Shakespeare Garden

The Shakespeare Garden in Evanston, Illinois is a Shakespeare garden on the campus of Northwestern University. Planned in 1915 and built from 1916 to 1929, the garden was the first Shakespeare Garden in the United States. The garden was designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen and was constructed by the Garden Club of Evanston, which still maintains the area. In 1988, the garden was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.DesignThe Shakespeare Garden is located on the Northwestern University campus at the corner of Sheridan Road and Garrett Place, near the Howes Chapel and Garrett - Evangelical Theological Seminary. The garden is 70ft wide by 120ft long and is divided into eight flower beds. The four outer beds are designed informally, while the four inner beds are knot gardens; the outer and inner beds are separated by boxwood plants. The borders of the garden are lined with hawthorn trees, many of which were imported from France when the garden was first planted. The more than fifty varieties of plants in the garden were either mentioned in Shakespeare's works, common in the Tudor period in England, or are cultivars of plants in the other two categories. The garden also includes a fountain with a plaque honoring Shakespeare and a stone memorial designed by Hubert Burnham, the son of architect Daniel Burnham.