Historic Gardens of Virginia 



ginia — had the question been asked of a visitor, even within the 

 present century, "What is the outstanding feature of Prestwould?" 

 the answer would have been, unhesitatingly, "The garden!" 



As may be seen from the accompanying plat, drawn from the 

 original in Lady Jean's Garden Journal, the garden comprised five 

 acres of ground enclosed by stone walls. Note the six beds, each 

 one hundred feet square, formed by the intersection of the drive- 

 ways which are eighteen feet in width. Four of these beds were 

 devoted to vegetables, herbs and "simples," as follows: 



Beginning with those on the right of the central drive as one 

 enters through the rose arbored gateway: (i) Gooseberries, arti- 

 chokes, sage. (2) Lettuce, celery, shallots. On the left: (3) Tansy, 

 strawberries, mint. (4) Leeks, raspberries, currants, horseradish. 



Of the two beds containing only flowers and herbs, with insets 

 of grass, bulbs predominated, though there was abundant space at 

 the other side of each bed given to simples. The semicircles repre- 

 sent the Scuppernong grape arbors, underneath which the lily of the 

 valley flourished. 



But, whether planted in choicest flowers or in prosaic vegetables, 

 each bed was encompassed by a five-foot border of roses and 

 shrubs, and, on the further sides, by rows of fig and pecan trees. 



The scallops on the plat represent horseshoe beds, but whether 

 planted in bulbs, annuals, or wild flowers, is now a matter of guess- 

 work. Lady Jean's Garden Journal contains a list of thirty or forty 

 different wild flowers, but no mention of their location. 



At the northwest corner of the garden, the line of horseshoe 

 beds was broken by a conservatory, twenty-four feet in length, and, 

 near the southwest corner, by a fifteen-foot bee house. Between 

 these same beds and the driveways were the graveled walks and the 

 continuous borders of roses, shrubs and flowers of all varieties, 

 while at each corner of bed or border, was planted a boxwood, 

 which, in course of time, and where not kept in check, grew to such 

 proportions as to merge completely with its neighbor across the 

 eighteen-foot driveway — the appearance presented being that of one 



[310] 



