Open Daily: 10am-7pm (Apr-Sep), 10am-5pm (Oct-Mar)
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Italian Garden
It is easy to forget, as one strolls through the Italian Garden, that Maymont is a public space. The garden is magnificent—featuring exquisite stonework, statuary, gazebos, fountains and, of course, beautiful flowers, shrubs and trees. The Victorian garden is far better suited to an exclusive mansion than to a public space. And yet, during its unique existence, Maymont has been both—a private estate joyously opened to the public through the generosity of its owners.
James H. and Sallie May Dooley originally commissioned Maymont’s gardens at the turn of the 20th century. The sweeping lawns that surround their mansion and the other estate buildings were landscaped in the English pastoral style. In contrast to this planned, naturalistic landscape was the formality of the Italian Garden.
Noland and Baskervill of Richmond designed the Dooleys’ Italian Garden, using elements of the classical style developed in Italy in the 15th and 16th centuries as their model. Completed in 1910, the Italian Garden’s exquisite stonework is Petersburg granite. In keeping with the classical ideal, the Maymont garden was laid out in several levels and situated on a south-facing slope overlooking a body of water.
The formal entrance to the Italian Garden is at its western end, oriented toward the Maymont Mansion. A stone arch with the Latin inscription “Via Florum” (flowering way) marks the transition from informal parkland into the enclosed world of the Italian Garden. The Via Florum Garden, flourishing along the walks that connect Maymont Mansion to the Italian Garden, was restored in 2003 through generous funding from the Harrison Family Foundation.
The garden entrance is under the shelter of the pergola, a structure consisting of parallel rusticated granite colonnades supporting a trellis-work roof. At the east end of the pergola is a dome under which the slightest sound produces a curious echo. The Italian Garden pergola is especially sought after for outdoor weddings during the warmer months of the year.
Geometrically patterned beds, or parterres, are a distinct element of the Italian style. Since the Dooleys did not summer at Maymont, spring flowers were emphasized in their garden. However, now that we enjoy the estate all year long, the garden is planted with a variety of flowers to bloom spring through fall.
Three additional levels of the garden can be seen from the main level: the Secret Garden, the Promenade and the Cascade. In Italian gardens of the Renaissance, the secret garden was designed as a small, enclosed courtyard to which ladies could retire to talk and do needlework.
To the east is an important vista designed to be viewed from the garden. The focal point of the view is a gazebo of classical design imported from Italy by the Dooleys. This charming complement to the Italian Garden is at its loveliest in late spring when the peonies encircling the gazebo are in full bloom.
Maymont’s Italian Garden artfully combines the classical elements of geometric design, varied colors, multiple levels and historic vistas to create a distinctly formal garden experience within the natural setting of the James River fall line terrain.
Japanese Garden
Maymont’s naturalistic Japanese Garden—the oldest public Japanese Garden on the East Coast—contrasts strongly with the formality of the Italian Garden. Descending into the Japanese Garden and entering through its distinct gates is like stepping onto a different continent. The space is cool, shaded and intimate. Sounds are muted and even children become more introspective and observant. While not a religious garden, the space is unmistakably reflective. Watch a video created to celebrate the garden’s 100th anniversary.
Maymont’s Japanese Garden is blend of several different styles of Japanese gardens and two distinct periods of design. In 1911, the Dooleys purchased a wedge-shaped section of the Kanawha Canal that bordered Maymont. To create their garden, the Dooleys hired Muto, a Japanese garden master, who had designed gardens for other estates along the East Coast.
Landscaped gardens originated in China, and around the 7th century they were introduced into Japan by Korean gardeners. The Japanese adapted the Chinese and Korean ideas to suit their own purposes.
The original Japanese Garden at Maymont encompassed a much smaller area. Several features from that garden remain, including the stonework around the base of the waterfall, several trees and the winding watercourse that leads to the large pond. Unfortunately, during the decades following Mrs. Dooley’s death, the garden gradually lost much of its original splendor and detail.
In 1978, the garden was renovated by Earth Design, Inc. The style reproduced at Maymont is called a “stroll garden” and is designed to offer the visitor changing impressions of nature as the various areas come into view. In renovation, elements from classical gardens in Kyoto, Tokyo and Nara were incorporated.
The Maymont Japanese Garden now includes trained and pruned trees and shrubs, raked sand pools, stone groupings and multiple water areas—all designed to create the impression of an old, naturally developed landscape. Design elements include stone lanterns, paths and bridges.
Green, brown and gray colors are emphasized to represent the ruggedness of natural scenery. Flowers are used discreetly. Water iris bloom along the water’s edge in spring. Cherry blossoms mark the passing of time.
Garden design elements include the north entrance gate, a traditional archway; accent plantings by the pond; two new lanterns; and a new pathway along the pond. These and other renovations have been made possible through the ongoing support of Ikebana of Richmond, federal grants and the William B. Thalhimer and Family Foundation.
When visiting Maymont’s Japanese Garden, understand that the beauty of this garden is in its subtleness. Consider its sparse use of flowers, notice textures and observe the numerous shades of green, brown and gray. Contrast the gardens of the East (Japanese) with those of the West (Italian).
Arboretum
Maymont’s one hundred acres are populated with thousands of stunning trees and shrubs. Species native to Virginia abound at Maymont, many notable for their size and beauty. However, Maymont’s Arboretum also includes more than 200 exotic species of trees and plants imported by the Dooleys in the early 20th century, when James Dooley began a planting program of considerable magnitude.
The Dooleys traveled around the world and visited gardens of international acclaim. It is presumed that these visits fueled their desire to develop a tree collection for Maymont. The Dooleys’ collection of exotic and native species indicates an unusual degree of sophistication, suggesting that trees were collected not only for their beauty, but also for scientific and educational purposes. The size and age of many of the national and state champion trees indicate that they were carefully placed to allow for optimum future growth. Among these are the False Larch, Pseudolarix kaempferi, from Japan, and the Persian Ironwood, Parrotia persica.
In 1986, Maymont’s tree collection was recognized by tree experts as one of the country’s notable arboretums. In a 1982 Museum Assessment Program survey report, Gordon Tarbox, Jr., Director of Brookgreen Gardens, noted that “the magnificent tree collection could not be duplicated in one hundred years.” Today, Maymont’s Arboretum is home to several national and state champions, including the Blue Atlas Cedar, Cedrus atlantica; Cryptomeria, Cryptomeria japonica; Darlington Oak, Quercus hemisphaerica; European Vineleaf Linden, Tilia europea and the previously mentioned Persian Ironwood.
One of the fortunate characteristics of Maymont’s tree collection is that the individual specimens were originally situated with plenty of room to expand. Unique too, are the unparalleled vistas of natural beauty found on the estate that appear neither contrived nor planned. This critical achievement exemplifies of one of the most important objectives of the landscape garden style. Today’s casual visitor may notice the more formalized arrangement of trees along Magnolia Drive or the stylized allée of evergreens alongside the Gate House, but most would find it hard to believe that when this tract of land was purchased by the Dooleys in the late 1880s, it was simply open farmscape.
Much of the credit, of course, must go to the Dooleys themselves, who were intimately involved in every aspect of their estate’s development. Henry E. Baskervill, the architect for the Italian Garden and Fountain Court as well as the outbuildings, presumably had a hand in directing the plans for the overall landscape design as well.
Some of the most distinguished specimens in the Dooleys arboretum are concentrated on the lawns surrounding Maymont Mansion, most convenient to the Historic Estate entrance.
As public trustee of this priceless tree collection, the Maymont Foundation recognizes its responsibility to future generations to preserve the arboretum. With assistance from such granting institutions as the Institute for Museum Services (IMS), America the Beautiful and the Virginia Department of Forestry, as well as community partners and private donors, the Foundation is working to preserve the condition of the original collection.
Specialty Gardens
This floral trail was completed in 2009. It begins just east of the Maymont Farm barn, and fills spaces along the roadway between the horse and cow pastures and down the hill to the Bobcat habitat. The flower beds are filled with yarrow, butterfly weed, cone flowers, butterfly bushes, sunflowers, blue spirea, herbs and other butterfly-attracting plants. Signage describes the butterfly’s life cycle an why certain plants entice these winged beauties to linger. Funding for the Butterfly Trail was provided by Jack and Mary Spain in memory of Jack’s mother, Marie Spain.
The Carriage House Garden
This garden is not an original part of the Maymont estate as designed by the Dooleys. The wall enclosing the garden was built by the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s. This garden is filled with shrubs, bulbs, perennials and annuals, offering a constant array of color. The Carriage House Garden is located amidst Maymont’s original architectural complex and is most convenient to Maymont’s Historic Estate entrance.
The Grotto
Created around 1911, the Grotto is a very rare example in the United States of a garden feature popular from ancient Rome through the Rococo period. Simulated grottoes such as the one at Maymont were incorporated into picturesque landscapes to reflect the hidden and dark aspect of nature in contrast to bright uplands and flower gardens. Originally separated both physically and thematically from the adjacent eastern landscape, the Grotto was absorbed into the Japanese Garden in a 1970s renovation.
Noland and Baskervill, designers of the Italian Garden, also designed the Grotto. It was originally lined with cave formations, and water channeled from a nearby spring dripped down its stalagmites to gather in a shallow pool that formed its floor. Statues of sleeping lions, based on originals by Canova, flank the Grotto. The Grotto is a very important element of the original estate landscape. This unique landscape feature was restored in 2006 with with a grant from the 1772 Foundation. The Grotto is located on the north border of the Japanese Garden.
The Herb Garden
Donated by the Richmond Council of Garden Clubs in 1957, the Herb Garden has been maintained by the Old Dominion Herb Society since 1978. This garden displays herbs for culinary and potpourri uses. Herbs are organically grown so visitors may touch, smell and taste. The Herb Garden is the centerpiece of Maymont’s annual Herbs Galore and More festival. It is located beside the original Stone Barn and is most convenient to Maymont’s Historical Estate entrance.
Maymont Mansion Ornamental Lawn
The six-acre ornamental lawn was renovated in 2000, the culmination of a two-year project by the Garden Club of Virginia. The late-Victorian ornamental grounds now appear as they did during the Dooley era (1893-1925). Restoration was carefully conducted using period documentation, photographs, aerial views and even watercolors from the Maymont archives. Work included the replacement and/or repair of original walkways, rose arbors, bowers, specimen trees and the re-installation of a large shrub labyrinth, in the shape of a wagon wheel. Based on observations of lawn discoloration and slight depressions, the shrub labyrinth now stands precisely in its original location and includes shrubs known to have been grown by the Dooleys, including Japanese White Spiraea, Spiraea japonica albiflora. The Maymont Mansion Lawn is most convenient to Maymont’s Historical Estate entrance.
A Native Virginia Landscape
It was a logical choice to choose a native Virginia landscape for the grounds of The Robins Nature Center. After all, The Robins Nature Center exclusively features wildlife native to Virginia’s James River. Native Virginia trees and shrubs now fill more than a thousand holes surrounding The Robins Nature Center, including its parking area and surrounding hillsides. Plants like Virginia Sweetspire, Itea virginica; Oakleaf Hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia; Bald Cypress, Taxodium distichum; and White Fringetree, Chionanthus virginicus were chosen for their ability to withstand the poorly drained and compacted soil found at the site. When visiting The Robins Nature Center, take the opportunity to learn about native Virginia plants.
Jack's Vegetable Garden
The vegetable garden was expanded in 2017. The area, located beside the Maymont Farm, features walkways on two sides for easy viewing and contains a series of raised beds, unique containers and a demonstration compost area to show the benefits of recycling garden refuse. Harvests may include tomatoes, carrots, green beans, corn and greens. The plot promotes simple gardening techniques in which the whole family can participate. Funding for the Vegetable Garden was provided by Jack and Mary Spain in memory of Jack’s father, Jack Spain.
The Via Florum Garden
This gem of the estate flourishes along the walkways from Maymont Mansion to the Italian Garden. In classic, formal Italian gardens, the house is incorporated or connected to the main garden. Maymont’s “Via Florum” or “flowering way,” exemplifies the influence of Italian landscape design on the Dooleys’ estate. A stone arch with the Latin inscription, “Via Florum,” marks the transition from informal parkland into the enclosed world of the Italian Garden. This area was restored with a generous gift from the Harrison Family Foundation in 2003. The Via Florum Garden is most convenient to Maymont’s Historical Estate entrance.
Maymont's Wetland Habitat
You may have walked by the wetland habitat dozens of times through the years without even noticing. The low-lying area near the fox habitat south of the Maymont Farm is naturalized and contains plants that are native to Virginia. With a grant from the Gwathmey Foundation in 2009, we were able to bring more attention to the space with a new overlook and signage co-sponsored by the Community Foundation. Bald cypress and red twig dogwood were planted, as well.
Wetlands are considered the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems. A wetland is defined as an area where the soil is saturated with moisture either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas found between dry land and water. Referred to as "natural sponges," wetlands absorb flood waters and filter ground and surface water, removing and retaining excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus.
Some plants that you may find in the wetlands here are leatherwood, buttonbush, winterberry, pussywillow, elderberry and snowbell. Wetlands are one of the most productive habitats for feeding, nesting, spawning, resting and cover for wildlife, including many rare and endangered species. Even in a wetland as small as ours, it is not unusual to see birds, dragonflies, turtles and snakes.