Today’s photos are from Bob Murray, who says, “Twelve years ago we outgrew the plantings on our existing property and so decided to start fresh. We bought a 3-acre wooded lot in Glastonbury, Connecticut, selectively cleared it, and then began building our gardens and house.
“Since the property is on a slope we had to terrace it and that led to the creation of a sunken Japanese garden with pools and ponds at the base. The woods in front of the house became a woodland garden filled with exotic shade plants.
“We now have 2 acres of perennials and exotic trees. We take great pleasure in opening our gardens to garden clubs throughout the Northeast. For the last seven years we have also participated in the Garden Conservancy Open Days Program. On September 8 our gardens will be open from 10 to 4 PM as part of their fall Open Days. We invite all of your readers in the area to come by. For directions go to gardenconservancy.org/opendays.”
So green, restful, and serene, Bob! I think we need LOTS more photos…… Gorgeous!
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Comments
absolutely beautiful, Bob. full of happy plants and is that a weeping larch i spy? and nary a nibble on any of the hostas what few i have here now look like doilies. beautiful garden and LOTS of work for 12 years
Lovely! great use of the space
Quite an elegant garden. I can't imagine starting from scratch again. Amazing job!
Bob,,,,, it is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!!!! Your yard is the epitome of shade gardens and fabulous fabulous trees! Love the larch,, Virdis Japanese Maple,, weeping spruce,,, love it , love it, love it!!!! If I EVER get to Connecticut,,, I am for sure coming to your house!!! So peaceful,,,,what I would give to have property like your to work with!!!
Hi, Bob, maybe I should zip off to peek in a thesaurus to find a more interesting way to "just simply beautiful" but, then again, why complicate things?! I love everything about your garden. It is so interesting and yet serene. You have wonderful plant combinations where each choice seems to bring out the best in its neighbor. The touches of chartreuse from the hosta and Japanese Forest grass are like little pools of captured sunshine and light things up in such a delightful way.
The bridge in the sunken garden is gorgeous...forgive the curiosity but did you buy it premade or have it custom constructed?
All of these weeping trees.... larix, hemlock, Norway spruce.... make me weep, with envy. This is one of the most beautiful private gardens I've ever seen. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Bob,
So creative to have the raised containers flank the opening to the garden! Love your water feature. Did you have to mound earth for the bridge or did you have a little hill? My property is flat and I want to have a waterfall and am wondering if the excavation for the 'pond' will be enough dirt.
I used to live in Rhode Island. To those not from New England there are stone walls everywhere on old farmland. Did you have walls on the property you bought or did you have it all brought in? In any case the hardscaping is wonderful!
All truly remarkable for just twelve years! I would be most
proud to show it off, as well.
Bob, without question, this beautiful showcase of garden work is DIVINE!!
Vojt, my words precisely, couldn't imagine starting from scratch in this stage of my life!
A lot of labor to totally landscape three acres without much open space and a magnificent result!
Pools and waterfalls, rock walls and stream beds, wonderful, immaculate plants perfectly situated - am I dreaming or can this be a real garden? Congratulations Bob, you certainly deserve to be pleased with the results of all your hard work! I vote for lots more photos!
I think you said it all when you wrote that you started building your gardens and house... as if the house was secondary. The surrounding garden clubs and the Garden Conservancy are so lucky to have you in the neighborhood! Your vision is dream-like.
Beautiful and peaceful. I love these types of gardens, and how generous you are to share this with the gardening public.
Too bad I live on the West Coast. I would like to visit your lovely yard.
Just gorgeous! I love the sense of peace your pictures evoke. And since you are only a few miles north of me, I look forward to seeing your garden in person on Sept 8th! Thank you for sharing.
Fabulous! I am so excited, I have plans to be in your area on that date and will make a plan to attend the garden open day. I have a shady-under-trees area on my property not far from you and would love advice on how to start converting it from a big expanse of grass to woodland. You've created a beautiful space.
Oh MY! Love, love! I am checking the map and just may take a road trip this weekend.....
correction: 'that' weekend ;)
Your garden is SO inviting...especially on this warm and humid day. You have done a magnificent job designing/creating an elegant woodland property. I'd love to walk through it..and would want to linger awhile...quite a while..to take in all the details. Looking forward to seeing more.
I am checking in late, but the first thing I did was Google maps how far this garden is from me. I hope I can make it to the open days tour, as I am only about an hour away. I need a closer look at this wonderful garden.
Absolutely beautiful. How I wish I could visit on Sept 8. I marvel at beds minus a single weed, no hostas which look like doilies (loved that description tn treeman) and nothing decapitated by marauding deer. The product of good luck and a tremendous amount of hard labor I expect. You should be very proud of what you have created.
Awesome, Fantastic, beautiful, inviting, inspiring, GREAT PLANT MARERIAL... oh, how I would love to be there. Thank you!!!! More photos please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome, Fantastic, beautiful, inviting, inspiring, GREAT PLANT MARERIAL... oh, how I would love to be there. Thank you!!!! More photos please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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