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Located on
what was once Quaker farmland in historic Sandy Spring, the nearly two-acre
garden includes beautifully managed vegetable, fruit, herb and flower gardens
as well as an apiary. Residents maintain the gardens, employing
organic practices that emphasize sustainability and land stewardship. The joy and satisfaction of nurturing a
garden and being outdoors provide therapeutic and pleasant experiences for many. In recent years, an increased emphasis has
been placed on making the garden more accessible for all residents as well as
practical for aging gardeners.
Resident gardeners may request private plots for their personal use. There are also a number of community beds that grow fresh produce for residents who do not garden. Specialty gardens such as the rose garden, the butterfly garden, the Shakespeare garden and cutting gardens provide enjoyment for all residents and visitors. Just outside the garden fence is the greenhouse which is used for starting plants from seed and caring for houseplants throughout the year. Greenhouse plants are displayed in the common area called Flower Alley for all residents and visitors to enjoy. From the greenhouse, paver paths lead past the cutting beds to a pergola where small groups often gather. Within the garden are four compost bins for which the gardeners have won awards from the Montgomery County Recycling program for the composting operation. A unique feature is the apiary which provides honey that is sold to help fund garden activities.
Garden Two
This three-acre property is a secluded paradise of garden
rooms and patios. Twenty years ago, faced with the triple challenge of heavy
shade, dry soil and abundant deer, the homeowners designed and defined the garden
with natural hardscaping and a changing palate of bushes, trees, perennials and
bulbs. Visitors will discover a shady
and peaceful garden room aptly named the Retreat Garden. The rock lined space is filled with deer
resistant hellebores, ferns and spring ephemerals. Wander down the sloping hillside and discover
a comfortable patio and winding rock lined rooms filled with a variety of
shrubs, trees and perennials. The gardens serve to absorb runoff from the
sloping hillside. An abundance of spring
bulbs, Virginia bluebells, and ferns bring an accent of color and brightness to
shady nooks. Paths lead visitors to plantings
of rhododendrons, ferns, Japanese maples and another patio and sitting area. Weeping cherries, more delicately twisting
Japanese maples, climbing hydrangeas, tree peonies and rows of grass outline the
stone paths. A third, elegantly curved
flagstone patio offers a sunny space for the family to enjoy the garden
and the natural
surroundings.
Garden Three
When the homeowners purchased their historic home and 14-acre property 24 years ago, the grounds had been neglected and overgrown. The owners began a surge of interior and exterior improvements, including the restoration of the old perennial bed and the creation of several other garden areas. As you enter the property you are greeted by many native specimens and a whimsical garden “bed.” You also have a spectacular view of the Triadelphia Reservoir and across the lake lies the Brighton Dam Azalea Gardens. The kitchen garden is home to dogwoods, rhododendrons and azaleas as well as a variety of shade loving perennials. An antique black iron fence is covered with fragrant blooming vines. Sedums overflow a garden bathtub and grow voluntarily on and around the old pump and greenhouse. The patio garden is filled with brightly colored lantana and purple daylilies. A lovely old stone wall is a backdrop for a riot of daylilies, oriental lilies, iris, roses, black-eyed Susan, salvia, poppies, coreopsis, redbud, boxwood, hydrangea and much more. Outside the stone wall is a magnificent variety of peonies. The pasture side of the house sports mature hickory and maple trees with a shady understory of shrubs, hosta and heuchera. The continuing development and transformation of the gardens has made the venue for many local garden tours. Relax on the open porch, patio or pool deck with a glass of lemonade and take in the serenity and amazing beauty of the place.
Garden Four
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These homeowners call their garden Helmut’s Little Arboretum and understandably so. They have been filling their quiet suburban yard with a varied and vast collection for over 40 years. Helmut graduated from the University of Heidelberg and worked in the arboriculture field in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and Holland. In 1961 he accepted a job at the legendary Behnke’s Nursery and managed their woody plant areas until he retired. A love of gardening and nature inspired their gardens, which continue to expand under their care. Helmut’s love of evergreens forms the core of the gardens that is accented with many unusual plant specimens. Garden spaces are unified with an assortment of dwarf evergreens, ferns, perennials, bulbs, stone and garden art. Ornamental grasses, shrubs and architecturally pruned trees accent magical garden sections. The effect is a stunning watercolor and a blended contrast of color, texture, size and shape. Flowering and fruiting vines decorate fence property lines. A working greenhouse and garden house provide space for Helmut and Linda to propagate new plantings. In the Spring the back patio becomes home to an exotic jungle of tropical houseplants. A front pond with horsetail, iris and other water plants provides a natural setting for wildlife and a home for the spring and summer frog chorus.
Garden Five
This garden on a wooded three-acre lot is a
prime example of how to design and develop a garden on a difficult lot. With
slopes on three sides of the property, the owners needed to build a garden that
combined practical applications to prevent runoff and erosion as well as to
create an aesthetically beautiful landscape. Faced with the task of mowing a
very steep hill on the side of their property, they created an
impressive, triple level stone terrace. The tiers are filled in with tree
peonies, roses, spirea and perennials providing year-round interest and
seasonal colors. Ground plantings of
lavender blue mazus, iris and bright primrose rim the stately tall trees that sit
atop the terrace garden. Strategically placed decorative faux stones blend in
naturally with the wooded area.
Follow the steps down the hill to the back and enjoy a mass of ice plants, spirea and fragrant lilac. The cracks between the flagstones of the curved patio have been hand planted with mondo grass to inhibit weeds and prevent soil loss. A sunken bed with wet feet is home to cheery yellow creeping jenny. A special separate patio includes a stone fire pit where the family can relax and listen to the trickle of the creek. Another stone terrace secures the hill leading to the stream valley. The garden is an ingenious and extraordinary example of practicality and beauty.
Annual, vegetable and herb plants will be for sale at garden number five.
The Garden Club is a body of the Sandy Spring Museum
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