On Saturday, as part of The Garden Conservancy's "Open Days Program", I visited a local garden (so local that it is technically the next town over), "The Garden at Federal Twist". I knew a little bit about this garden from reading the owner's blog - View from Federal Twist - but was super psyched to finally see it in person.
And it blew me away.
Because we are in proximity to each other, I know what kind of conditions FT need to contend with and the challenge of getting anything to grow in these conditions (clay soil with real poor drainage). To say I was inspired is an understatement and I have been planning changes to my own garden ever since I left.
The description of the Garden at Federal Twist on the Garden Conservancy's website nails it to a tee:
"When we moved into a mid-century house overlooking the woods, I immediately knew only a naturalistic, informal garden would be appropriate to this place. The garden is hidden. You enter through the house, where you first glimpse the landscape, a sunny glade in the woods, through a wall of large windows. Featuring many big perennials and grasses that evoke an "Alice in Wonderland" feeling (many plants are taller than you), the garden is in the tradition of such “new perennial” designers as Piet Oudolf. Visitors have described it as a highly emotional garden. Plantings emphasize structure, shape, and form as much as flower. Begun as an experiment to explore the potential for working in unimproved, heavy clay, the garden is ecologically like a wet prairie, and is maintained by cutting and burning in late winter. Flowers and butterflies peak in mid-July, then a second peak occurs in October when low sunlight strikes fire in the blousy russets and golds of the grasses. A small pond attracts hundreds of frogs, insects and wildlife."
And of course, I took over a hundred photos during my "stay" at the garden and here they are:
These are shots taken of the garden from various view points:
You feeling it? It is the closest to a Piet Oudolf style garden that I've ever seen in person. Lots of ornamental grasses and tall perennials, many with fantastic seedheads.
Oh those phenomenal seedheads:
And winding paths that just dare you to see what lurks beyond:
Nothing gives me a gardening "a ha" moment more than a well placed focal point and to this day, I haven't pulled off even one successfully.
It looks so easy when done right:
My initial reaction when I got home on Saturday was "I can't garden to save my life."
Mine felt so simple, stale, small and uninteresting, But I slowly realized that it takes time and numerous failures and frustrations along the way to get to that point.
The fun is in the trying.
John