The Formal Garden at Duluth’s Glensheen Mansion Has Reopened to the Public
The mission of Duluth's Glensheen Mansion is to celebration preservation, and a major investment was recently made with the main of objective of preserving their beautiful Formal Garden.
They announced this week the reconstruction of the Formal Garden has been completed and it has reopened to the public. The Formal Garden had been under construction since July 2021, and during that time there was a lot of work that needed to be done.
According to Glensheen, the brick walls in the Formal Garden and Vegetable Garden had deteriorated substantially over the years since they were first constructed due to water intrusion.
The reconstruction effort allowed them to rebuild the walls, install new drainage systems and rebuild the stairways. They note that an added benefit was the addition of four water spigots in the Formal Garden to aid in maintaining flowers, plants, and shrubs in that space.
While this main project was able to restore the overall integrity of the Formal Garden, an added benefit was that it also gave staff and planners the ability to replant the Formal Garden according to the original 1907 planting designs, which are different from the planting layout that existed prior to the onset of construction in 2021.
Preserving the Formal Garden wasn't the only improvement made as a part of this investment. They also replaced the boiler within the mansion. This is expected to improve heating efficiency in the mansion while at the same time provide a backup boiler in the event of main boiler failure.
Glensheen Mansion is open year-round for tours and there are a variety of tour options available to the public. There are also fun events throughout the year such as Whiskey Wednesday, which runs through September.