Early Fall Cleaning in the Summer House Garden

September 29, 2023

Early Fall Cleaning in the Summer House Garden

My gardeners and outdoor grounds crew continue to check off big tasks from our long to-do list here at the farm - among them, cleaning the sunken garden behind my Summer House.

Some of you may recall, I began planning this formal garden more than 10 years ago. The focal point is the great old ginkgo tree at the back of the space that is original to the property. Over time, I've planted American and English boxwood, smaller ginkgo trees, smoke bushes, Siberian weeping pea shrubs, peonies, hostas, lilies, alliums, and so much more. Yesterday, Ryan and Brian tended to the beds - weeding, raking, and cleaning the entire area.

Here are some photos, enjoy.

: The former owner of my farm, Mrs. Ruth Sharp, occupied two houses on the property. She called this house the Summer House, where she stayed during warm weather. Adjacent to it is the Winter House which had a better heating system and where Mrs. Sharp was comfortable during the cold months. I kept the names of the buildings, although major changes were made to both. Today, the Summer House serves as a library and entertaining space. Behind the house is this formal sunken garden “room.”

: The main focal point is the mighty old ginkgo tree. This tree is about 250-years old. Although not as large as others I’ve seen, my tree is quite massive and sits at the north end of the garden, very visible from the Summer House terrace.

: Surrounding the sunken garden on three sides is a tall American boxwood hedge. I love how it encloses the space. And because the Summer House faces a rather busy intersection, the wall of boxwood also provides a good deal of privacy.

: In the center, where the stone footpaths converge is a giant millstone – one of three I have here at the farm. A millstone is a circular stone used in gristmills or triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains.

: There is also this antique sundial. A sundial is any device that uses the sun’s altitude or azimuth to show the time. It consists of a flat plate, which is the dial, and a gnomon, which casts a shadow onto the dial.

: Here’s Brian cleaning and weeding one of the beds.

: In this garden I also have smaller ginkgo trees on both sides of the main footpath. The ginkgo biloba is one of the most distinct and beautiful of all deciduous trees. It prefers a minimum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day. The ginkgo has a cone-like shape when young, and becomes irregularly rounded as it ages.

: The leaves are unusually fan-shaped, up to three-inches long, with a petiole that is also up to three-inches long. This shape and the elongated petiole cause the foliage to flutter in the slightest breeze. Ginkgo leaves grow and deepen color in summer, then turn a brilliant yellow in autumn.

: Ryan is raking some of the early autumn leaves that have fallen from the silver maple tree above. The garden beds are freshly weeded showing the low boxwood hedges.

: A couple times a year, we groom and prune these hedges to give them a more clean and manicured appearance.

: Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The leaves on boxwood branches are arranged opposite from each other, making pairs.

: I also have these boxwood shrubs. Boxwood is naturally a round or oval shaped shrub that can reach up to 15 feet in height. I love the tapered tops.

: Behind the boxwood, one can see the tree peony plants. Tree peonies are larger, woody relatives of the common herbaceous peony, growing up to five feet wide and tall in about 10 years. They are highly prized for their large, prolific blooms that can grow up to 10 inches in diameter.

: I also grow itoh peonies in ths garden. Itoh peonies or intersectional peonies are crosses between the herbaceous and tree peonies. These peonies die back to the ground in the fall which means that the new buds in the spring are less likely to be killed by frost than tree peonies.

: On the terrace, I have several potted Norfolk Island pines, Araucaria heterophylla, a species of conifer.

: Also potted are ferns. This one is a variegated Boston fern with strikingly patterned fronds.

: Across the terrace – potted aloe plants.

: There are also six weeping Siberian pea shrubs with cascading weeping branches.

: These are the beautiful deep-colored leaves of the chocolate mimosa tree. These leaves are bronze-green, fern-like leaves that appear in late spring and then become a deeper rich chocolate-burgundy color in summer.

: I have two of these gorgeous mimosa trees growing beneath the large ginkgo tree. The chocolate mimosa tree is a fast-growing, deciduous tree with a wide, umbrella-shaped canopy.

: In the back of the garden, I also have these large leaf hostas. Hostas are a perennial favorite among gardeners. The lush green foliage varying in leaf shape, size and texture, and their easy care requirements make them ideal for many areas. Hosta is a genus of plants commonly known as hostas, plantain lilies and occasionally by the Japanese name, giboshi. They are native to northeast Asia and include hundreds of different cultivars.

: Here are the leaves of the smoke bush, Cotinus. I have many smoke bushes around the farm – it is among my favorite small trees. These can grow to a moderate size – up to 15-feet tall and 10-feet wide.

: Here’s Brian using our battery powered handheld blower from STIHL. Soon, there will be lots of leaf blowing going on here at the farm now that it’s fall.