saw in the distance an antique building, to which our path led us. . . . At this hermitage we came into a spacious graveled walk, which directed its course further along the grove, which was tall wood interspersed with close thickets of different growth. As we advanced, we found our gravel walk dividing itself into numerous branches, leading into different parts of the grove. We directed our course nearly north, though some of our company turned into the other walks, but were soon out of

sight, and thought proper to return and follow us. We at length came to a considerable eminence, which was adorned with an infinite variety of beds of flowers and artificial groves of flowering shrubs. On the further side of the eminence was a fence, beyond which we perceived an extensive but narrow opening. When we came to the fence, we were delightfully astonished with the view of one of the finest cascades in America. . . . The distance we judged to be about a quarter of a mile, which being seen through the narrow opening in the tall grove, and the fine mist that rose incessantly from the rocks below, had a most delightful effect.”

Adams, Abigail, 21 November 1790, describing Bush Hill, estate of Lt. Gov. James Hamilton, near Philadelphia, Pa. (1841: 2:207)

“Bush Hill, as it is called, though by the way there remains neither bush nor shrub upon it, and very few trees, except the pine grove behind it,— yet Bush Hill is a very beautiful place.”

Bartram, William, 1791, describing St. Simon’s Island, Ga. (1928: 72–73)

“This delightful habitation was situated in the midst of a spacious grove of Live Oaks and Palms, near the strand of the bay, commanding a view of the inlet. A cool area surrounded the low but convenient buildings, from whence, through the groves, was a spacious avenue into the island, terminated by a large savanna. . . .

“Our rural table was spread under the shadow of Oaks, Palms, and Sweet Bays, fanned by the lively salubrious breezes wafted from the spicy groves. Our music was the responsive love-lays of the painted nonpareil, and the alert and gay mock-bird; whilst the brilliant humming-bird darted through the flowery groves, suspended in air, and drank nectar from the flowers of the yellow Jasmine, Lonicera, Andromeda, and sweet Azalea.”

Bartram, William, 1791, describing an Indian village in Florida (1928: 96)

“There was a large Orange grove at the upper end of their village; the trees were large, carefully pruned, and the ground under them clean, open, and airy.”

Bentley, William, 12 June 1791, describing Pleasant Hill, seat of Joseph Barrell, Charlestown, Mass. (1962: 1:264)

“[June] 12. Was politely received at dinner by Mr Barrell, & family, who shewed me his large & elegant arrangements for amusement, & philosophic experiments. . . . His Garden is beyond any example I have seen. A young grove is growing in the back ground, in the middle of which is a pond, decorated with four ships at anchor, & a marble figure in the centre. The Chinese manner is mixed with the European in the Summer house which fronts the House, below the Flower Garden.” [Fig. 9] Dwight, Timothy, 1794, describing Greenfield Hill, Conn. (quoted in Clarke 1993: 1:386)

“On yon bright plain, with beauty gay, Where waters wind, and cattle play, Where gardens, groves, and orchards bloom, Unconscious of her coming doom, Once Fairfield smil’d. The tidy dome, Of pleasure, and of peace, the home, There rose; and there the glittering spire, Secure from sacrilegious fire.”


La Rochefoucauld Liancourt, FrançoisAlexandre- Frédéric, duc de, 1795–97, describing Norristown, Pa. (1800: 1:5–6)

“Very few of them [country houses] are without a small garden; but it is rare to observe one, that has a grove adjoining, or that is surrounded with trees; it is the custom of the country to have no wood near the houses. Customs are sometimes founded in reason, but it is difficult to conjecture the design of this practice in a country, where the heat in summer is altogether intolerable, and where the structure of the houses is designedly adapted to exclude that excessive heat. *

“* The reason is, because the country was universally wooded, when the building of these houses was first begun; and in a country thus wooded, to clear the space round the dwelling- house was just as natural, as to plant round the house in a country otherwise bare of wood.— Translator.”

Anonymous, 14 June 1800, describing in the Federal Gazette the estate of Adrian Valeck, Baltimore, Md. (quoted in Sarudy 1989: 136)

“A large garden in the highest state of cultivation, laid out in numerous and convenient walks and squares bordered with espaliers, on which . . . the greatest variety of fruit trees, the choicest fruits from the best nurseries in this country and Europe have been attentively and successfully cultivated. . . . Behind the garden in a grove and shrubbery or bosquet planted with a great variety of the finest forest trees, oderiferous & other flowering shrubs etc.”

Cutler, Rev. Manasseh, 2 January 1802,

describing the Woodlands, seat of William Hamilton, near Philadelphia, Pa. (1987: 2:145)

“We then walked over the pleasure grounds in front and a little back of the house. It is formed into walks, in every direction, with borders of flowering shrubs and trees. Between are lawns of green grass, frequently mowed to make them convenient for walking, and at different distances numerous copse of native trees, interspersed with artificial groves, which are set with trees collected from all parts of the world.”

Jefferson, Thomas, 1807, describing Monticello, plantation of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, Va. (quoted in Nichols and Griswold 1978: 111)

“The canvas at large [of a Garden or pleasure ground] must be Grove, of the largest trees, (poplar, oak, elm, maple, ash, hickory, chestnut, Linden, Weymouth pine, sycamore) trimmed very high, so as to give it the appearance of open ground, yet not so far apart but that they may cover the ground with close shade.”

Latrobe, Benjamin Henry, 17 March 1807,

describing the White House, Washington, D.C. (Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)

“In removing the ground, it would certainly be necessary to go down in front of the colonnade to the level of about one foot below the bases of the Columns but, it will certainly not deprive this colonnade of any part of its beauty to pass behind a few gentle Knolls and groves or Clumps in its front, and much expense of removing earth would be thereby saved.”

Smith, Margaret Bayard, 1 August 1809,

describing Monticello, plantation of Thomas Jefferson, Charlottesville, Va. (1906: 73)

“As we passed the graveyard, which is about half way down the mountain, in a sequestered spot, he told me he there meant to place a small gothic building,—higher up, where a beautiful little mound was covered with a grove of trees, he meant to place a monument to his friend Wythe.”

Cuming, Fortesque, 1810, describing a seat in Pittsburgh, Pa. (p. 227)

“What adds to the beauty of Mr. Tannehill’s seat is, a handsome grove of about two acres of young black oaks, northwest of his dwelling, through the middle of which runs a long frame bowery, on whose end fronting the road, is seen this motto, ‘1808, Dedicated to Virtue, Liberty, and

Independence’ Here a portion of the citizens meet on each 4th of July, to hail with joyful hearts the day that gave birth to the liberties and happiness of their country. On the opposite side of the road to the bowery, is a spring issuing from the side of the hill, whose water trickles down a rich clover patch, through which is a deep hollow with several small cascades, overhung with the willow, and fruit trees of various kinds.”

Peale, Charles Willson, 22 July 1810, describing Belfield, estate of Charles Willson Peale, Germantown, Pa. (Miller, Hart, and Ward, eds., 1991: 3:51)

“I am often pleased with the solemn groves skirting meadows in majestic silence and cool appearance.”

Bryant, William Cullen, 25 August 1821,

describing the Vale, estate of Theodore Lyman, Waltham, Mass. (1975: 108–9)

“He took me to the seat of Mr. Lyman. ...It is a perfect paradise. . . . A hard rolled walk, by the side of a brick wall . . . led us to a grove of young forest trees on the top of [an] eminence in the midst of which was a Chinese temple.”

Silliman, Benjamin, 1824, describing Monte Video, property of Daniel Wadsworth, Avon, Conn. (pp. 14–15)

“From the boat or summer house, several paths diverge . . . the first passes round the lake, and generally out of sight of it, for a quarter of a mile, until descending a very steep bank, through a grove of evergreens, so dark as to be almost impervious to the rays of the sun, even at noon day.”

Anonymous, 17 April 1829, “Neglected Grave Yards” (New England Farmer 7: 307)

“I wish to call your attention to the subject of repairing, clearing, and ornamenting the burial grounds of New England. These enclosures are commonly neglected by the sexton, and present to the curious traveller, an ugly collection of slate slabs, of weeds, and rank or dried grass. A small effort in each sexton or clergyman, would suffice to awaken attention, to bring to the recollection of some, and to the fancy of all, a scene which every village should present, a grove sacred to the dead and to their recollection, to calm religious conversation, and to melancholy musing—inclosed with shrubbery, and evergreen, and dignified by the lofty maple, and elm, and oak, and guarded by a living hedge of hawthorn.

“Every sexton should procure some oak, elm, and locust seed, and make it a part of his vocation to scatter it for chance growth.”

Ingraham, Joseph Holt, 1835, describing a village near New Orleans, La. (1:81–82)

“On the left and diagonally from the dwelling house we noticed a very neat, pretty village, containing about forty small snow-white cottages, all

precisely alike, built around a pleasant square, in the centre of which, was a grove or cluster of magnificent sycamores.”

Martineau, Harriet, 4 May 1835, describing New Orleans, La. (1838: 1:274)

“In the neighbourhood of Mobile, my relative, who has a true English love of gardening, had introduced the practice [of gardens]; and I there saw villas and cottages surrounded with a luxuriant growth of Cherokee roses, honeysuckles, and myrtles, while groves of orange-trees appeared in the background.”

Breck, Joseph, 1 February 1836, describing Bellmont Place, residence of John Perkins Cushing, Watertown, Mass. (Horticultural Register 2: 43)

“The approach to the mansion from the road is by a winding avenue through a fine grove of ancient deciduous trees. The first view of the garden and ranges of glass structure, as we emerged from the grove, was truly magnificent.”

B., J., 1 October 1836, “Horticulture in Maine” (Horticultural Register 2: 381)

“We noticed with pleasure, that most of the vicinity of Portland was highly decorated with numerous shade trees, in groves, groups, and single, which the good taste of the proprietors of the soil have spared as yet. Near the city is an extensive, and one of the finest groves of oaks we have ever seen.”

Featherstonhaugh, George William, 20 August 1837, describing Pendleton, S.C. (quoted in Jones 1957: 126–27)

“I went in the carriage with the ladies to the Episcopal Church at Pendleton, a neat temple prettily situated in a shady grove.”

Hovey, C. M., November 1839, describing Elfin Glen, residence of P. Dodge, Salem, Mass. (Magazine of Horticulture 5: 404)

“In front of the cottage, and extending to the limits of the garden, on the west, ornamental shrubs and forest trees are thickly planted, and are making a rapid and healthy growth; in a few years they will form a dense and shady grove.”

Willis, Nathaniel Parker, 1840, describing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass. ([1840] 1971: 348)

“This picturesque and beautiful burial-place occupies a grove, formerly an academic and sylvan retreat for the students of Harvard College, near by.”

Bryant, William Cullen, 24 April 1843,

describing St. Anastasia, Fla. (quoted in Clarke 1993: 2:161)

“In another part of the same island, which we visited afterward, is a dwelling-house situated amid orange-groves. Closely planted rows of the sour orange, the native tree of the country, intersect and shelter orchards of the sweet orange, the lemon, and the lime.”

Kirkbride, Thomas S., April 1848, describing the pleasure grounds and farm of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane, Philadelphia, Pa. (American Journal of Insanity 4: 348)

“The remainder of the grounds on this side of the deer-park is specially appropriated to the use of the male patients. In this division is a fine grove of large trees, several detached clumps of various kinds and a great variety of single trees standing alone or in avenues along the different walks, which, of brick, gravel or tan, are for the men, more than a mile and a quarter in extent. The groves are fitted up with seats and summer houses, and have various means of exercise and amusement connected with them. . . .

“The work-shop and lumber-yard are just within the main entrance on the west—adjoining which is a fine grove, in which is the gentlemen’s ten-pin alley.”

Hovey, C. M., March 1849, describing the residence of Gen. Elias W. Leavenworth, Syracuse,

N.Y. (Magazine of Horticulture 15: 98) “this [the fruit garden] and the house occupy about half of the ground: the other half has been made a most beautiful grove; this was done by a judicious cutting away of whole trees in some places, and by pruning and thinning the branches in others, leaving the whole a picturesque mass, which years of time and labor could not have produced.”

Gordon, Alexander, June 1849, describing the residence of Mr. Valcouraam, near New Orleans, La. (Magazine of Horticulture 15: 247–48)

“For instance, within a few minutes walk from where I now write, I could find magnificent groves of magnolias (now in full bloom,) with an abundance of choice trees and shrubs. All that would be required to form the scene into a perfect facsimile of an English shrubbery would be to introduce walks, and judiciously thin out and regulate the mass.”

Committee on the Capitol Square, Richmond City Council, 26 July 1851, describing John Notman’s plans for the Capitol Square, Richmond, Va. (quoted in Greiff 1979: 162)

“The most beautiful feature of the contemplated alterations of the Square, however, will be found in the arrangement of the trees and shrubbery. Instead of planting these in parallel rows, like an ordinary orchard some attention will be paid to landscape gardening—groves, arbours, parterres, and fountains will combine to render the Square a place of delightful resort.”

Downing, A. J., August 1851, “The New-York Park” (Horticulturist 6: 346–47)

“That because it is needful in civilized life for men to live in cities,—yes, and unfortunately too, for children to be born and educated without a daily sight of the blessed horizon,—it is not, therefore, needful for them to be so miserly as to live utterly divorced from all pleasant and healthful intercourse with gardens and green fields. He [Mayor Kingsland] informs them that cool umbrageous groves have not forsworn themselves within town limits, and that half a million of people have a right to ask for the ‘greatest happiness’ of parks and pleasure grounds, as well as for paving stones and gas lights. . . .

“In the broad area of such a verdant zone would gradually grow up, as the wealth of the city increases, winter gardens of glass, like the great Crystal Palace, where the whole people could luxuriate in groves of the palms and spice trees of the tropics, at the same moment that sleighing parties glided swiftly and noiselessly over the snow covered surface of the country-like avenues of the wintry park without.”

Citations

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Notes

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