Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, New York

Green spaces are of ever-growing importance as the world becomes more centered around cities and the infrastructure therein. When you are deciding how to landscape your Tucson yard, keep in mind some of the great gardens of the world as inspiration. Innisfree Garden in Millbrook, New York, is a 200-acre garden located 90 miles north of New York City that opened to the public in 1960. Drawing inspiration from Asian artwork depicting gardens, Innisfree uses natural elements to put nature into a more framed, organized garden. Read on to learn more about this stunning garden.

Origins

Innisfree Garden is recognized as one of the world’s best. It took over 50 years to complete the garden, with work done by landscape architect Lester Collins and his client, artist Walter Beck. Beck and his wife, Marion, began working on Innisfree in the late 1920s, as it was originally the location of their country residence. Asian art influenced Beck’s own work, his collecting, and ultimately, provided the inspiration for the style that Innisfree drew from. When Beck found the work of 8th century Chinese poet and garden maker Wang Wei, he was able to focus on the specific elements that he wanted to use for his own land.

Cup Gardens

One of the most characteristic elements of Wang Wei’s garden design was the use of cup gardens, which were employed to provide a sense of place to the land. Cup gardens are smaller and focused inward, and are used within the context of the larger landscape to break up focus and allow the viewer to feel immersed. Beck utilized design techniques and advice from his artist wife to create pictures within the landscape, treating each cup garden as individual works of art. It was Lester Collins who worked with these individual gardens and turned them into a unified landscape.

Pay a visit to Innisfree Garden the next time you’re in the Empire State. In the meantime, contact Santa Rita Landscaping in Tucson at (520) 623-0421 to find out how we can help you with your landscape design. We have been providing expert landscaping services for over 30 years.