Gari Melchers Home & Studio Garden and Grounds Manager Brian Barbre
Gari Melchers Home & Studio Garden and Grounds Manager Brian Barbre attended the Historic Landscape Institute this summer. Hosted by the University of Virginia and Monticello, the week-long Institute featured in-depth tours and lectures on the restoration and management of historic landscapes, including Monticello, the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Tufton Farm, the University of Virginia campus, Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, the Anne Spencer House, and Morven Farm.
Topics covered included propagation and seed collection, plant selection, garden restoration through primary and secondary documentation, management and upkeep, as well as interpretation and storytelling. One theme that resonated with Barbre was the curious and experimental nature of gardening.
Thomas Jefferson’s terraced vegetable garden, built by enslaved laborers from Fredericksburg, measures approximately 1,000 feet by 80 feet. It served as a living laboratory where Jefferson tested a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to determine which crops thrived in Virginia’s climate. “Seeing how careful documentation and experimentation have informed centuries of landscape stewardship reinforced the importance of applying those same principles here at Belmont,” Barbre said.
These same qualities are reflected in Corinne Melchers, who experimented with not only ornamental plants but also fruits and vegetables. The diversity of species and cultivars she planted suggests she sought to identify what flourished in Belmont’s soil and climate. Her plantings included three to five cultivars of apple and pear trees, as well as multiple varieties of grapes, cherries, peaches, and plums. At least fourteen types of plants grew in the large kitchen garden, and cattle, chickens, and turkeys were also raised at Belmont.
Like Jefferson, Corinne carefully observed which plants and crops performed well in the local soil and climate. Today, Belmont continues that tradition by stewarding its historic landscape while adapting to changing climate conditions, plant diseases, and invasive species.
Leave a Reply