garden by suggesting improvements
that were based on “beautiful” and “picturesque” principles. Typical elements
included lawns, porches, vegetable
gardens, and ornamental planting. His
forms were based on curvy geometries.
Downing met the architect Calvert Vaux
(1824–1895) in England and persuaded
him to join his practice in New York. Vaux
later formed an equally infl uential partnership with Olmsted.