'A cemetery': Melania Trump mocked over White House renovation

Melania Trump shared images of the new garden on her Flotus Twitter account. Photo / Getty Images

Melania Trump has been criticised online over her latest "improvements" to the White House, this time taking on the iconic Rose Garden.

While it previously houses a collection of bright florals and foliage, Melania took a much more simplistic approach to the garden - removing trees and apparently even taking out Jacquie Kennedy's roses from the 1960s.

"Excited to honour history & celebrate the future in our beautiful @WhiteHouse, Rose Garden this evening," the first lady tweeted.

"Thank you to all who helped renew this iconic & truly gorgeous space."

Excited to honor history & celebrate the future in our beautiful @WhiteHouse Rose Garden this evening. Thank you to all who helped renew this iconic & truly gorgeous space. pic.twitter.com/ggiqLkdGbw

— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) August 22, 2020

The garden outside the Oval Office dates back to 1913, but up until Trump's renovation had stood relatively the same since former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy's changes.

Twitter users felt Trump ruined the Rose Garden by ditching the colourful flowers and trees for a more simplistic look.

Before and after photographs of newly renovated White House Rose Garden:
courtesy #Getty and @marycjordan pic.twitter.com/w6bzoNHMjC

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) August 22, 2020

One critic commented: "I normally think Melania has impeccable taste - but removing Jackie O's rose garden and all the beautiful flowers and color for whatever reason I find really upsetting not to mention not nearly as beautiful. Not everything historical is meant to be redone."

Another added: "They cut down the trees? And made the whole thing look like an uninteresting patch of lawn?"

With a harsh commenter stating that the First Lady has built a "cemetery".

I normally think Melania has impeccable taste - but removing Jackie O’s rose garden and all the beautiful flowers and color for whatever reason I find really upsetting not to mention not nearly as beautiful. Not everything historical is meant to be redone :(

— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) August 22, 2020

Michelle Obama planted a kitchen garden.

Melania Trump constructed a cemetery. pic.twitter.com/XJOtQICTyA

— Travis Akers (@travisakers) August 23, 2020

Other changes included restoration of the original diamond-shaped boxwood hedges, new rose bushes, including cream-coloured "JFK" roses, light yellow "Peace" roses, and the stark white "Pope John Paul II" rose to commemorate the pontiff's visit to the White House in 1979.

The grassy area has been replaced with limestone pavers that are soon to house a "art installation" according to the White House.

The project was funded by private donations and is said to be an "act of expressing hope and optimism for the future," the first lady said last month.