Dunn Gardens In Seattle WA - A Well Preserved Olmsted Design
The word landscaping can make most of us hold our breath. Landscape? We buy pretty plants and hope they will thrive. One way to decide how to improve the look of your gardens, and yes, your landscape, is to visit public gardens and go on garden tours. There you can see what pleases your eye and recreate it at home. We visited Dunn Gardens in Seattle, WA, in late April to see landscapes designed by the father of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903). Olmsted and his descendents John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., designed Central Park in New York City, Yosemite National Park, MO Botanical Garden, 1893 World’s Fair, the 37 park system in Seattle and others ( http://www.olmstedparks.org/ ). Olmsted’s landscapes were based in a personal philosophy that he had developed by the time he began landscape design at the age of 43. In the Victorian era, the poor lived mostly in overcrowded inner cities and the wealthy had the advantage of exercise, fresh air, op...