4 | November/December 2014
I
t's di!cult to believe Savage Garden
began as a tree-less lot with just a sinkhole
and a pigpen.
But when Englishman Arthur Savage and
his wife, Hortense, moved into the house
occupying that nearly empty space in July 1917,
Arthur wasted very little time before initiating
the gardening process that would eventually
take over the entire backyard.
Within one year, Arthur finished installing
an intricate display of flower beds, two water
towers, a series of ponds and a few rapidly-
growing trees—some of which now exist on
local and state registers of champion trees. He
returned to England for a visit several years
later and returned to his home in Fountain City
with inspiration to build a larger pond, a pump
house and a pagoda.
Arthur spent a considerable amount of time,
money and e"ort building each element of his
garden and maintaining its natural beauty. The
garden expressed its peak condition, however,
between 1926 and 1930—after which its health
and appearance began to decline.
THE SILVER LINING. While Arthur was
once fortunate to have su!cient resources to
maintain his garden, the Great Depression,
which began in 1929, hindered his ability to
continue such lavish spending much longer.
Although the elimination of Arthur's
long-term gardener, Charlie Davis, certainly
took a toll on Savage Garden's condition, a
1937 tornado also uprooted 19 of its trees. Rock
foundations su"ered, causing leaks in the garden's
ponds as a result of the tornado damage.
But Arthur's death in 1946 ultimately planted
the garden in a state of neglect. For decades,
wildflowers, English ivy and honeysuckle
continued to grow and expand. Shade-dwellers
began to thrive in Savage Garden.
In the mid-1980s, Fountain City resident
Overgrowth did not discourage this Cortese client from
reviving a special property in Fountain City, Tennessee.
Rekindling a
Passion for Plants
Photo courtesy of Thompson Photography
Collection, McClung Historical Collection.
