Plimouth Plantation’s Home Landscape

Plimouth Plantation’s home landscape

It is mid November and our thoughts turn of course to the Thanksgiving holiday.

That means we remember the pilgrims who sailed from England in 1620, landing in Plymouth, south of Boston.

Today we can learn about the pilgrims from Plimouth Plantation, a site that replicates that early period of our country’s history.

The colonists represent an important example of early home landscaping in this country. They designed a landscape that fit their needs.

The English colonists knew of course of their homeland’s landscape and garden style.

Before they made the voyage, they had no idea what the land and weather would be like in their new home.

They would however build a house, resembling the style they knew in England.

Architect Gerald Foster wrote a practical guide to home architecture called American Houses: A Field Guide to the Architecture of the Home.

He says, “Arriving on the New England shore, the 17th-century English settlers immediately erected Native American huts and wigwams or dug into the earth for temporary shelter.

“For permanent housing, they drew on their own experience and built simple cottages based on familar English homes.”

Here is a reproduction of an early colonial house you can see at Plimouth Plantation. [below]

Because they were concerned from the beginning with their own survival in the new land, any landscape making or gardening had to be simple and useful.

Notice in the image [above] that a bed of vegetables and herbs lies in front of the thatched roof house. That kitchen garden takes up a substantial part of the front area.

The garden shows rows of plants, mostly vegetables and herbs but with a few flowers as well.  In England a walled garden held such rows to create what the English referred to as their ‘kitchen garden.’

As with all landscape design, Plimouth Plantation reflects a form that is particular to a time and culture.

Share this: