{"id":14792,"date":"2022-09-07T15:54:33","date_gmt":"2022-09-07T13:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gardensillustrated.com\/?p=91488"},"modified":"2022-09-07T16:08:52","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T14:08:52","slug":"a-patchwork-patterned-new-england-garden-in-connecticut","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/a-patchwork-patterned-new-england-garden-in-connecticut\/","title":{"rendered":"A patchwork patterned New England Garden in Connecticut"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Kendra Wilson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 07 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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As a design approach, the phrase \u2018go big or go home\u2019 would make sense for any eight-acre garden but it seems particularly fitting in the New England<\/a> countryside. With harsh winters, and hot summers that are reliably humid, there is a smaller plant palette with which to work than in, say, northern Europe. When American garden designer Richard Hartlage of the Seattle-based design practice Land Morphology finds plant cultivars that thrive in this climate, he plants them by the thousand.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Overlooking the rolling hills of southwestern Connecticut, this sculpture-collector\u2019s garden has a sense of panache in its planting that stands up to the wider setting. Between the swimming pool<\/a> and the house, a native meadow<\/a> is bisected by stone steps<\/a> and grass<\/a> paths, part of a pattern of swathes and swags that occurs all around the garden, in paths but also in waves of perennials and woody shrubs. \u201cI learned that pattern from my reading of Gertrude Jekyll<\/a>; long swathes of plants always look good at a distance because you get these layers when they\u2019re perpendicular to the view,\u201d says Richard, adding that planting this way brings an extra dynamism: \u201cIt gives an incredible movement in the landscape, and draws the eye out.\u201d<\/p>\n

In brief<\/strong><\/p>\n

Name<\/strong> InSitu. What<\/strong> Large country garden with views over rolling hills, developed over 13 years.\u00a0Where<\/strong> Connecticut, USA. Size<\/strong> Eight acres. Soil<\/strong> Fertile clay, with rocks. Climate<\/strong> Hot and humid summers, long periods of snow in winter. Hardiness zone<\/strong> USDA 6a.<\/p>\n

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The reference to Miss Jekyll, doyenne of Arts and Crafts landscapes, is on point since Richard was initially called in by the garden owner to help resolve a sunken garden<\/a>, which soon led to another section, and then another. The property is not compartmentalised by what we think of as \u2018garden rooms\u2019 but each informally delineated area has its own character. In common with the Arts and Crafts<\/a> ethos, the use of local, hand-hewn materials brings a strong sense of unity, with arbours made from white pine that was sourced and planed at a small sawmill in the vicinity, and stairs and holding walls making use of the property\u2019s abundance of rocks.<\/p>\n

Read more about the garden below and read Kendra\u2019s full piece on the garden in September\u2019s Gardens Illustrated.\u00a0<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Nestled under an old copper beech, the New England-style house (built in the 1950s) sits above the \u2018tent lawn\u2019, which was terraced for entertaining. In the foreground, stone steps descend through cultivars of native plants, including Solidago rugosa<\/em> \u2018Fireworks\u2019, Eupatorium dubium<\/em> \u2018Little Joe\u2019 and a mid-height grass, Panicum virgatum<\/em> \u2018Rehbraun\u2019.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\nThe garden was developed over 13 years, one section at a time. It has an Arts and Crafts vernacular, with structures of locally sourced wood and on-site stone amid the mostly native planting. An avenue of columnar Liquidambar styraciflua<\/em> \u2018Slender Silhouette\u2019 gives some perspective to the scale of several fine old (non-native) dawn redwoods (Metasequoia glyptostroboides<\/em>).\n
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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

In the sunken garden a narrow pathway, punctuated by artworks, is lined with fastigiate Fagus sylvatica<\/em> \u2018Dawyck Purple\u2019. Hydrangea paniculata<\/em> Pinky-Winky (= \u2018Dvppinky\u2019), which blooms after the Hemerocallis<\/em> \u2018Rosy Returns\u2019 at its feet, faces Rosa Sunny Knock Out<\/em> (= \u2018Radsunny\u2019), one of a group of shrub roses \u201cwildly popular\u201d in the USA. Above, an arbour supports rambling Rosa<\/em> \u2018Excelsa\u2019.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Swathes of plants that do well in this part of New England are used to dramatic effect in the pool garden. Surrounding a stone firepit, Hosta plantaginea<\/em> f. grandiflora<\/em>, which is fragrant when in bloom, is joined by Hydrangea paniculata<\/em> \u2018Grandiflora\u2019.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Richard used more than 2,500 Rudbeckia fulgida<\/em> var. deamii<\/em> plants to create a perfect circle of yellow surrounding one of the garden\u2019s many water features. Framed by a low hedge of Buxus sinica<\/em> var. insularis<\/em> \u2018Wintergreen\u2019, this block of colour provides a striking setting for the owner\u2019s figurative artwork.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

The bottlebrush flowers of dwarf fountain grass Pennisetum alopecuroides<\/em> \u2018Cassian\u2019s Choice\u2019 remain a buff pink for months, before the foliage turns to yellow-orange in autumn. It provides a good understorey for Nyssa sylvatica<\/em>, seen repeated with Hakonechloa macra<\/em> to the right. A stand of Taxodium ascendens<\/em> (pond cypress) is silhouetted against the forest edge.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Richard favours woody plants and perennials for mass plantings. Stretching out like the shadow of a Concorde aeroplane, Weigela florida<\/em> Spilled Wine (= \u2018Bokraspiwi\u2019) is flanked by mounds of contrasting Deutzia gracilis<\/em> \u2018Nikko\u2019.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 Claire Takacs<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Dwarf bamboo Pleioblastus pygmaeus<\/em> \u2018Distichus\u2019, which grows to no more than 50cm, forms an effective green carpet in a garden that has a lot of ground to cover. Through it rise a series of Japanese maples, planted partly for their autumn colour, which will be intensified by the fiery leaves on boughs of Nyssa sylvatica<\/em>, stretching across the foreground.<\/p>\n

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Subscribe to Gardens Illustrated here<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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By Kendra Wilson Published: Wednesday, 07 September 2022 at 12:00 am As a design approach, the phrase \u2018go big or go home\u2019 would make sense for any eight-acre garden but it seems particularly fitting in the New England countryside. With harsh winters, and hot summers that are reliably humid, there is a smaller plant palette […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Kendra Wilson Published: Wednesday, 07 September 2022 at 12:00 am As a design approach, the phrase \u2018go big or go home\u2019 would make sense for any eight-acre garden but it seems particularly fitting in the New England countryside. With harsh winters, and hot summers that are reliably humid, there is a smaller plant palette…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/14792"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}