Blizzard Damage 2010

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One of the stories that we tell during the house tour at Tudor Place is how the original boxwood Flower Knot was destroyed during the Civil War by intruders making Christmas wreaths.  Before February of this year we were fortunate that we could only imagine what that must have looked like…

Though the snow was pretty while it was falling (see the dozens of snow pictures on our facebook & flickr pages), the Blizzard of 2010 was particularly harsh to the historic garden.  The snowfall was almost as destructive as the 19th century intruders, but this time to the whole 5.5 acre garden instead of just the Flower Knot.  As the snow melts, we can see the tremendous damage to historic boxwood and shrubs, especially the Boxwood Ellipse. At least five trees were felled and more must be examined further for structural damage.

A 50 foot Holly Tree planted in 1963 by Armistead Peter 3rd fell and blocked the main gate. Various other trees were downed or lost branches.

The historic boxwood Ellipse suffered substantial damage. – some of the boxwood was over 200 years old.

The English Boxwood Ellipse is one of the earliest plantings on the property and dates to the time of the first owners, Martha and Thomas Peter. It is believed that the first planting came from a Mount Vernon cutting.
 
  Above: Before                   Below:  After

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Fortunately, The Ruth S. Willoughby Foundation has generously committed a $5,000 matching grant directed specifically to the care of the trees and shrubs damaged by the storm.

This means that every $1 donated will be worth $2!

If you would like to help, click here & designate your donation to Storm Damage 2010.