Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted. The Genius behind Biltmore's gardens. George Vanderbilt selected Frederick Law Olmsted, the founding father of American landscape architecture , to design the gardens and grounds of his estate. Perhaps best known as the designer of Central Park in New York City, Olmsted envisioned Biltmore to include formal gardens and naturalized areas, a major arboretum and nursery, and a systematically managed forest. , Growing millions of plants , One of Olmsted's first priorities was establishing a nursery to grow the millions of trees, shrubs, and other plants needed for the estate. In 1890, he hired horticulturist Chauncey Beadle as nursery superintendent. Beadle remained at Biltmore for 60 years, becoming estate superintendent, guiding Olmsted's plan to maturity, and contributing his extensive collection of azaleas to the Azalea Garden. , The Rebirth of Forestry , Unlike the beautiful forests you see today, much of the land Vanderbilt purchased had been cleared. Olmsted began a program of reforesting former overworked farmlands and trained foreman how to improve the existing patches of woodland by removing poorly formed and damaged trees, thus giving the best trees more room to grow. , In 1892, Olmsted persuaded Vanderbilt to hire a trained forester named Gifford Pinchot. Pinchot implemented a unique management plan, designed to improve the forest while returning profit to the landowner. The plan was the first of its kind in America and served as a national model. , Pinchot eventually left the estate to head the Division of Forestry that later became the U.S. Forest Service. German forester Dr. Carl A. Schenck took charge of Biltmore's forest of more than 100,00 acres in 1895. In 1898, he established the Biltmore Forest School, the first of its kind in the country. , Edith Vanderbilt sold 86,700 acres of the estate's forested mountain land to the U.S. Government in 1914, requesting it be used to establish a national forest named Pisgah. In 1968, 6,500 acres of Pisgah National Forest were designated The Cradle of Forestry in America. , Photo captions: , 1 - Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, 2 - Chauncey Beadle among his beloved azaleas, 1949, 3 - The men who made Biltmore possible, from left: Edward Bennett, purchasing agent and agricultural consultant; Richard Morris Hunt, architect; Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect; George W. Vanderbilt, and Richard Howland Hunt, architect and son of Richard Morris Hunt., 4 - Gifford Pinchot, c. 1893, 5 - Dr. Carl A. Schenck, 6 - Official dedication of Pisgah National Forest, 1920. From left: Edith Vanderbilt; N.C> Governor Locke Craig; Cornelia Vanderbilt; George Powell, secretary of the Appalachian Park Association.