Bellefield

THE WILD GARDEN PROJECT

at the Beatrix Farrand Garden at Bellefield

Surrounding the formal garden at Bellefield Farrand designed a more naturalistic planting – loose and curving in shape and lush in vegetation. This feature incorporated key existing trees that surrounded the walls and hedges and created a transition from the house through the highly manicured designed space and then finally “back to nature.”  Although a planting plan for the wild portion has never been found, Farrand indicated its location on an overview map for the entire garden.  An historic tree inventory completed in 1995 includes many remnants of its establishment including distinctive flowering trees and old-fashioned shrubs.  Inspired by the importance of Farrand’s pioneering work and a newly completed Cultural Landscape Report, the Beatrix Farrand Garden Associaiton and the National Park Service are collaborating to restore the Wild Garden at Bellefield. While this work will be phased in over a period of several years, the first level of the project will address circulation issues that should enhance visitor interaction with the formal garden, specifically using the wild garden plantings to link the formal garden with the Wallace Center and on to the extensive trail network throughout the Park.  We hope you will come see the progress we have made laying out Farrand’s original outlines for the garden.

Photo by Ingalls Photography from Garden Design, April 2013

read more about the Beatrix Garden at Bellefield at the following Beatrix Farrand Garden Association sites.

http://www.beatrixfarrandgarden.org/events.html

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d91834509b705e8848a2bd904&id=d0e6065f84&e=511d50692f