George Washington's Landscape Design (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker:

George Washington's Landscape Design
"The whole plantation, the garden, and the rest prove well that a man born with the natural taste may guess a beauty without having seen the model. The General has never left America…but it seems as if he had copied the best samples of the grand old homesteads of England."
John Niemcewicz, a Polish guest at Mount Vernon, June 1798

Mount Vernon's gardens and ground were a masterful mix of the formal and naturalistic design styles originating in England. In this transitional form, Washington borrowed strict symmetry and simple geometric lines from the earlier school while taking advantage of the natural beauty of the American landscape. There is an overall order to the wilderness areas, vistas, groves, and curving walkways that reflects Washington's sense of balance and design.