Restoring Fair Lane Gardens

Restoring Fair Lane Gardens. . , 1. Early Rose Garden / English Garden , In 1916, to showcase Clara Ford's favorite flower, landscape architect Jens Jensen designed a rose garden next to the house. In 1927, the roses were relocated to a new, larger rose garden located a longer walk from the house. Landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman was hired to redesign the Early Rose Garden as an English perennial garden. Shipman designed the raised terrace, central pond, Tea House, and stone wall, while retaining the lilacs from Jensen's design. The wrought-iron gate was purchased in 1928 from an English manor home and brought to Fair Lane. , , Today, the roses in this garden are mostly disease-resitant modern shrub roses selected to reflect the colors and shapes of roses noted on the original Jensen plan. Perennial plantings surrounding the Tea House are intended to reflect Shipman's English Garden plan. , , 2. Restoration Efforts , A number of alterations were made to this garden in the 1960s including removing lilacs and replacing with yew hedges, modifying the central pond's capping stones, adding a sculpture in the pond, and painting the roof of the Tea House. Restoration efforts have been on-going, with the recent completion of the pond and Tea House to their original appearance. The life-size bronze statues of Clara and Henry Ford were installed in 2018. , , Can I take photographs of the gardens? , Quick tourist-type photography is allowed without a permit. Professional and other portrait-type photography must be approved and scheduled in advance, and requires a permit with fee. Please see henryfordfairlane.org for photography policy and guidelines.