Out
On A Limb / April 2006
National Gallery of Sculpture and Gardening
Since 1941, when the National Gallery of Art on the Washington, D.C. Mall opened with 121 paintings from the Andrew Mellon collection it has grown to include 100,000 pieces and 3,000 paintings spanning seven centuries of art, including the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Western hemisphere. And, since 1999, the National Gallery has been graced by the addition of the Sculpture Garden with its centerpiece fountain and over six acres of manicured gardens setting off seventeen sculptural works.
Landscape architect Laurie Olin created the design for the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. Diana Cina is the chief of horticulture for the garden, one of a sixteen member horticulture crew that takes care of the garden and eight on site greenhouses.
Although some costs are incurred for outside contract work like weeding and some of the arbor care, the regular pruning and standard care, including the care of the ring of linden trees around the fountain, are performed in house.
But the goal of the national gardeners is more than plant maintenance. According to the Sculpture Garden manager, “There is so much that goes into the sculpture garden, not just the horticulture, but it’s security, it’s conservation, it’s the curators. It’s being able to get all the different ideas and come together to present a sculpture in a way that the artist would feel is displayed properly; that the curators will fell secure that the public won’t damage the sculptures. The horticulture department must make sure the landscape around the sculptures is aesthetically pleasing.”
Sometimes the initial landscaping around a sculpture piece must be modified as the garden matures. For the pyramid sculpture, three rows of cherry laurel were planted to keep people from “cutting through.” The tree block was effective, but as the laurels matured the horticulture department needed to remove the back row of trees, which were blocking the full view of the art work.
Some of the sculpture garden’s features include ‘Blue River II hibiscus’ pruned back to a height of 6-8 inches for the winter, pruned and divided irises, Atlas pansies for winter color, chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus), a marginal perennial which is dug up and stored over winter, and ornamental grasses that don’t require watering except during drought.
The National Sculpture Garden turf is tall fescue with a small amount of rye blend. Power trimmers can’t be used to trim grass around the sculptures, so the staff applies a diluted growth inhibitor and hand clips wayward blades. The national gardeners try to use as few products as possible to keep the grounds people-friendly. They follow integrated pest management (IPM) practices, applying the right product to control specific organisms and selecting well adapted turfgrasses. Turf receives three applications of fertilizer in the fall
Sculpture garden trees are treated as carefully as the sculptures. To defend against Dutch elm disease, elms are only pruned after frost has killed the bark beetle vector. Soil amendments and mulching go around the trees, with care taken not to damage the bark or roots.
Soil tests are done each year. The annual planting beds and container plants are fertilized biweekly. The garden has thirty two irrigation zones, three large drip zones for watering trees and groundcover. and a duckling ramp so the ducks that call the National Sculpture Garden home can enjoy a dip in the central fountain.
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Femme Fair 2006
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