They were known for their revolutionary political achievements, but each man described himself first as a farmer, not as a politician or military leader. They revolutionized both our garden style and its purpose by abandoning the European traditions of aristocratic formal gardens, creating America’s first gardens of edible and ornamental plants.
George Washington was known to have scoured the wilderness during military stays. He would ride horseback through the woods, admiring trees that he believed useful in his garden and those of others. He also investigated soil properties, examined tree species and studied various agricultural practices.
Many of his plant finds were shipped to England by nurserymen and were used in English garden designs. In fact, when Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were in England after the Revolution, it was not uncommon for them to go on garden tours in order to see first-hand how American native plants fared in British ornamental gardens.
Washington was the first person to bring in trees and shrubs from the original 13 colonies. At one time, Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, Virginia, was the most visited home and garden in the nation as it was where one could see magnolias, sassafras, mountain laurel, tulip trees, lilacs and mock orange in this new all-American garden.
Thomas Jefferson on the other hand was the nation’s “Seed Collector-in-Chief” during Lewis and Clark’s Age of Discovery. The expedition was approved by Congress as a way to study the lands of the Louisiana Purchase as well as to expand the size and scope of the new country. Thomas Jefferson however, was motivated by the potential for horticultural studies of edible and ornamental plants, the American Indian diet, soil science and seed and plant collection.
Those seeds and plants were sent to Jefferson and stored in the White House then shared with farmers until the process became too unruly. Jefferson continued to inspect the plant material, but quickly turned it over to nurserymen to test for potential foods for the American public.
But a war between France and Britain created the Embargo Act and affected the amount of seeds and plants coming to America and being exported to Europe. Jefferson knew that a reliable food supply required the cultivation of increased native varieties that could not be affected by warring foreign governments.
John Adams was very concerned that the sale of American grains was blockaded by the British. He asked Jefferson to join him in London in 1786 to try to resolve some of America’s economic issues. On a day that the two men had to themselves, they toured a few local gardens.
Although Jefferson had studied British landscaping books for years, he sought new ways to blend the beautiful with the necessary. He believed that farming could not only sustain our new nation, but in fact bring it wealth. Adams shared this insatiable curiosity about ornamental and edible garden design, and stressed the need for Americans to grow food for their families, and to share seeds with their countrymen and later, the world at large.
James Madison was the most removed from the trade embargo and was not keen on the “kitchen garden” idea, but did become one of the most respected farmers in America. He seemed more secure in the fact that the Embargo Act had ended, and thus a garden could again be elegant and serene. He did, however, combine plants from the American wilderness into his overall garden design, mixing them with the English-style landscape and continuing the American Garden philosophy.
His conservation ideas of safeguarding the environment were considered radical, and his thoughts on the “balance of nature,” where plants and animals rely on each other, were unfortunately marginalized. During this time, settlers viewed the wilderness as something to be conquered, not preserved. Madison knew that nature as they knew it could be destroyed and is viewed as the father of conservation by many.
The James Madison Landmark Forest can still be visited today, and is a 200-acre deciduous forest consisting of redbud, dogwood, hickory, oak, tulip trees and more. Madison truly believed that “forests, soil and plants made the nation.”
The horticultural accomplishments of their later years can be seen in the estates of these men, where one can embrace their visions first-hand. Gardens of revolutionary men who broke with tradition to establish the first American gardens that doubled as seed and plant laboratories, and whose efforts not only helped expand the edible plants available to Americans, but initiated seed exchanges and sales to other countries. They encouraged local nurserymen to think regionally and globally as they meticulously tested plants and seeds for the best nutritional outcome.
Founding fathers and founding farmers. Each man could have easily left his presidential term and retired to the life of an aristocratic planter. Instead, each worked to ensure that our infant nation had both the plants and the knowledge to feed itself and others, and taught us improved cultural farming practices along the way.
Sandra Schumacher writes the Plants of Merit column for The Herald and is a freelance garden writer and Master Gardener. She is a member of the Garden Writers of America.
Founding fathers garden info
The James Madison Landmark Forest: 11350 Constitution Highway, Montpelier Station, Virginia, 540-672-2728, ext. 450, www.montpelier.org/mansion-and-grounds/james-madisons-landmark-forest
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello: 931 Thomas Jefferson Parkway, Charlottesville, Virginia, 434-984-9800, www.monticello.org/site/house-gardens
George Washington’s Mt. Vernon: 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, Virginia, 703-780-2000, www.mountvernon.org
Adams National Historic Park: 1250 Hancock Street, Quincy, Massachusetts, 617-770-1175, www.nps.gov/adam/index.htm
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
