The General in the Garden: George Washington's Landscape at Mount Vernon

About this book

The General in the Garden provides an engaging informative and richly illustrated introduction to George Washingtons landscape at Mount Vernonarguably the best-documented best-preserved complex of gardens and grounds to survive from eighteenth-century America. The books three essays by Adam T. Erby J. Dean Norton and Esther C. White chronicle Washingtons transformation of the estate in the years between the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention of 1787 the stewardship of its gardens by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association since 1860 and the archaeology that led to the recent restoration of Washingtons showplace upper garden. Mount Vernon assistant curator Adam Erby examines Washingtons critical role in developing Mount Vernons landscape arguing that the general drew on British design sources and gardening manuals but adapted them to his own circumstances creating a truly American garden. J. Dean Norton Mount Vernons director of horticulture traces the evolution of the estates landscape and recreated gardens across the two centuries since Washingtons death. And Esther White Mount Vernons director of historic preservation and research shows how groundbreaking archaeological methods facilitated the discovery of Washington-era garden beds and borders of flowers shrubs and vegetables in his upper gardena remarkable find that yielded one of the most significant eighteenth-century garden recreations of our time. Also included is a lavishly illustrated guide to Mount Vernons landscape features introducing Washingtons beloved estate to a modern audience. This book will appeal to many readersfrom students of American history and culture to gardening enthusiasts to Mount Vernon visitors curious to know more about the estate to which George Washington devoted intense and sophisticated care. Distributed for George Washingtons Mount Vernon