Welcome to the 18th century garden of the Amherst Historical Society. Located to the east of the historic Strong House, this garden is a flowering oasis in the center of the town of Amherst. Planted and maintained by the Garden Club of Amherst, Mass., it serves the townspeople as a pleasant place to relax and enjoy a sandwich for lunch or for a visitor to become acquainted with authentic colonial plant material and 18th century garden design.

The 18th century gardens of New England were of two basic types depending on the wealth and/or needs of the gardener. The two basic types were the cottage garden and the manor garden.

The Cottage Garden

Bleeding Heart in bloom April - June

The cottage garden, modeled after the cottage gardens of England, was found in rural agricultural areas. They were laid out between functional walls and paths and were not formal in pattern. The walls offered protection from harsh New England weather and animals. The paths were placed to allow for easy maintenance and harvesting. The cottage garden contained vegetables, herbs, and useful flowers neatly and informally growing side by side with little actual design. The cottage garden eventually evolved into a strictly kitchen garden.

The Manor Garden
The manor type garden was modeled after the English manor gardens. Manor gardens were found on properties of colonists with better economic resources. This style of garden may be best described as a formal garden, informally planted. It had a long central axis of gravel, sod or cobblestones. Secondary paths were often used. Flower beds were found on both sides of the central axis. The beds were edged with low clipped hedges of boxwood, ribbon grass, moss, pinks, lavender, santolina or germander. Additionally there were focal points at either end of the axis. These might have been an arbor, sundial, summerhouse, statues or pastoral vistas. The entire garden was enclosed, by a high fence or hedge. They were placed close to the house so they might be enjoyed and smelled. They were generally on the east or west side of the house. The south was considered to be too harsh and hot. Beds were usually devoted entirely to flowers and herbs. The manor garden was as complex, ornate and large as the resources and botanical interests of the gardener allowed. New England manor gardens were not usually as extensive or ornate as those in the southern colonies due to the climate and lack of free labor.

The Parlor Garden

Foxglove in bloom in June

  After the Revolutionary War, the manor garden evolved into the parlor garden, devoted entirely to flowers. Parlor gardens were generally as wide as the house and about two-thirds as long. They were fenced and had a walk from the parlor door to a gate. They were a status symbol. Parlor gardens were in essence, miniature manor gardens. The remainder of the land holdings maintained a more naturalistic design in the manner of Capability Brown, the influential English landscape architect of the time.

The garden at the Strong House is a facsimile garden. Its design suggests a manor garden planted by a family of better than moderate means, in a rural community in the middle of the 18th century. Plant materials are as accurately 18th century as is possible today.

The ladies of the Amherst Garden Club