The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is the largest urban sculpture garden in the country. Located near the Walker Art Center, the garden has 40 permanent art installations as well as a number of other pieces that change throughout the year. Covering 11 acres in beautiful Minneapolis, the garden is close to both Loring Park and the Basilica of Saint Mary. It opened to the public in 1988, and was expanded in 1992 by an addition three and a half acres.

History

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden was designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, who also designed the Walker Art Center. The expansion in 1992 was due to the garden’s great success, making it the largest of its kind in the country. The land where the garden sits has been used for a public garden since 1913, though the names and its uses have changed over the years. Thanks to a grant from the McKnight Foundation, the project for the Sculpture Garden was able to take shape.

What You’ll Find

The centerpiece of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is Spoonbridge and Cherry, made by husband and wife artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. This sculpture is a Minneapolis icon, and serves as a focal point for the garden. The Alene Grossman Memorial Arbor spans the Northern border of the garden, and features colorful flowers and vines covering the 300-foot arbor. Due to a major construction project, the garden will be closing in early spring of 2016 for renovations and updates. Many of the sculptures have been put into storage, waiting for the project to be completed to reemerge.

The Mottisfont Abbey, located in Hampshire, England, was established by William Briwere in the year 1201 as an Augustinian priory. Although the abbey fell into disrepair and was dissolved during the late Middle Ages, Mottisfont later became part of a wealthy estate and saw the addition of a new mansion in the 18th century. In 1957, Mottisfont Abbey was gifted to the National Trust conservation organization of England, and today the estate and its landscaped gardens remain a popular visitor attraction.  

The Garden’s Creator

Although the Mottisfont Abbey itself dates back to the early 13th century, its rose garden is a recent addition. The rose garden enjoyed by visitors today was created in the 1970s by Graham Stuart Thomas, one of Britain’s most famous horticulturalists and garden designers of the 20th century. Thomas was best known for his work with roses, particularly older species on the verge of extinction. His career with the National Trust began with the Hidcote Manor in the 1940s, but he considered Mottisfont Abbey to be his masterpiece.

The Abbey Rose Garden

The Mottisfont Abbey rose garden is a walled garden within the larger structure of the Abbey’s garden and grounds. It is most famous for its large collection of more than 500 varieties if roses, and is accessible via a traditionally-designed garden gate that provides an entryway through the garden’s red brick walls. Inside the garden, visitors can find a central pond and fountain surrounded by Irish yews, along with several boxes of roses and clematis lining the garden perimeter. Although the roses take center stage, there are several additional species present to complement the look of these blooms, offering a continuous background of color throughout the growing season.

The Innisfree Garden is located in Millbrook, New York, near Tyrrel Lake. This beautiful 150-acre garden highlights many of the most popular features of a Chinese-style garden and includes several species of local plants associated with the surrounding land and forests. Today, the Innisfree Garden is open to the public for a small admissions fee that supports the nonprofit organization responsible for its care and upkeep.

The Garden’s Establishment

Innisfree Garden was originally established as a private garden owned by Walter and Marion Beck between the years of 1930 and 1960. The couple drew their garden’s inspiration from an eighth-century Tang dynasty Chinese painter, musician, and poet named Wang Wei. In 1960, the Becks opened their garden to the public under director Lester Collins, a well-known landscape architect and the chair of Harvard University’s Landscape Architecture program.

The Garden’s Features

The Innisfree Garden grounds represent the lifetime achievement of Walter and Marion Beck. These beautiful gardens include features heavily influenced by Chinese and Japanese design, which use rocks, water, and plants working together in harmony to create a place of peaceful meditation and inward-focused thought. Innisfree Garden focuses on the use of carefully-crafted smaller gardens that create small vignettes within the larger landscape of the property, coined “cup gardens” by Walter Beck during his initial design process. When Lester Collins took over direction of the garden, he maintained this Asian motif, drawing on several gardening techniques cultivated in both ancient and modern Japan and incorporating both abstract and modern design elements into several of the garden’s vignettes. Over time, more of the Becks’ original grounds have been opened to the public, while the changing landscape is always carefully cultivated to maintain the garden’s visual balance.

If you’d like to learn more about visiting this amazing garden, you can visit the Innisfree Garden website for more information about the garden’s hours of operations, special events, and membership program.

Landscaping consists of many features working together in harmony, including flowers, cacti, shrubbery, trees, footpaths, lighting, and outdoor structures such as decks, patios, pergolas, and walls. The right landscape design should complement the existing look of your property, while creating a functional and appealing space that will improve curb appeal and provide the outdoor space you want for activities. Working with an experienced landscape professional in Tucson is the best way to ensure you develop not only a beautiful landscape design, but one that will meet your needs and maximize the use of your property as well.

Proper Use of Your Land

The ultimate goal of landscaping is to achieve the aesthetic you want, but it’s important to consider how that aesthetic will affect the function of your land. Adding both hardscaping and landscaping will affect factors such as drainage, which must be managed properly to ensure plants remain healthy and your yard drains effectively to prevent water accumulation and damage. A landscape professional knows how to create a landscape design that will not only look the way you’d like, but make the best use of your land and keep your plants healthy for landscaping longevity and value as well.

Idea Generation

Landscape professionals specialize in designing landscaping that will complement the exterior of any home or building. If you want to improve the look of your property but aren’t sure how to make it look great, a landscape professional can draw up several design ideas for you, rather than making you develop a design on your own. Depending on your existing property and the aesthetic you ultimately want, your landscape designer can let you know what type of landscaping is achievable and which features will look best on your property and work well with your current and projected use of the space.

At Santa Rita Landscaping, Inc. of Tucson, we specialize in custom residential landscape design. You can contact us online or reach us by phone at (520) 623-0421 to find out more about landscaping installation and maintenance services.