As soon as landscape designer George Bridge saw the sprawling, empty field that lies on the north side of the National Sporting Library, he was inspired. "Big, beautiful boxwoods can do interesting things," he said, "like a boxwood room." And a boxwood room is precisely what Bridge created during the months of July and August.

He transformed what was a grassy field into an English pleasure garden that, with its classical symmetry, is Italianate in spirit: a 1,000-square foot parterre, bordered by 10-foot high American boxwoods, their tops "banged" like a horse's tail. Nestled low against these 55-year-old boxwoods are blue Nikko Blue hydrangea bushes, pink rose bushes, and foot-high fledgling boxwoods, positioned in horizontal rows at right angles to each other. The shrubs punctuate an 800 square-foot area, shaping the garden's floor into a large, square cross. A 40-year-old 25-foot high Trident Maple, surrounded by green cover, sits at the center, anchoring the design. Topiary planters punctuate each corner.

Bridge, 46, is known for creating gardens that appear to have been in place for hundreds of years. He accomplishes this sleight of hand by uprooting already-established shrubs, trees, and boxwoods, transplanting them to new environs and placing them so as to create horizons, vistas, and intimate spaces.

"I have all sorts of shrubs, boxwoods, and espalier at my Acorn Farm," said Bridge, referring to his 25-acre nursery in Montgomery County's Laytonsville and his 200-acre boxwood nursery outside Lynchburg, Va. The true skill, he said, is in transplanting the trees, bushes and plants, so they "take" to their new environs. "You'd never know they've been moved—that's our skill," he said.

In addition to donating 24 boxwoods, 50 hydrangea, 80 rose bushes, the Trident Maple, and assorted shrubbery and ground cover, Bridge also donated a month's worth of labor from a four-person team, which worked hard to implement the design to Bridge's exacting specifications.

The early stages involved huge cranes and forklifts that positioned the boxwoods shipped from Bridge's Lynchburg farm; an existing Japanese maple tree with a 15,000-pound root ball already on the property was moved about fifteen feet east. The centerpiece Trident Maple, which sports a 92-inch diameter root ball, was carefully transplanted.

One of Bridge's secrets is to treat the unearthed and transplanted shrubbery with an organic fish emulsion that makes the plants resilient to the trauma. He also hand-digs to uproot established plants – including big trees – before forklifting them to a new location.

Bridge said he also sought to visually integrate the 1804 brick Vine Hill building adjacent to the Library by means of his landscape design. He accomplished this by creating a walkway that runs on the east side of a line of boxwoods, with a brick path that makes a right-angled turn leading to Vine Hill's western most entrance.

The result is stunning. "I wanted to do something public," said Bridge, "and the Library is a great place to do this."