Apart from all the bad oral hygiene, George’s big problem was that he was probably the world’s worst gardener.
Indeed the oft-told story of George and the axe and the cherry tree and the father and so forth was not, as is so frequently claimed, a complete fabrication out of whole cloth by that man of the cloth Parson Mason L. Weems; but was instead more of a misremembering, coupled with a total misunderstanding of one of Washington’s early pruning disasters.
And as he got older and gummier things just got worse: there wasn’t a plant alive (and only temporarily alive if he was involved) that he couldn’t stunt or shrivel or kill. And yet he cared so much and he tried so hard. It was pathetic …and rather embarrassing for all concerned, especially for the poor plant.
In this, George (‘GW’ as we’ll call him to save time) inhabiting, as he did, the otherwise lush land of Virginia was quite unlike George III (or G3 as we’ll call him to save even more time) back in the much more challenging climate of England. And so it was that G3 became GW’s bête noir, and bitter rival (not that G3 realised that until much later).
GW was particularly annoyed that G3 had invented the wonderfully efficacious technique, beloved of so many modern gardeners, of talking to one’s plants.
And so it went from bad to badder, until eventually (though it is a tragic, little known and virtually unsung fact) it so fell out that one of the major causes of the American Revolution was Washington’s jealousy of G3’s horticultural successes.
nor did he have to get a permit, a license , pay state & federal taxes, inform his neighbors about property alterations , insect inspections, wood storage fees…..
Richard Howland-Bolton Premium Member almost 9 years ago
Apart from all the bad oral hygiene, George’s big problem was that he was probably the world’s worst gardener.
Indeed the oft-told story of George and the axe and the cherry tree and the father and so forth was not, as is so frequently claimed, a complete fabrication out of whole cloth by that man of the cloth Parson Mason L. Weems; but was instead more of a misremembering, coupled with a total misunderstanding of one of Washington’s early pruning disasters.
And as he got older and gummier things just got worse: there wasn’t a plant alive (and only temporarily alive if he was involved) that he couldn’t stunt or shrivel or kill. And yet he cared so much and he tried so hard. It was pathetic …and rather embarrassing for all concerned, especially for the poor plant.
In this, George (‘GW’ as we’ll call him to save time) inhabiting, as he did, the otherwise lush land of Virginia was quite unlike George III (or G3 as we’ll call him to save even more time) back in the much more challenging climate of England. And so it was that G3 became GW’s bête noir, and bitter rival (not that G3 realised that until much later).
GW was particularly annoyed that G3 had invented the wonderfully efficacious technique, beloved of so many modern gardeners, of talking to one’s plants.
And so it went from bad to badder, until eventually (though it is a tragic, little known and virtually unsung fact) it so fell out that one of the major causes of the American Revolution was Washington’s jealousy of G3’s horticultural successes.
Olddog1 almost 9 years ago
But GW did become the biggest maker of distilled sprits of his time, so at least he knew how to use plants.
SR almost 9 years ago
A picture of Link? Sure:
PMark almost 9 years ago
And here is Kermit the Frog interviewing the father on the incident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx-aCtLiTfA
matzam Premium Member almost 9 years ago
nor did he have to get a permit, a license , pay state & federal taxes, inform his neighbors about property alterations , insect inspections, wood storage fees…..
neverenoughgold almost 9 years ago
It is quite possible some folks never toured the site. It is actually quite beautiful; especially today…
Old Texan75 almost 9 years ago
Didja know that Mt. Vernon is made of wooden blocks painted to look like rock?