Reynolda Gardens
Encyclopedia
Reynolda Gardens thumb are gardens located off Reynolda Road, adjacent to the Reynolda campus of Wake Forest University
and the Reynolda House in Winston-Salem
, North Carolina
. The gardens are open daily with free admission.
The gardens were originally part of a large country estate and farm (1067 acres) created by tobacco magnate R. J. Reynolds and his wife Katharine Smith Reynolds between 1906 and 1923. In 1913 the Lord & Burnham
greenhouse was built to serve the family and farm, and to produce flowers commercially. Landscape architect Thomas W. Sears (1880-1966) designed the 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) formal garden for Mrs. Reynolds, starting in 1915. After the death of Mrs. Reynolds (then remarried as Mrs. Johnston) in 1924, most of the property was gradually sold or given away, including a gift of 300 acres (1.2 km²) to Wake Forest College in the late 1940s for its Winston-Salem campus. In a series of gifts from 1958-1962, their daughter Mary Reynolds Babcock established Reynolda Gardens by donating its property to the college.
In 1995 the college and the National Park Service
performed extensive historic reconstruction to return the garden to its original design.
Today the gardens include 125 acre (0.5058575 km²) of woodlands, fields, wetlands, and a 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) formal garden with greenhouse. Two acres of the formal gardens comprise the Greenhouse Gardens (designed 1917, 1920, 1931) which centers around a sunken garden divided into four quadrants, with grass lawns, border plantings, rose
gardens, theme gardens, specimen trees, and boxwood hedges, as well as tea-houses, fountains, and pergolas. The other half contains the Fruit, Cut Flower, and Nicer Vegetable Garden (1921), which grows vine
s, vegetable
s, climbing rose
s, and espaliered fruit
trees.
The entire property also includes a 3/4-mile woodland trail, as well as a slightly longer perimeter trail (1.5 miles).
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...
and the Reynolda House in Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. The gardens are open daily with free admission.
The gardens were originally part of a large country estate and farm (1067 acres) created by tobacco magnate R. J. Reynolds and his wife Katharine Smith Reynolds between 1906 and 1923. In 1913 the Lord & Burnham
Lord & Burnham
Lord & Burnham was a noted American boiler and greenhouse manufacturers, and builders of major public conservatories in the United States....
greenhouse was built to serve the family and farm, and to produce flowers commercially. Landscape architect Thomas W. Sears (1880-1966) designed the 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) formal garden for Mrs. Reynolds, starting in 1915. After the death of Mrs. Reynolds (then remarried as Mrs. Johnston) in 1924, most of the property was gradually sold or given away, including a gift of 300 acres (1.2 km²) to Wake Forest College in the late 1940s for its Winston-Salem campus. In a series of gifts from 1958-1962, their daughter Mary Reynolds Babcock established Reynolda Gardens by donating its property to the college.
In 1995 the college and the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
performed extensive historic reconstruction to return the garden to its original design.
Today the gardens include 125 acre (0.5058575 km²) of woodlands, fields, wetlands, and a 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) formal garden with greenhouse. Two acres of the formal gardens comprise the Greenhouse Gardens (designed 1917, 1920, 1931) which centers around a sunken garden divided into four quadrants, with grass lawns, border plantings, rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
gardens, theme gardens, specimen trees, and boxwood hedges, as well as tea-houses, fountains, and pergolas. The other half contains the Fruit, Cut Flower, and Nicer Vegetable Garden (1921), which grows vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
s, vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s, climbing rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
s, and espaliered fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
trees.
The entire property also includes a 3/4-mile woodland trail, as well as a slightly longer perimeter trail (1.5 miles).