Azalea Garden

Azalea Garden. , Hans Hanses, the M-NCPPC landscape designer responsible for designing the original gardens, was asked by several people what his design concept was for the gardens: "They were disappointed because there was no such [thing as a garden concept]. We are all, in a sense, copycats. We copy Mother Nature. I thought if nature lets it grow in a certain way, why don't you take advantage of this? And copy it and do it here. The overriding theme was aesthetics, first, aesthetics, second, aesthetics, third!" , , The Azalea Garden exhibits this natural feeling to which Hans Hanses refers, with several layers of growth that might be found in a natural forest: tree canopy, smaller mid-level trees, shrubs, and groundcovers. The photo at right, taken in 1970, gives a good idea of how little development had taken place in the Azalea Garden one year after Brookside Gardens opened. It also shows the many tall Virginia pines (Pinus virginiana), which used to provide the tree canopy. As these trees succumbed to old age, other canopy species such as native tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) have moved in to provide shade to the azaleas and other shade-loving plants. Additional canopy trees, including black gum (Nyssa sylvatica), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and several species of oak (Quercus sp.), have also been planted. , , The "bridge bed" was installed in 2003 as a part of a garden renovation to correct deteriorating soil conditions and to change circulation patterns to take advantage of the views.