Formal gardens are a long-time tradition in historic downtown Charleston, and for many years, blooming plants were the major attraction for tourists. The idea blossomed in the mid-18th century, as the increasing wealth of the city allowed for more leisure time and more money to spend on it. The hugely-profitable exports of timber, indigo and rice paid for larger homes that proliferated throughout the city from the 1720’s through the 1770’s, typically built on long, narrow lots where there was limited space between them.
What those lot areas did provide, however, was enough room to create a flourishing buffer that enhanced the beauty of the residence and allowed its owners a view of tranquility and relaxation beyond living room windows. Gardening was an art like any other, and dating back to old England, had a large number of skilled professionals who combined botanical knowledge with artistic concepts to make memorable greenspaces.
The “English garden” became synonymous with the concept of an outdoor area planted with symmetrical precision, complete with varieties of growths offering varieties of shapes, colors and scents. To add to the concept that entering the garden was a step into a separate, mesmerizing world, spaces were compartmentalized as distinguishable “rooms”, each entered along curving paths or through winding hedges, and featuring fountains or statuary.
What was fashionable in England found an ever-expanding audience in the prosperous province of South Carolina, and gardeners advertised their skills in the newspapers and periodicals of Charleston. Just as iron smiths, cabinet makers, an stone carvers immigrated to play their trade, so too many garden experts came to ply their trade in South Carolina’s inviting subtropical climate and healthy soil.
What stood so brilliantly beside many houses for years suffered after the Civil War, when a blighted economy made gardening a low priority. But overgrown spaces and weed-filled walks experienced a Renaissance beginning in the 1930’s, as Charleston’s Emily Whaley teamed up with relocating New York landscape architect Loutrell Briggs. By re-emphasizing the appeal of small, formal spaces next to homes with tantalizing combinations of layout and flora, the two helped Charleston reclaim its traditional position as a gardening Mecca, and today our downtown gardens are some of the most mesmerizing in the world.
