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An interview published by Homes & Gardens details how designer Charlotte Moss shaped her Virginia garden around a water rill inspired by European gardens and memories of travel. The landscape also reflects family associations with irises and is designed for both quiet use and entertaining.
Charlotte Moss’s Virginia garden is organized around a water rill shaped by her memories of European landscapes and her interest in the sound and movement of water, according to a report by Homes & Gardens. The designer, author and philanthropist said the garden also draws on family memories and was planned as a series of welcoming outdoor rooms for sitting and entertaining.
Moss said the property initially had a small fenced garden, with peonies, other flowers and herbs, while trees dominated the rest of the landscape. She described removing some older trees and planting magnolias, sycamores, large boxwoods and apple trees. The work also added an all-green parterre beside the flower room and expanded paved areas and terraces.
The garden’s central water feature links an upper rill to a main pool, then to a lower rill that ends at a round basin with an obelisk. Moss told the magazine she wanted the water framed by tall copper beech trees and grasses, combining movement with sound. The beech trees were also selected to contrast with ginkgos, magnolias and other beeches and to draw attention toward the rill.
Several planting and structural details refer to places Moss visited in Europe. She said espaliered apple and pear trees against the house were influenced by a garden in France. In an older brick garden, iris beds sit beside brick paths, with Italian limestone columns and bronze supports carrying chains over which climbing roses grow. Moss said she saw a similar rose support at Eyrignac in France’s Dordogne region. She also identified Rousham Gardens in Oxfordshire and other European rills as inspirations for the water feature.
A Garden Built Around Memory
The account shows how Moss connected personal associations and travel to specific design decisions, rather than treating European references as a decorative style alone. The rill, espaliered fruit trees and rose-covered chains each have a stated source in a place she visited or a sensory experience she remembers.
Her description also highlights a practical aim: the garden is intended to work as a place for daily use as well as a setting for guests. Moss said it gives people room to move outdoors, sit by the pool and gather on the terrace for meals or drinks. For readers interested in landscape design, the report offers an example of how paths, seating, planting and water can define separate outdoor spaces while keeping them connected.
The emphasis on sound adds another dimension to that approach. Moss recalled that her husband drew her attention to water sounds at Keukenhof in the Netherlands and that she later added a water feature to their East Hampton garden. She said the experience, together with seeing the rill at Rousham, helped make water the main feature of the Virginia landscape.
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From a Small Garden to a Rill
Moss’s account begins with a property whose existing planted area was limited. She said she wanted to alter the broader landscape, add trees and create terraces for sitting and entertaining. The report describes the result as a garden shaped by architectural detail and a series of connected spaces, including the parterre, iris garden, pool and rills.
Her references span different settings and memories. The rose fence traces back to a visit to Eyrignac; the espaliered fruit trees reflect a French garden; and the water feature draws on Rousham and other European examples. A more personal influence is her maternal grandmother’s iris garden. Moss recalled seeing her grandmother place one iris in a vase and later understanding the value of appreciating a single flower while it lasts.
Moss said she approaches gardens much as she approaches interior design: both should feel welcoming, with places that draw people to sit. In the garden, she said, those rooms and corners must be created through the landscape itself. The report also notes her connection between the garden and a flower room, whose windows look onto the green parterre and which she uses for plants being rotated, orchids returning to bloom and repotting.
“The visual memories from my travels are inescapable.”
— Charlotte Moss, speaking to Homes & Gardens
Project Details Not Provided
The report presents Moss’s own recollections and design explanations, but does not provide a project timeline, budget or full planting plan. It also does not identify all the landscape professionals involved or specify when the Virginia garden was completed. The source describes design influences and features but does not provide independent assessments of the garden or data on how the landscape has changed over time.
The publication date is not included in the supplied material, so the timing of the report cannot be stated more precisely. Details about maintenance, plant varieties beyond those named and the garden’s access to visitors are also not provided.
No Further Plans Reported
The supplied report does not announce a new project, a public opening or a forthcoming change to the garden. It focuses on Moss’s account of the landscape as it stands and the memories that informed its design. Any later updates about the garden or Moss’s plans would need to come from a new statement or report.
For now, the clearest takeaway is the garden’s organizing idea: a linked sequence of water, planting and places to sit, shaped by European references and personal experience. The source does not say whether the landscape is open to visitors, so readers should not assume public access.
Key Questions
What is the main feature of Charlotte Moss’s Virginia garden?
The central feature is a series of connected rills and a pool, ending at a round basin with an obelisk. Moss said she wanted the water framed by copper beech trees and grasses.
Which European gardens influenced the design?
Moss named Rousham Gardens in Oxfordshire as an influence on the rill and Eyrignac in France’s Dordogne region as the inspiration for a rose-covered chain structure. She also cited a French garden as the influence for espaliered apple and pear trees.
What personal memory influenced the iris garden?
Moss recalled her maternal grandmother growing irises and placing one in a vase. She said the memory later helped her understand the beauty of a single flower and the need to appreciate it while it lasts.
Is the Virginia garden open to the public?
The supplied Homes & Gardens report does not say whether the garden is open to visitors. It should not be treated as a public attraction without confirmation from Moss or an official source.
Source: homesandgardens.com
