James R. Cothran, the author of Charleston Gardens and the Landscape Legacy of Loutrel Briggs, published by University of South Carolina, 2010, states two reasons for writing his book: “to create a greater awareness of the landscape architect, Loutrel Briggs (1893-1977) and his contributions to Charleston’s landscape legacy and to provide information associated with the preservation of significant Briggs gardens through the use of archival resources and garden easements.”

Eric Reisman, Historic Preservation Professional, gives a brief overview of garden easements in the book’s first appendix.  “A garden easement ‘protects the historic and natural values of a man-made garden.'”  Benefits of garden easements are many, Mr. Reisman writes:  it will protect a garden in perpetuity; it allows owners to protect their gardens while retaining their property and easements are versatile.

The awareness of garden easements is small.  Author Cothran calls for their greater awareness.  “Now is the time for …(Charleston)… to become a leader in landscape preservation through the promotion of garden easements.”