George Washington's greenhouse, one of the largest buildings on the Mount Vernon estate, was designed to not only protect plants from the winter cold, but also to house enslaved workers assigned to the Mount Vernon farm.
Completed in 1787, the greenhouse—at the time an unusual feature on the American landscape—allowed Washington to nurture tropical and semitropical plants. Lemon and orange trees and sago palms grew here, much to the delight of strolling guests. An ambitious structure for its day, the greenhouse had many windows to capture the southern sun, a vaulted ceiling that promoted air circulation, and an ingenious heating system that generated radiant heat from a series of flues under the floor. Washington’s greenhouse burned in 1835, and the present structure was built in 1951 on the original foundation and based on drawings of the original structure. The reconstruction incorporates bricks from the White House, which was fully renovated between 1948 and 1952.
As the focal point of the upper garden, George Washington built a commanding greenhouse (sometimes referred to as a hothouse). In this heated space, he cultivated delicate tropical plants that could not withstand cold Virginia winters. In addition to providing lemons, limes, and oranges for Mrs. Washington’s table, the greenhouse served as a gallery for exhibiting rare and unusual plants imported from around the globe, including an aloe vera from North Africa and sago palm from the East Indies.
When George Washington began planning the building in 1784, there were very few greenhouses in North America and none near Mount Vernon. Although he had seen several greenhouses in his travels, he was not familiar with the mechanics of the flues that heated the floor. He wrote his trusted aide, Colonel Tench Tilghman, seeking details of Margaret Tilghman Carroll’s greenhouse outside Baltimore. Combining these mechanical details with his own recollections and observations, Washington designed his own greenhouse.
Designed to be both beautiful and functional, almost every element of the building has a practical purpose. The thick brick walls provide a pleasing contrast to the white woodwork; they also retain heat and insulate the building. The five large windows with triple sashes add a vertical thrust to the design, but their primary purpose was to provide maximum exposure to sunlight from the south. The windows could also be opened at the top and bottom to allow for good air circulation. The wide, low wings added in 1792 balance the strong verticality of the central block and provided slave housing.
Upper Garden
Intended as a formal garden for the enjoyment of the Washingtons guests, the upper garden contained a rich variety of plants in the highest state of cultivation, showcasing Washington’s skill as a gardener.
The design was rigidly symmetrical, offering a pleasing contrast to the curved lines of the bowling green. The garden was divided into six planting beds by wide pathways of gravel and packed clay, directing visitors’ steps as they walked. Washington planted espalier trees--fruit trees specially pruned to grow flat against the wall--indicating that their owner possessed both the financial resources and the labor force to maintain them
Lower Garden
While George Washington oversaw most aspects of managing the pleasure grounds, Martha Washington oversaw the kitchen garden, allowing her to keep fruits and vegetables on the table year round.
To accomplish this, Mrs. Washington instructed Mount Vernon’s hired and enslaved gardener of the types and quantities of fruits and vegetables she would need for her enslaved cooks to transform into meals.
Before grocery stores and farmers markets, kitchen gardens were “a necessary support of life,” as one gardening manual observed.
In the 18th century, every home outside the city had a vegetable or kitchen garden providing nutritious supplements to rural diets. Since the 1760s, Mount Vernon’s kitchen garden has been continuously cultivated for the production of vegetables. A visitor in 1782 observed, “There is an immense, extremely well-cultivated garden behind the right wing. The choicest fruits in the country are to be found there.” While the lower garden was not intended for pleasure, the gate off of the bowling green may have enticed visitors to peek inside.
Botanical Garden
The small botanical garden located behind the spinning house was not a major feature in Washington's landscape scheme. Yet this private, simple plot was close to his heart as he often tended it himself experimenting with new plant varieties.
One of Washington's goals for this cultivated space was to see if particular plants would be able to survive the harsh climate of Virginia. Foreign governments, friends, admirers, and even strangers supplied him with a steady stream of seeds, slips, bulbs, and cuttings from all over the world.
Washington made many references to the botanical garden during his lifetime and often called it "the little garden by the salt house," or rather fondly, his "little garden." In the botanical garden Washington also experimented with new crops before planting them elsewhere. Washington first grew alfalfa and oats here which, he judged correctly, would increase the productivity of his fields.
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