Planting a Maze at My Farm
Another beautiful and interesting display of lush greenery is growing at my Bedford, New York farm - it's my maze, and it's going to be amazing.
You may have seen some of my photos on my Instagram Stories @MarthaStewart48. Earlier this year, I decided to create a maze of hedges, espaliers, and shrubs in the pasture across the carriage road from my Winter House terrace. A living maze is a puzzle of tall plantings - tall enough to prevent those walking through from seeing the paths ahead. The maze includes rows, openings, and various dead ends, but only one true route leading to the center. We began planting the maze last April, and now we have four rows along one end of the space - it's already stumped me on horseback. And yesterday, another delivery of trees arrived. It's truly an exciting transformation.
Here are some photos of the maze in its infancy, enjoy.
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- This three acre paddock, with the ancient apple trees, is among the most beautiful green spaces here at my farm. The view from my terrace parterre on any given day is stunning.
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- Here is a view of the area looking south from the allee of boxwood leading to my stable.
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- Earlier this year, I decided I wanted to create a living maze in the space. Mazes, as well as labyrinths, have been popular in European gardens and estates for centuries. And now, I am creating one at Cantitoe Corners.
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- First, I drew out a plan on paper, and then last April, my outdoor grounds crew started to prepare the planting beds. Here, we used twine to designate each row for planting and its adjacent footpath.
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- Phurba removes the sod from one of the rows. We always do this carefully and neatly, so the sod can be used elsewhere around the farm.
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- Then, we ordered the first set of trees and shrubs. These are espaliered apple trees. Among them, Liberty apples, Gala apples, Braeburn apples, and Yellow Delicious apples.
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- And, of course boxwood. I love boxwood, Buxus, and have hundreds of shrubs growing on my property. I use boxwood in borders and hedges, as privacy screens, as accent plants in my formal gardens, in the long allée to my stable, and now in the maze.
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- I also ordered a selection of European hornbeams, green columnar beech trees and purple columnar beech trees. This photo was taken in early spring, so they had not yet leafed out.
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- Here’s my gardener, Brian O’Kelly, unloading some of the many specimens for our maze.
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- The next step is to place them evenly along the beds of each row. When planting a maze, use relatively fast-growing trees that will be at least six feet tall and two feet wide at maturity.
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- Here is a view of the placed espalier trees. Espalier refers to an ancient technique, resulting in trees that grow flat, either against a wall, or along a wire-strung framework. Many kinds of trees respond beautifully to the espalier treatment, but fruit trees, like apple and pear, were some of the earliest examples. Espaliered trees can grow between four and eight feet apart – enough to allow them room as they grow, but still be close enough for a proper espalier.
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- And here are the boxwood, each one equally spaced from the next.
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- Then, it was time to plant the trees. The crew worked hard to get them all into the ground as quickly as possible.
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- Four rows in all to start, but many, many to go, and each path leading to an opening — or a dead end.
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- By June, all the plantings are leafed out and growing beautifully. The beds are also mulched with nutrient-rich material made right here in my compost yard.
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- We’ve already seen many apples developing on the trees this summer.
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- The boxwood is on the left and the purple columnar beech on the right – both of these will make great hedges in a few years. In the distance, one can see the tops of the chicken coops.
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- And yesterday, more trees for the maze – these are parrotia trees. Parrotia is in the family Hamamelidaceae, closely related to the witch-hazel genus Hamamelis. It is native to northern Iran and southern Azerbaijan and it is endemic in the Alborz mountains. It grows best in USDA Zones 5 to 8.
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- Parrotias have a long-lasting, elaborate autumn color display of ever-changing leaves that show off yellow, orange, burgundy and red hues. These are now green, but looking closely, one can see slight color changes already.
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- And more European hornbeams. Botanically known as Carpinus betulus, the hornbeam is a fast-growing deciduous tree. In fact, it can grow about four to five feet per year – perfect for the maze.
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- My outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, has been with me for 20 years and has planted many of trees here at the farm.
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- I will continue to share photos of its progress. It will take a few years before it is mature and fully developed, but this maze will be amazing. I can’t wait… “It is a confusing path, hard to follow without a thread, but, provided [you are] not devoured at the midpoint, it leads surely, despite twists and turns, back to the beginning.” — Plato
![I will continue to share photos of its progress. It will take a few years before it is mature and fully developed, but this maze will be amazing. I can't wait... “It is a confusing path, hard to follow without a thread, but, provided [you are] not devoured at the midpoint, it leads surely, despite twists and turns, back to the beginning.” — Plato](https://static.themarthablog.com/2022/08/PXL_20220817_192525104-scaled.jpeg)
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