Noreen Brunini will enjoy a final spring season in her garden.
"I spent the past 20 years revitalizing a garden that was originally designed in the 1930's in Short Hills NJ. The pond in this photo is from the original garden. We are about to sell this home, so this is our final Spring to enjoy the garden — bittersweet to hand off to a new caretaker."
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Comments
Hello there Noreen - You have done a wonderful job with your garden. Twenty years well spent I say! Love the paths, rock work and dam. Although it is hard for you to leave the garden behind, I'm sure that new gardening opportunities will arise for you. All the very best for the future. Cheers from Australia
What a gorgeous home and gardens! Very hard to leave, for sure. A new adventure awaits you; best wishes for your new location and garden creation.
Good morning, Noreen. I am sure it will be tough to leave a garden you have worked on for so many years. You have done a very nice job. The terracing in the back looks great. I love the shady path to the patio. Thanks for sharing.
Lovely cherry blossoms. Having a 1930s garden design must have been very interesting - so glad you revitalized instead of removed/replaced. Hopefully the new caretakers will have the vision to follow the same wave length and won't be determined to clear it all away for easy maintenance. Good luck with your move and have fun on your new adventure!
This is a beautiful home and property, Noreen and I can well imagine that it is filled with many memories of projects begun, worked on hard and then finished with smiles of satisfaction. I like to think that we gardeners are optimistic by nature and are inclined to look at new ventures as opportunities to plant ourselves in fresh soil and be creative in whatever way we can.
Hello Noreen, Beautiful, classic garden. It must be tough to leave. I am reaching the age where I know I won't be able to keep up with my gardens and I don't look forward to it.
Oh, Noreen. Your home and garden show all the love and care you have bestowed upon it over the years. It is peacefully beautiful, reflecting the unity, function, simplicity and scale that was introduced in the 30's by Thomas Church, all of which still impact the way we landscape today. Like Diane, the flagstone path bordered by hostas and soft mounding plants under the trees drew me in. I can just imagine mornings and evenings sitting in the patio with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. Having sold a home and garden of 28 years last spring, I know how it is hard to do. However, as our fellow gardeners said, you now have the opportunity to create beauty in a new location. My sore back, aching muscles, and red clay stained yard clothes can attest to that (all good excuses for a warm, soaking bath and a glass of good wine). There is a lot of joy in seeing a new, completely different landscape emerge. Happy gardening in your new home.
Oh, my, my. What an amazing journey with this garden you must have had.
Noreen, best of luck as you start your next adventure--I hope it also involves some gardening. I bet you'll miss the lovely beech tree! What lovely grounds and a beautiful home.
Best of luck and all the excitement of a new adventure to you. Let's hope the new owners enjoy the wonderful garden, home and all of the care you have poured into it. Looks like a great property. Love those garden steps.
What a lovely house garden and property… You must be sad to be leaving it and whoever buys it is inheriting a treasure! Best wishes on your new journey.
I didn't notice a pond... which photo is it in?
Beautiful garden, it will be hard to leave it, I did the same thing last July and left my garden of 25 years behind. However I am working on new smaller garden which was literally just a rectangle of lawn! I am really looking forward to making it our new outdoor paradise. I hope you too will find joy in your future too. How about some more photos though, I would love to see more!
Wow. It is going to be hard to leave that behind. Thanks for the pics and good luck!
So very beautiful. We recently downsized from 2 lots that were once owned and planted from about that time period as well. It was fun,and hard work revitalizing it. Our sons always gave plants as a gift, so there would be less grass to mow-LOL. It will be 2 years since we moved. Our current yard is a very small lot that came with a rusty chain link fence, a gravel pit front and back and no topsoil. It's been an exciting adventure, that I have thoroughly enjoyed. We now have a rose covered arbor with a porch swing and other vertical gardens. They are still just baby plants, but as a previous post commented- Gardeners are ever hopeful! All the best to you in your new adventure.
Beautiful home and a beautiful garden. I'm sure you will feel a tinge of sadness when you leave but you will have new vistas to enjoy. Vikki in VA
Good morning, Noreen. Having just done this 4 years ago, I can tell you that it is a crazy mix of happy/sad but mostly happy. You are leaving a legacy for another family to enjoy with those beautiful paths surrounded by all of the plants that you so carefully planted. Good luck with your move. I hope it brings another garden that needs your touch.
Hi Noreen
You have created a beautiful garden and I am sure it will be hard to leave. Once a gardener always a gardener so I think there is another one in your future. Good luck with your future.
I am with Lily, where is the pond? I am not looking forward to the day when we will be selling...But, on the other hand, you can learn from the last 20 years, and put in the specimens that you love the most! Thanks for sharing and best of luck in the move ahead. Your property will sell lightening fast...
Behind the big tree, Rhonda
Frank, I'm going to need the Braille version!!!!!
No pond is in another "room/section of the garden; editor didn't pick that photo
Thank you all for your comments. And yes we are in the process of designing a new garden at our new house. Hopefully I have learned a thing or 2 in the last 20 years and will make fewer mistakes in the new garden.......
It looks like this beautiful garden was in very good hands over the years. You did fine work.
I can understand the bittersweet aspect of leaving it, yet, the folks we've known who downsized haven't been unhappy after they adjusted mainly because they found new adventures awaiting them.
Thank you for posting and letting us enjoy the serenity.
You sold me on the last two photos! The next caretaker is going to be enjoying your garden for many years to come (not much work for them to do....) =)
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