Charleston Classic and Contemporary Garden: Garden Visit and House Tour

Join Ben Lenhardt, Chairman Emeritus, Garden Conservancy, in Charleston, SC, for a late afternoon discussion of his renowned garden and its newest addition, a gravel garden. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served and visitors will have the opportunity to also tour the public rooms of his 1743 Georgian house.

Lenhardt’s garden is a series of four garden rooms varying in size. He designed the first three rooms to be compatible with the early Charleston architecture and southern climate. These rooms consist of ‘Kingsville’ and 'Wintergreen' boxwood parterres, variegated Asiatic jasmine trimmed in knot garden style, an espaliered magnolia, and a potato vine and cascading Lady Banks rose. Through a podocarpus hedge is the fourth garden room, a newly installed gravel garden. This sustainable garden, surrounded by old stucco walls, contains anchor plantings of boxwood, pittosporum, and holly among aloes, agaves, and perennials.

An inspired merging of classical and contemporary styles, Lenhardt’s garden was named one of the "World’s Most Beautiful Gardens in 2023" by Veranda magazine and has been published in books and national magazines.

Location:

George Mathews House, Circa 1743

Charleston, South Carolina