Isaac Motte Dart-Wortham House Garden

In 1995, the property at 54 & 56 Montagu (1802-1806) was a virtual wasteland consisting of two derelict buildings and a large garden lost to asphalt paving for a parking lot. Below is a description of the garden restoration keeping in mind the important relationships of the house to garden. My first endeavor was to define the property with fencing, walls, and hedges much like a contractor would create walls of a house. I then divided the property into rooms as a builder would do and connected them with paths which would correspond to halls providing continuity. All paths, set on axis from the main house and carriage house, are lined with boxwood to produce a seamless transition from one garden to the next. The garden consists of seven rooms. As you enter the drive gate, there is a long garden to the left consisting of five parterres designed as a study in shapes. Two quatrefoils—echoing the shape of the carriage house windows—are separated from a long rectangular bed with bowed ends by two square beds. A tall East Palatka holly hedge punctuated with Italian cypress defines the western border of the property. The eastern border of the drive is lined with Camellia sasanqua. Continuing down the drive there is an ovoid garden to the left featuring a Trachelosperum jasminoides—a covered arbor which is on axis with the carriage house central window. The garden is separated from the drive by a podocarpus hedge. To the right of the ovoid garden is a parterre garden created in the four square design with box. The central circle contains Olea ‘Little Ollie’. Each parterre contains a standard Laurus nobilis. The garden’s periphery contains Camellia japonica. At the end of the drive to the left is a small shade garden containing plants selected for compatibility but varying in color and texture. Continue through the car park turning right onto a path bordering the carriage house and enter the rose and herb gardens. The path design here was selected to avoid right angles as well as to lead the visitor smoothly around the main house to the pedestrian gate which opens on to a sidewalk ending your tour.

Directions: Location information for each garden will be mailed to ticket purchasers prior to the Open Day.

Open Days 2016: May 28
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Admission: This Open Day requires preregistration through our partners at SpoletoUSA. Visit their website for more information: http://spoletousa.org/events/behind-the-garden-gate-2/.

Please note: Pre-purchased Open Days admission tickets are not accepted at this garden. If you have any questions, please call 1-888-842-2442.