In early August, a small group of professional gardener
students and interns (including myself) took a trip to Stoneleigh. The property was formerly an estate owned by
the Haas family, but was donated to Natural Lands and is now in transition to
become a public garden. Despite legal
battles with the school district regarding rights to the land, the community
has stood behind the gardens and its development.
The weather was hot and humid the day we visited the
gardens, however it wasn’t hard to find shade due to the overwhelmingly large
amount of tree specimens. I couldn’t
believe the sheer size of some of the trees.
I also thought to myself how breathtakingly beautiful this space has to
be in the fall.
The Tudor Revival mansion was a sight to behold in its own
right. I felt like I had been
transported to a different point in time when viewing the structure across the
vast and open lawn. The Cercidiphyllum, one of my favorite
trees, adorned the front lawn with a cascading water-like shape. I was amazed at the diameter of the trunk on
the Platnus that bounded the corner
of the front patio. While I’m not sure
whether any of the trees on the property were champions of Pennsylvania, I
wouldn’t be surprised if they were close runner-ups.
As I walked around the garden, it felt as though nothing had
been changed from the property’s glory days, but every now and again, you would
come around a corner and see a pop of modern garden flair that added a
child-like sense of awe. I loved how the
design outside of the event pavilion/restrooms played with geometric shapes,
lines, textures, and depths. You could
really feel the influence of Natural Lands as there were many North American
natives (Asclepias, Sarracenia, Gaura,
etc.) included in the beds found throughout the property.
One of my favorite spaces I stumbled upon was a white arbor
amongst a sea of shrubs, trees, and Pachysandra. The way the sun was making the structure glow
in waves of green foliage, you would have thought you were in a scene straight
out of a Miyazaki film.
After walking around the gardens multiple times, I could
really feel all the hard work that has been put in to the preservation of this
historic site. With the opening of the
gardens just occurring this past May, I can’t wait to see how it transforms
over time, and I really can’t wait to come back for a spectacular fall color
show.
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