The duke intensively explored questions of garden design and had a significant influence on the planning of the English Garden in Meiningen. Since he, like his role model Franz Anhalt of Dessau, was also primarily concerned with promoting "oeconomics," a dairy was affiliated with the park grounds in 1787 (and until 1836). In 1798, the duke also began to design the landscape garden on the Altenstein, the expansion of which he vigorously promoted until his early death in 1803. He was assisted by the court gardener Carl Ludwig Buttmann and the court mason Johann Andreas Schaubach. Over three generations, the Buttmann family of court gardeners played a major role in designing and shaping Meiningen's parks. The so-called Buttmann Stone in the English Garden is a lasting memorial to their work.
