Background information - Fruitland Nursery
Judge Benjamin Warren of Augusta sold the property, a 315-acre tract, to Dennis Redmond in 1853. Redmond named it Fruitland and began a small nursery business. He also purchased the adjacent farm, known as Bedford, from James Coleman. He became a well-known nurseryman, initially experimenting with indigo. By 1856 he was growing apples, peaches, figs, grapes, strawberries, and ornamental shrubs and trees. The more successful of his crops he sold commercially and promoted them through advertisements in the Augusta Chronicle. He was editor of the Southern Cultivator, a popular agricultural magazine and he was well known for promoting crop diversification in the South, which relied on cotton as the primary cash crop. He thought that crop diversification would help the southern states become stronger and more economically independent.
In 1854, Mr. Redmond constructed a large house at Fruitland, which would become the clubhouse for the Augusta National Golf Club. The building was constructed to resemble a Louisiana plantation house with architectural elements reminiscent of the West Indies.
In 1857 Dr. Louis Berckmans and his son, Prosper, purchased a half interest in Fruitland and 50 of the adjoining acreage of the Bedford Farm. The two Berckmans, originally from Belgium, were both interested in horticulture. Dr. Berckmans, a medical doctor, was self-educated in the field of horticulture while Prosper received a university education in horticulture in France. They came to America in the early 1850s to escape political and religious turmoil in Europe.
Dr. Berckman first started a nursery in Plainfield, New Jersey where he grew over a thousand varieties of pears and experimented with other fruit trees. The cold weather in New Jersey, however, was not really suitable for his horticultural experiments. Augusta became attractive because of its temperate climate and rich soils plus it was a transportation center via water, road, and rail.
In 1858, the Berckmans became sole owners of the Fruitland property and completed work on the Redmond house, which became their home. They planted the avenue of magnolias along the approach to the house from Washington Road.
Dennis Redmond had purchased some adjoining property, which he called Vineland, and began experimenting with the cultivation of grapes. The only remaining evidence of this property is Vineland Road, located immediately south of the Augusta National Golf Club.
The Berckman family operated Fruitland Nurseries from 1858 to 1918. They introduced a great variety of plants, shrubs, and trees to the Southeast. They advertised in their catalog over 1,300 varieties of pears, 900 types of apples, 300 varieties of grapes, and 100 types of azaleas and camellias.
Fruitland Nurseries became the first premium winner at the Georgia State Fair for the largest and best collection of southern apple, peach, and pear trees to be exhibited. They imported azaleas and camellias from Japan, Belgium, Germany and France.
In 1860 Prosper introduced the Amur privet hedge from France. He also introduced the golden arborvitae (Thuja orientalis 'conspicua') and dwarf golden arborvitae (Thuja orientalis 'nana'). It is believed that the Berckmans also introduced Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) and the vine, on a tree near the clubhouse, is believed to be the largest vine of its kind in the country.
As Fruitland Nurseries became more successful, it began to expand over the Berckmans property. Louis and Prosper started out with a 25-acre plot for the nursery but by the 1870s it had expanded to 100 acres and by the 1880s, Fruitland Nurseries was mailing out 25,000 catalogs each year.
In 1876 Prosper assisted in the founding of the Georgia State Horticultural Society, which became the first permanent state horticultural organization in the South. He was the first President of the society. He promoted forest conservation and reforestation, city beautification, and the universal use of Latin botanical names for plants, along with their common names, so that they could be recognized around the world.