Born in Dybbol, Denmark, Jensen emigrated to the United States in 1884, eventually settling in Chicago, where he worked in the Kirk soap factory and then as a street sweeper in west Chicago parks. His enjoyment of working in the out-of-doors led to work with a Swedish landscape gardener, where he increased his knowledge of the native plants of the area. With his avid love of researching plants, he advanced rapidly in the Chicago Park District, becoming the foreman of the Union and Humbolt Parks.
Jensen’s increasing interest in the plant varieties indigenous to the prairie began to manifest itself in the Chicago parks, where he used native perennials set against a background of native trees and shrubs rather than continuing to install manicured flower beds like those of the west Chicago parks. He created the American Garden in Union Park to reflect this new interest. Although political conflicts within the park systems led to his dismissal in 1900, he was rehired in 1905 as superintendent and landscape architect of all the west parks.
In 1913, Jens Jensen invited a group of influential friends to join him in forming a new conservation organization to be called Friends of Our Native Landscape. Through the efforts of the Friends, several areas in Illinois became state parks, including Starved Rock, where Jensen admired the redbuds that would be incorporated into many of his plans.
Between the years of 1910 and 1930, he completed commissions for many prominent Americans, including the Henry Fords, the Edsel Fords, Sears and Roebuck founder Julius Rosenwald, and Orlando J. Buck, the father of Hazle Buck Ewing.
Commissioned by the Ewings to design the landscape around Ewing Manor, his rendering is now on exhibit in the lower level at Ewing Cultural Center. He completed to gardens in 1927, and records show that he did further landscaping plans for Hazle Ewing in 1932.
His concept of a gently curving road where both sunrise and sunset could be observed fit in well with the Channel-Norman architecture of her home, and he placed on the estate the hawthorn, redbud, maple, and crab apple trees that he favored in his designs. Also in the 1930s, Jensen was commissioned to plan the Lincoln Memorial Garden on the shore of Lake Springfield, Illinois.
Ewing Manor is open to potential clients by appointment only.
