The East-West Axis of the garden begins when exiting the east door of the mansion.

Two centuries ago, George Carter designed and built Oatlands House and Garden. In the style of Tidewater Virginia and its English antecedents, Carter placed his formally organized garden near his house. The structure of the garden is comprised of terraces carved into the hillside to provide level areas for abundant plantings of fruit and vegetables along with trees, shrubs, and flowers. Even now, Carter’s steps and landings provide access to these same terraces. Cut from locally quarried stone, these steep steps are major axial walkways. Carter constructed and planted his garden with self-sufficiency and beauty intertwined.

As one meanders through the garden, sweeping views of the surrounding hills and woods may still be seen even though the garden perimeter is enclosed by the Garden Dependencies together with the Garden Wall. Built with brick fired on the plantation and indigenous stone, the structures define the outer perimeter of the garden and shelter the garden plants.

Nearly a century after George Carter began the construction of Oatlands, Mr. and Mrs. William Corcoran Eustis of Washington, D. C. purchased the property as their country home in 1903. In spite of the garden’s neglected state, Edith Eustis saw the garden ruin as a quiet, still, mysterious place harboring “old secrets” that inspired her to fill Carter’s terraces with boxwood-lined parterres full of fragrant and colorful flowers such as tulips, peonies, iris, and lilies. Romantic plant containers, statuary, and structures were added. The bowling green and the reflecting pool share one long terrace with the teahouse acting as one terminus and the young fawn statuary as the other. The rose garden and a memorial to a daughter of Mrs. Eustis also became garden elements. Under her care, Carter’s terraces were revived with ornamental charm typical of the Colonial Revival Style popular in her time.

Edith Eustis took pleasure in transforming Carter’s garden. In 1923 she stated, “It was a thankful task to restore the old beauty, although the thoughts and conceptions were new, they fitted it. And every stone vase or bench, every box-hedge planted, seemed to fall into its rightful place and become a part of the whole.”

Carter plants: Boxwood, larch tree canopy, and English Oak.

Many Carter plantings survive today. Towering above the east-west axis, American Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens `Arborescens’) provide shade as one descends the stone steps. English Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens `Suffruticosa’), along the north-south axis, remain but are experiencing decline. Two large trees planted in Carter’s day still thrive: the European Larch (Larix decidua) welcomes all to the garden with soft descending branches at the garden gate and the English Oak (Quercus robur) stands majestic in the center of the garden.

Today, the challenge of maintaining and enhancing the Oatlands Garden is still a thankful task. With Carter’s garden structure remaining solid along with his values of self-sufficiency, the old beauty continues to inspire just as it did for Edith Eustis. Her vision and ideas encourage us to creatively provide for this garden so that it will sustain, grow, and thrive for generations to come.