News from the Garden

As a horticulturalist for a historic garden it is my job to maintain the integrity of the plantings and character of the garden. New additions to the garden replace and revitalize old plantings and diversify the collections. I feel Bernard McLaughlin would welcome and approve these additions.

New plantings of Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa 'Autumn Magic') have been added along Main Street. Black chokeberry is an excellent replacement for the invasive burning bush that was removed. It has beautiful fall color, spring bloom and berries.

In the side yard, just outside the porch door, one of our Japanese maples finally succumbed to a difficult site location and had to be removed. This has left space open to new possibilities for this season.

The scotch pine in the core garden was removed two winters ago. It had been in gradual decline for many years. In early summer of last year it was replaced with Stewartia koreana, The Korean Stewartia is a Maine-grown seedling and was donated by Asticou Gardens. It did well over the summer and went through the winter healthy.

These past two years we have been working on the woodland hillside. The work includes thinning and removal of dead pines, removal of weedy invasive plants, thinning brushy growth, and adding new rhododendrons that were donated by York Rhododendrons. Woodland work will continue until a specific plan and funding is in place.

Rehabilitation of beds within the core garden continues to progress. Annual plantings were added to the main border that fronts the lilac hedge. These plantings were initiated by information received from the McLaughlin family, including records and photographs of the gardens from the 1940's onward. Many visitors noticed the new additions; in particular Verbena bonariensis was one of the favorites.

Future plans for the garden include many varied projects that are dependent on funding: removal of declining trees throughout the garden and addition of appropriate replacements, replacement of the old chain link fencing that parallels Western Avenue with wooden pasture fence, and reinstallation of the old water feature in the rock garden.

A special thanks to all the volunteers, garden assistants and interns that contributed last season in the garden. I look forward to the coming season and to all the hope it brings.

-Kristin Perry, Director of Horticulture

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