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Tour of the Gardens at The Mount
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Tour of the Gardens at The Mount
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" Our OC cultured stone back here looks for all the world like some of the nineteenth century stone walls that we find in many of the cottages here in the berkshires in Lenox mass we visited the mount which was built in the late nineteenth century for Edith Wharton a woman who was a very successful writer in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries we got together with Stephanie Copeland who is the president of the Edith Wharton restoration to tour the sunken gardens watch. So as I understand it the gardens that Edith Wharton created here a century ago had pretty much disappeared ground."
" Yes they had hardly any Trace of them remained when we began the restoration of the gardens. And what she had created here was very much of a European scheme yes very much of the European scheme in fact. You have the -- hair down at a flower garden connected by the lime walk that extends all the way across. The wall garden up on the other hand and I can see the garden as a Barbell design so what you mean is it it's a long."
" Bar if you will I with two squares at either end and suck on one over there is a formal. French style parts there where you'd have a lot of."
" Car lot of flowers any flowers in an -- hasn't happened yet we have raised the money to plant them and take care or you can do that and then at the other end is a walled garden and that yes now Madison garden that she wrote about has a charm Independent of the seasons. It's not a garden. For flowers it's more a garden where flowers. Can exist and it's not for them."
" It's for the people it's for the people that's very interesting her treatment of the grade here is we've we've come down from this Belvedere and there's one terrace level right in front of us."
" And then what's happening is almost like a -- we're slowly descending away from the architecture of the house which is all part of her theory on design that each step away from the house should be a closer step to nature."
" Let's talk about this. Did you say they're Linden trees yes so there's a whole Alley of them that must be pouring eighty."
" For an eight Linden trees and I asked my -- going to be clinched. So that they will all link together and form like box going across like an elevated hedge line Palestinian hedge what exactly nice. And then what happens with the actual hedge that's down below them and it when he grows up that it'll when it gets to about hip height it'll it'll be cut off -- a measure walking screwed down the Linden walk -- be looking through a box for continuous window kind of that's correct. Now how do you know that was part of her design we newest part of her design because we have historical photographs and."
" So this is. The balance for the part chair at the other end and it was this created as part of the whole big chopper was this done later."
" Now what she began with the flower garden on the opposite end right and that as a lot funds were came in hand this was a very expensive garden to felt. I think hasn't really able to complete it until about four years after the house that it held."
" How do you know what plant material was here is I mean as I understand it moves just a jungle here right -- this incredible jungle but we have historical photographs."
" And we had an expert come from the Arnold arboretum in Boston. And he was able to study the photographs and identify the plant material that was here --"
" And right now much of this garden is in shapes and you've -- yeah that we had derailment luncheon and we've had to adapt to the fact that this garden wasn't in so much shade in her day but now it's in -- hostile on the whole perimeter of it. Yes beautiful to have."
" And of course you're visiting you here in late summer so there aren't too many for many other things it would be blooming you're seeing -- this is really a white garden all the flowers that are used in this garden are white."
" So at nighttime and dusk it was beautiful -- I've never quite seen a -- tile like this."
" Is this part of her original scheme yes -- if this is a very rustic. -- garden with stone walls and to reflect that she created this rock pile fountain."
" But it balances the very formal fountain on the other side OK and on this and you would had a great view -- Yes I guess things are a little bit out of out of plumb here that column certainly seems to be leaning over the last -- and you're right problem was done deliberately is Aaron it was done to give a sort of."
" Or old or ancient antiquity feeling to the garden. Rather than just having a straight brand new stone column what was the cost problems. To do her gardens cost as much as doing her house 57000. Which is about a million dollars today in today's money."
