Because the garden had evolved over many years, the project goal was to show that important continuum of time in the work. Also, technological updating was required to support heavy visitation of the garden. The historic preservation approach selected was thus Rehabiltation. Character-defining features from various times in the landscape's past would be preserved and repaired, or replaced based on historical documentation. Later, non-significant features would be removed. Work was to include the Greenhouse Garden, Vegetable Garden, Rose Garden, Lion's Head Fountain, and "pathfinder" lights. The Greenhouse Garden was given first priority, particularly regarding its future maintenance, in contrast to past emphasis on the Vegetable Garden. Work is illustrated by the colored concept plan that divides the garden into five sectors: The central quadrants of the Greenhouse Garden, using documentation from the Thomas Sears 1917 garden plan [maroon], and adding an accessibility ramp in the northwest corner [yellow]; The areas surrounding the sunken Greenhouse Garden, also using Sears 1917 plans as documentation [lavender]; Plantings along the path system in the Vegetable and Rose gardens using Sears 1921 plans as documentation [yellow]; The Vegetable Garden plantings and circulation patterns to their historic locations and layouts using Sears 1921 plans as documentation [pink]; The Rose Garden, including its reduction in size by removal of non-significant later elements [aqua]. Based on Sears' 1917 plan, rehabilitation work on the sunken garden area within the Greenhouse Garden. This required the removal of non-historic, as well as declining historic plant materials, and the reintroduction of lost or remnant historic materials. The overall philosophy was to retain historic plant material whenever possible and for as long as possible. For materials requiring replacement, propagation of historic plant materials was recommended. To date, existing Japanese cedars have been propagated for future use. Efforts are also underway, though unsuccessful thus far, to propagate the Japanese Weeping Cherry trees. The removal of the decaying Japanese cedars was the most dramatic visual change to the garden; propagated plants now await their return to the garden. The perimeter boxwoods (Buxus -sempervirens suffruitcosa), installed as part of the original garden design, were retained and pruned severely over a two-year period. Top Left: Historic View, ca. 1920's of garden as documented by Sears. Top Right: Perennial plantings added in Fall 1998. Bottom Left: 1996 view of non-historic pared pathways. Bottom Right: Rehabilitated grass walkways, 1997. Rehabilitation of the grassed pathways within the quadrants was made possible by using a high-tech polypropylene mesh element subsurface treatment. Original rose varieties and the Blue and Yellow and Pink and White gardens' perennial beds were re-established using original species, when available. A non-intrusive accessibility ramp for visitors with disabilities was added at the northwest corner of the sunken garden within a Rose Garden quadrant. The ramp was enclosed with low walls of a similar scale and design to the original walls, yet are clearly distinguishable as new construction. Top Left: Project onset, 1995, diseased cedars and non-historic Lion's Head fountain. Top Right and Bottom Left: Lion's Head fountain rebuilt to historic design. Bottom Right: Completed project work. The spatial organization, circulation and plant massing of the areas surrounding the sunken Greenhouse Garden were returned to the alignment and massing characteristic of the 1931 revised plan by Sears. In some areas, where precise documentation was not available, (e.g. specific plant genus and species) appropriate substitute materials were recommended based on this limited documentation. It was impossible to consider returning the Vegetable Garden to its historic appearance, due to the numerous changes in its size and configuration and particularly the uncertainty as to what had been planted and when. The first goal for the Vegetable Garden was simply to reinstate the central octagonal space where the two paths bisected within the setting of the Vegetable Garden. As part of the rehabilitation project, the pathways throughout the entire Vegetable Garden were returned to the configuration of Sears' 1921 plan. Rehabilitation of the surface material of these paths was also recommended, along with the bedding plants that edge the main path. These are to be replanted using annual plants, with appropriate substitute perennial materials that will require less maintenance, but possess characteristics similar in color, scale, form and texture to the original plantings. Decreasing the size of the existing Rose Garden has lessened maintenance requirements.     Garden Shelters at end of construction. All of the gardens' architectural elements were appropriately repaired and preserved, wherever possible. Garden shelters were rebuilt, as necessary, including new cedar roof shingles. An important technological adjustment to the Sears plan was decreasing the number of vines intentionally trained to cover the shelters, which had accelerated deterioration of the wood. The original "pathfinder" lights, still in place in the Greenhouse Garden, but no longer functional, were repaired. Paint analysis allowed the garden shelters and light fixtures to be returned to their original finishes.