House 
Vol. VII 
and Garden 
February, 1905 
No. 2 
THE BORDA GARDEN IN CUERNAVACA 
By Sylvester Baxter 
Illustrated with photographs by Henry G. Peabody 
Reproduced by Courtesy of the Art Library Publishing Company, Boston 
nPHE climate of Mexico, with the ever- 
lasting summer that blesses the greater 
part of the country, particularly invites a 
formal treatment of the gardens. Indeed, 
the formal manner is what most conspicu¬ 
ously distinguishes the gardens of Mexico, 
as might be looked for in a country whose 
traditions in art are those of Mediterranean 
lands. It is the style that seems, almost 
naturally, and quite as a matter of course, to 
go with the environment that the culture and 
the topography confer: the stately architec¬ 
ture, the majestic landscape, the intensity of 
the sunlight and the corresponding depth of 
shadows, the luxuriant vegetation of the 
tropics. Nevertheless, the impression of 
formal design is not so strong upon the 
visitor as might be looked for under the 
circumstances. 
This is chiefly 
to be explained 
by the fact that 
in the long pe¬ 
riod of internal 
disorder that 
prevailed from 
the time of the 
separation from 
Spain down to 
the administra¬ 
tion of Presi¬ 
dent Diaz, a 11 
the esthetic 
considerations 
that had been 
held in regard 
throughout the 
three centuries 
of Spanish rule were inevitably almost utterly 
neglected. With a half-century of practically 
incessant revolution there was little oppor¬ 
tunity or inclination to look after these things. 
The gardens of Mexico may be classed in 
three main divisions: Those of public places, 
those of ecclesiastical institutions, and those 
of a domestic character. These again fall into 
various subdivisions, in each of which much 
of interest is to be observed. In the ecclesi¬ 
astical held the gardens of monasteries and 
convents, once of the highest importance in 
their elaboration and extent, now have little 
to show. With the sequestration of church 
property throughout Mexico these gardens 
are nearly all in a state of ruin or of utter 
abandonment. The civic gardening is the 
most conspicuous. Being, of course, always 
in the public 
eye, it still has 
much that is 
admirable, al¬ 
though in vari¬ 
ous respects the 
old-time stand¬ 
ards have been 
lowered. 
The domestic 
gardening, on 
the other hand, 
would be hardly 
suspected of ex¬ 
istence by a 
stranger, were it 
not for the count- 
1 e s s enchanting 
glimpses through 
open doors and 
fountain in the flower garden, shaded 
BY < MANGO TREES 
Copyright, 1905, by The John C. Winston Co. 
57 
