Southwest Garden
Edna Campos Gravenhorst.
Charleston, SC : Arcadia Pub, 2008.
The Southwest Garden neighborhood borders two internationally known St. Louis landmarks, the Missouri Botanical Garden, founded in 1859, and Tower Grove Park, established in 1868. The land for both the garden and the park was donated by their founder, Henry Shaw, a botanist and philanthropist. Both destinations are designated as national historic landmarksathe garden is one of the oldest in the United States, and the park shares the honor of being on the National Register of Historic Places with only three other municipal parks in the nation. The botanical garden is the best place to start a historical walking tour of the Southwest Garden neighborhood.
Henry Shaw's Victorian landscapes : the Missouri Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park
Carol Grove.
Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, in association with Library of American Landscape History, c2005.
Grove (landscape studies, U. of Missouri-Columbia) recounts the transformation of Henry Shaw's (1800-1889) estate, Tower Grove, in St. Louis into what is now the Missouri Botanical Garden. He opened the garden in 1859, then added 276 acres for the Tower Grove Park, which were designed using the gardenesque approach that allows room for viewing and emphasizes the characteristics of individual species. Grove describes Shaw's life from his birth in England to his immigration to America and ensuing business and financial accomplishments, and explains how he developed the garden and park, influences on him, experts who consulted with him, and how it reflected American society at the time. Interspersed throughout the text are b #38;w photos of the grounds, plans, and visitors at the garden. Annotation #169;2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Parks, plants, and people : beautifying the urban landscape
Lynden B. Miller.
New York : Norton, c2009.
Miller is a public garden designer and director of The Conservatory Garden in New York City's Central Park, and she has written this beautifully illustrated volume to describe her vision of a successful public space. Written for landscape architects, designers, city planners and general audiences, this book describes the author's strategies for designing and maintaining year-round plantings, attracting private funding and creating spaces that will have a positive effect on both local economies and the well-being of citizens. The author also describes how the creating of public gardens and parks can lower crime and foster pride in communities. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Lafayette Park and Tower Grove Park are perfect examples of Victorian strolling parks that contain jewels of architectural design. Victorian walking parks were planned with the idea of entertaining the eye of those who entered their gates. They were meant to be edifying, too.
Fanciful structures like gazebos at Tower Grove, each one different, enhanced the view and added visual interest. The Chinese pavilion, a tiny piece of Oriental splendor, reflected the popularity of the Far East. It was complete with groupings of gingko trees native to Japan. The large Turkish Pavilion with its gay red striped top added a note of cheer and contrasted nicely with surrounding greenery.
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We now come to the class of park visitors the most numerous and most important, to whom the enjoyments of green grass, trees and fresh air is most essential, to those who will come probably not to ride in the park but to walk. It is for these that our plans have been carefully designed…
Henry Shaw on developing Tower Grove Park, a strolling park for citizens of St. Louis |
The Victorians loved follies and romantic vignettes. Henry Shaw installed broken stones from an old hotel in a grouping to look like Roman ruins in Tower Grove Park. The rustic gazebo in Lafayette Park with its thatched roof and twig frame evoked a simpler, peaceful past. The grotto in Lafayette Park, made with exotic blossom rock, was best viewed from a small bridge. It was a scene of quiet beauty.
These structures and more enhance the natural environment of the parks. Today the Parks serve as recreational and social centers as they did at the turn of the century. Our experience in the Parks includes rich visual experiences, thanks to those who planned the Parks so long ago.
American eden : from Monticello to Central Park to our backyards : what our gardens tell us about who we are
Wade Graham.
New York : Harper, c2011.
Graham presents a sweeping social history of our nation's landscapes and the visionaries behind them, which offers an exciting new perspective--from the garden path--on the drama of American self-creation.
Cemeteries
Keith Eggener.
New York : W.W. Norton & Co. ; Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, c2010.
Eggener (American art and architecture, University of Missouri) has trawled the collections of the Library of Congress to assemble this visual history that documents the place of burial grounds in American culture. Depicting burial grounds from the earliest churchyards to the modern memorial park, the images show buildings and other architectural features; grave markers, monuments, and mausoleums; and funerals and funeral processions. Cemeteries include those of a wide range of ethnic and social groups from almost every US state, as well as many of the nation's military cemeteries. Stately and moving, this book will interest many readers. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Frederick Law Olmsted : essential texts
edited by Robert Twombly.
New York, N.Y. : W.W. Norton, c2010.
In this selection of 16 lightly-edited papers (1851-1895) of the best- known and arguably most prolific U.S. landscape architect, Twombly (architectural history, City College of New York) presents Olmstead's still-relevant urban park design philosophy. Excepting for his "Plan for a Small Homestead" and lecture at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, which he landscaped, excluded are proposals on individual design plans and reports generated from Olmstead, Vaux, & Co. The book includes Olmstead's plans for Central Park and other projects, and suggested further reading. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Walks, patios & walls
[senior editor, Kathie Robitz].
Upper Saddle River, NJ : Creative Homeowner, c2010.
Designing the outside of the home adds to curb-side appeal, creates ambiance, and increases the value of the home.Ultimate Guide: Walks, Patios & Walls provides the homeowner with all the information needed to integrate popular hardscape designs into the overall home landscape. Included are ideas for brick, mortar, and concrete walks and patios; flagstone and tile patios; and brick and mortared stone walls. Lavish color photographs provide design inspiration, while the extensive how-to section provides easy-to-follow information.
Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff
