(October 27, 2014) As our class stood in Charles Cresson's front yard in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania the anticipation of the gardens on the other side of the fence felt like a tease. However looking back to that afternoon, I think he timed it so the sun would be at its perfect place in the sky when we turned the corner. The man in the hat discussed Camellia's and maintaing a sense of family history while I started eyeing plants that definitely were not the focus of the trip but "it's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."
I expected Charles' property, Hedgleigh Spring, to feel forced and cliche like using a Thoreau quote while discussing a garden tour but the entire property flows beautifully. I felt connected to this property from the get-go. Charles' dedication in maintaing that look first started by his grandfather in the 1920s reminded me of my desire to do the same where I grew up, also the same place as my grandfather. There is a spring, with a spring house and hundreds of feet of stone walls and a lot of work to be done. While Charles discussed plant integrity I thought of the garden beds at my grandparents home where the diseased boxwood continue to turn from green to red to orange, then yellow, and eventually brown. I wondered if Charles would replace these boxwood with a plant that looks similar but isn't prone to disease. Even though it would compromise the integrity of the garden it could potentially restore the look.
I was kind of blown away by the amount of knowledge inside of Charles' head and impressed to see it applied as we walked around his back yard. I feel like it's not very often that people physically work with their hands and know a lot to go with it. What is the application? How is this important? I frequently catch this voice in my large head asking these questions.
One of Charles' tricks that I thought was really cool is that they measure the garden beds when edging so they don't migrate. He places a piece of metal or something in the corners of the beds to know their place. Another.. he'll dig up non-hardy plants (in the fall), put in a plastic pot, cover with soil, and stick it in the basement and even some in the attic. In April of May he'll bring the plant outside again.
I can't wait to get outside again and maybe try a few of the plants I noticed around Hedgleigh Spring (c. 1883). The photos below were personal highlights and plants that wow'd me in that day in late October. The Acer palmatum (Japanese Maple) is over 100 years old!! I took the photo of the rock wall because I absolutely loved his placement of the tree in that picture - I felt like I wouldn't have considered placing a tree so close to the edge of the bed but the contrast of its height to the adjacent plants works well. And ... last but still worth noting - I included the photo of his garden edge-in-progress because I've read so many articles listing the specific steps of using a line for precision (etc..) and it was fun to see in person.
I was kind of blown away by the amount of knowledge inside of Charles' head and impressed to see it applied as we walked around his back yard. I feel like it's not very often that people physically work with their hands and know a lot to go with it. What is the application? How is this important? I frequently catch this voice in my large head asking these questions.
One of Charles' tricks that I thought was really cool is that they measure the garden beds when edging so they don't migrate. He places a piece of metal or something in the corners of the beds to know their place. Another.. he'll dig up non-hardy plants (in the fall), put in a plastic pot, cover with soil, and stick it in the basement and even some in the attic. In April of May he'll bring the plant outside again.
I can't wait to get outside again and maybe try a few of the plants I noticed around Hedgleigh Spring (c. 1883). The photos below were personal highlights and plants that wow'd me in that day in late October. The Acer palmatum (Japanese Maple) is over 100 years old!! I took the photo of the rock wall because I absolutely loved his placement of the tree in that picture - I felt like I wouldn't have considered placing a tree so close to the edge of the bed but the contrast of its height to the adjacent plants works well. And ... last but still worth noting - I included the photo of his garden edge-in-progress because I've read so many articles listing the specific steps of using a line for precision (etc..) and it was fun to see in person.
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