Williamsburg's Maze Gets A Facelift

May 19, 1985|By United Press International

WILLIAMSBURG, VA. — Beyond the cobblestone streets and brick walls of history stand the hedges of the royal garden maze, an attraction that is more amusement than culture but a favorite among visitors to Colonial Williamsburg.

Over the years, children and grown ups with a child-like sense of adventure have found they preferred getting lost in the maze to getting lost in history.

''It's very popular,'' said Richard Mahone, director of horticulture for the attraction and chief caretaker of the maze for more than 30 years. ''It's a game for children. But it's the same as watching a blacksmith making a horseshoe or watching a wigmaker making a wig. It's an educational experience for them.''

The maze was set up in 1933 on the 10 acres of manicured gardens behind the stately palace. After millions of visitors, however, it began to show its age and frailties. It was closed in 1981 for repairs and rejuvenation and stayed that way for three years.

''We had to revitalize it,'' Mahone said. ''At times, we had up to 1,000 people a day going through the maze. It was vandalized awfully bad by school groups for a number of years. They would break through it, try to jump over it, things like that. I guess it wasn't really vandalism, just kids playing and not realizing what they were doing.

Mahone and his crew drastically pruned it. The hedge once stood 8-feet tall along the outer perimeter and 5-feet high around the little courtyard in the middle. Those skilled enough to make it to the center find three benches and shade trees awaiting them.

To save it gardeners had to trim the hedge as low as 6 inches above the ground and left the maze a skeleton. Some of the 850 plants that made up the 7,450-square foot puzzle needed replacing, so more than 100 native American hollies were planted.

The pruned hedge and the new plants were pampered and fed liquid plant food for months. Mahone finally deemed the hedge sturdy enough, and the maze has now been reopened.

It is not quite the challenge it once was, since its hedges are no taller than 4 or 5 feet. Mahone said it will be another year or so before the maze is back to its optimum heighth.

Despite its condition, it still can take inquisitive kids several minutes to find the center and slow adults the better part of an hour.

Similar in popularity to backyard pools today, mazes were the rage among large landowners in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was a source of entertainment and status, and archaeologists and historians feel certain there was a maze at the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg.

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