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[00:00.69] The earliest presidents who lived in the White House did not want the large outdoor areas that the monarchs of Europe might enjoy.

[00:12.91] Marta McDowell is writer of All the Presidents’ Gardens.

[00:20.08] She said, “You can understand that, given our democratic form of government.”

[00:28.05] But she said she thinks that a visit to the home of the British royal family, Buckingham Palace, caused President John Kennedy to expand the White House gardens.

[00:42.40] From the start, presidents and their families influenced the 7.2 hectares of open space in the front and back of the White House differently.

[00:57.01] Their choices often showed their values and traditions of their day.

[01:03.67] McDowell said that the White House is “really their home” while they are in office.

[01:14.03] She added that as long as they work with the historic plan of the gardens the National Park Service tries to meet the desires of the administration.

[01:25.45] The National Park Service oversees the gardens.

[01:30.49] John Quincy Adams, America’s sixth president, worked in the garden.

[01:38.19] Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, took down glass structures called greenhouses that were first built by James Buchanan, the 15th president, in the 1850s.

[01:55.73] John Kennedy, the 35th president, redesigned one garden called the Rose Garden in the 1960s.

[02:05.82] First lady Michelle Obama, wife of the 44th president, built a food garden using plants and seeds from the home of Thomas Jefferson, the third president.

[02:21.49] Today, the garden has more than 50 kinds of vegetables.

[02:27.33] Pierre L’Enfant was the city planner and architect for America’s first president, George Washington.

[02:37.96] At first, he planned for a 30-hectare presidential garden.

[02:44.07] However, as a believer in small government, Jefferson reduced the White House grounds to just 2 hectares.

[02:54.96] The gardens were expanded to the current 7.2 hectares

[03:01.33] Jefferson, like many Americans who had just freed themselves from a British monarch, was concerned about creating a new king.

[03:13.56] “Avoid palaces and gardens of palaces,” William Thornton, a Washington city representative warned.

[03:24.46] “If you build a palace with gardens, I will find you a king.”

[03:30.30] Over time, several different plants and flowers were planted at the White House.

[03:37.49] They include roses which have been around since at least Jefferson’s time.

[03:44.40] They also include peonies, wanted by first lady first lady Nancy Reagan of the 40th president, and Texas bluebells, asked for by first lady Laura Bush of the 43rd president.

[04:01.93] Oak and elm trees have also been on the White House grounds almost since the beginning.

[04:09.89] One tree, a chestnut oak southeast of the White House, might be the oldest tree on the grounds.

[04:19.19] The White House says it has been around since 1800.

[04:25.04] McDowell says the White House gardens represent gardening tradition over time.

[04:32.21] First it followed designs in Europe, and then it was shaped by local traditions, the area, and the climate.

[04:42.31] But she said, “It’s not that they are always the leader.

[04:47.10] In fact, sometimes they’re following.”

[04:50.81] The White house grounds were open to the public up until 1923.

[04:57.44] That was when Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president, permanently closed them to unapproved visitors.

[05:07.02] These days, the White House Garden planned visits for the public are usually available for the public twice a year, one weekend in the spring and again in autumn.

[05:22.44] McDowell said, “They are full of tradition.

[05:26.17] They're full of beauty.”