Grooming My Summer House Garden
The gardeners and outdoor grounds crew at my Bedford, New York farm are busy with late season gardening chores - most recently, grooming the sunken garden behind my Summer House.
Some of you may recall, I began this formal garden more than 10 years ago. The focal point is the great old ginkgo tree at the back of the space that is original to the property. Over time, I've planted American and English boxwood, smaller ginkgo trees, smoke bushes, Siberian weeping pea shrubs, peonies, hostas, lilies, ferns, and so much more.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- These are the beautiful deep-colored leaves of the chocolate mimosa tree. These leaves are bronze-green, fern-like leaves that appear in late spring and then become a deeper rich chocolate-burgundy color in summer.
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- I have two of these gorgeous trees growing beneath the large ginkgo tree in my Summer House garden. The chocolate mimosa tree is a fast-growing, deciduous tree with a wide, umbrella-shaped canopy.
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- But the main focal point is the mighty old ginkgo tree. This tree is about 250-years old. Although not as large as others I’ve seen, my tree is quite massive.
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- Surrounding the sunken garden on three sides is a tall American boxwood hedge. I love how it encloses the space. And because the Summer House faces a rather busy intersection, the wall of boxwood also provides a good deal of privacy.
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- On the terrace, I have several potted split-leaf philodendrons. They look so pretty in the faux bois containers.
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- The split-leaf philodendron, Philodendron Selloum, is native to South America. It belongs to the group of philodendron plants that are among the most popular of houseplants for their ability to thrive without much maintenance.
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- The plants have glossy, heart-shaped or rounded leathery leaves that develop deep clefts and oblong perforations as they grow older. The leaves may be as much as 18-inches wide on foot-long leafstalks.
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- This is one of two shampoo ginger plants here at the farm. Shampoo ginger, Zingiber Zerumbet, is an aromatic, clump-forming perennial belonging to the moderately large ginger Zingiber genus of the family Zingiberaceae.
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- Both the leaves and the pine cone-like inflorescence’s arise each year in the summer from underground rhizomes. The floral bracts are green when young and red when mature.
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- They produce a juice that collects inside the flower cone. It is slightly sudsy and the cones can be squeezed and used for shampoo, hence the name of the plant. Look closely and see the juice getting squeezed out.
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- Another series of urns is planted with young sago palms. The sago palm, Cycas revoluta, is a popular plant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. Native to the southern islands of Japan, the sago palm goes by several common names, including Japanese palm, funeral palm, king sago, or just plain sago palm.
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- The plant is not a true palm, despite its common name, but a cycad, part of a prehistoric class of plants. It produces a whorl of dark green, feather-like fronds on its trunk. The pinnate leaves are typically about four to five feet long at maturity, and nine-inches wide, reaching their greatest length when grown in partial shade.
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- This an interesting colocasia – not to be confused with the alocasia. Alocasia leaves are very glossy or waxy in appearance with prominent veins. They are more arrow-shaped or heart-shaped; while Colocasia has matte green leaves and the leaves are more or less round in shape.
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- In this garden, I also have six weeping Siberian pea shrubs with cascading weeping branches that bear pinnately compound leaves.
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- The leaves are alternate and about three to five inches long.
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- The garden beds are all freshly weeded showing some of the low boxwood hedge on the left. A couple times a year, we groom and prune the boxwood to give them a more clean and manicured appearance.
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- I also have these boxwood shrubs. Boxwood is naturally a round or oval shaped shrub that can reach up to 15 feet in height. I love the tapered tops.
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- I have smaller ginkgo trees on both sides of the footpath. The ginkgo biloba is one of the most distinct and beautiful of all deciduous trees. It prefers a minimum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day. The ginkgo has a cone-like shape when young, and becomes irregularly rounded as it ages.
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- The leaves are unusually fan-shaped, up to three-inches long, with a petiole that is also up to three-inches long. This shape and the elongated petiole cause the foliage to flutter in the slightest breeze. Ginkgo leaves grow and deepen color in summer, then turn a brilliant yellow in autumn. Here, one can see the slight change in color already.
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- In the back of the garden, I also have these large leaf hostas. Hostas are a perennial favorite among gardeners. The lush green foliage varying in leaf shape, size and texture, and their easy care requirements make them ideal for many areas. Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi. They are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars.
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- Also in this garden – maidenhair ferns. These graceful perennials are easy to grow, long-lived, and require very little care. They come in a variety of leaf colors, shapes, and sizes. I have many, many ferns here at the farm.
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- This view is from the back looking at my Summer House. I am so pleased with how it has developed over the years – I really should entertain here more.
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