"D'un Vieux Jardin" ("Of an Old Garden") for solo piano is in a rather slow tempo, as is its companion piece, "D'un Jardin Clair" ("Of a Bright Garden"); however, it does not have quite as peaceful a nature as the latter piece. The two works sound very similar, and are both short (under three-and-one-half minutes). Both pieces are in the Impressionistic style and complement each other. "D'un Vieux Jardin" is in the key of E, and has a melancholy, or almost sad, quality to it which "D'un Jardin Clair" does not posses. There are places in "D'un Vieux Jardin" where all seems light and airy. These do not make up the mood of the piece as a whole though, and the wider range of dynamics and slight dissonance brings out some inner, poignant disturbance, which may have been the state of the composer when she wrote it.

Throughout her life, Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) had every reason to be unhappy. Of course, Lili was pleased about winning the 1913 Prix de Rome, which brought her instant fame and recognition as a composer at the age of nineteen. However, she was sick most of her life, and when she wrote this piece, she was also having trouble getting along with the director of the Villa Medici, the music school she attended in 1914 after winning the Prix de Rome. "D'un Vieux Jardin" is a quite solemn, yet somewhat peaceful work, considering her circumstances. However, Lili's works were not always somber, and that Lili could write anything joyous in her short lifetime full of pain and illness is remarkable in itself; although she did have a large array of friends, and when she was not sick, she became a cheerful, if still complex, girl.

"D'un Vieux Jardin" is dedicated to Lili's friend, Lily Jumel. Jumel was a student of the organist and composer, Henri Dallier (1849-1934), who taught at the Paris Conservatory. Jumel's family was also longtime friends of the Boulangers and spent much time together at the their summer place of Gargenville. It is thought that both of these companion pieces are describing gardens Lily knew as a child in Hanneucourt.

In January 1918, Lili signed over the rights to these two pieces for Ricordi (Paris) to publish. This may have been the last document Lili signed before she died in March of that same year at the age of twenty-four.

During the 1970s, feminists became interested in Boulanger's music. Sister Nancy Fierro first recorded "D'un Vieux Jardin" in 1974. Fierro had earlier been a student of Lili Boulanger's sister, Nadia Boulanger.

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