I love allées and have planted several over the years - they look so beautiful and dramatic around my Bedford, New York farm.
In landscaping, an allée, or an avenue, is traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side. In most cases, the trees planted are the same species or cultivar, so as to give a uniform appearance along the full length of the allée. In 2019, I decided to plant an allée of trees along the carriage road through the lower hayfields. We planted a selection of London plane trees and about 100 royal purple smoke bushes, Cotinus coggygria. It is now three years later and the allée is looking excellent.
Enjoy these photos.
At first, this area through the hayfields was just an open and plain space, where I grew hay for my horses. I thought it was a perfect stretch of landscape for a long allée. Designing any garden takes plenty of planning, time, and patience. Here, the area chosen was mowed and measured. The twine shows one edge of the bed.
I wanted the allée to extend the entire portion of the road that cuts through the lower hayfields. This would require a large number of stately trees. My outdoor grounds crew removed the sod from the area. All my carriage roads are 12-feet wide. I wanted to be sure the new allee lined the edge of the road, but also had enough room for the trees to grow.
I chose to plant two rows of London plane trees – 46-trees in all. When selecting a location, always consider the tree’s growth pattern, space needs, and appearance. London planes are easy to transplant. They can also develop massive trunks with spreading crowns, so they need lots of space.
In between the trees, I chose to plant Cotinus, also known as smoke bush or smoke tree – a genus of two species of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae, closely related to the sumacs. They are a great choice for massing or for hedges. There are two potted smoke bushes between each London plane. These specimens were all purchased as small whips – slender, unbranched shoots or plants. I like to nurture them for a year or two in pots before placing them in the ground – this way they are planted as bigger, stronger specimens.
This is what the allée looked like shortly after it was planted in 2019.
And as the saying goes in gardening, “first sleep, then creep, then leap.” This photo was taken last year. The trees are looking healthy and strong.
And this is the allée now. So lush and the bold colors of the specimens look amazing together.
These smoke bushes have stunning dark red-purple foliage that turns scarlet in autumn and has plume-like seed clusters, which appear after the flowers and give a long-lasting, smoky haze to the branch tips.
The leaves of smoke bushes are waxy purple and are one and a half to three inches long, and ovate in shape.
Smoke bushes are among my favorite small trees. These can grow to a moderate size – up to 15-feet tall and 10-feet wide. I also love its upright, multi-stemmed habit. I grow many smoke bushes at the farm.
Some of them are showing off their stunning plumes.
Looking closely, the flower plumes are purple-pink, tipped with creamy yellow at their peak.
Under optimal conditions, smoke bushes can add about 13 to 24 inches to its height each year.
The London plane tree, Platanus × acerifolia, is a deciduous tree. It is a cross between two sycamore species: Platanus occidentalis, the American sycamore, and Platanus orientalis, the Oriental plane. London planes grow best in full sun, but they also thrive in partial shade.
The leaf of a London plane is similar to that of a maple leaf – simple with alternate arrangements that have three to five lobes. These leathery leaves are about six to seven inches wide with roughly toothed edges.
Now, while the trees are young, the bark is medium gray and smooth. When mature, they will show a distinctive camouflage pattern created as patches of green or brown outer bark flake off to expose a more creamy inner bark.
All these London planes are staked to ensure they grow vertically and to keep them sturdy as they develop.
Yesterday, the entire allée was mulched with material made right here at the farm. When mulching, use a two to four inch layer and no more – too much could damage the trees and the root systems.
The large field is bordered on one side by a grove of weeping willow trees, Salix – graceful, refined, and easily recognized by its open crown of ground-sweeping branches. Willows grow especially well near water, and reach 30 to 40 feet tall. And look, the fields are growing lots of good, nutritious hay for my horses. This will be ready to bale at the end of the month.
I am so pleased with how well this allée is growing. – it will look more beautiful year after year. This allée will be a lovely addition to future garden tours.
It’s garden tour season at my Bedford, New York farm.
Every now and then, I agree to open my gardens for private walking tours. Yesterday, we hosted the first scheduled visit for the Garden Conservancy Society of Fellows. The Garden Conservancy was founded in 1989 with a mission to preserve, share, and celebrate America's gardens for the education and inspiration for future generations. Unfortunately, because of my busy work and travel schedule, I wasn’t able to join them for the tour - if you follow my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48, you know I am currently in Milan - but my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, guided the walk through the allées and gardens. The day was perfect - temperatures were in the low 70s and everything was flourishing with color and life.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Our guests had the opportunity to walk through the cutting garden. Every group experiences something different when they visit the farm depending on what is blooming at the time.
Right now, there are so many lupines in full bloom. Lupinus, commonly known as lupin or lupine, is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. The genus includes more than 200 species. It’s always great to see the tall spikes in the garden. Lupines come in lovely shades of pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and even red. Lupines also make great companion plants, increasing the soil nitrogen for vegetables and other plants nearby.
Ryan started the tour in my main greenhouse and head house, and then through the cutting garden – there were many oohs and ahs and picture taking.
There are also many poppies – my guests loved seeing all the different varieties. These plants require very little care if they are grown in soil that drains well and gets full sun. The only downfall – poppies have a relatively short bloom span.
There are numerous types of dianthus – most have pink, red, or white flowers with notched petals.
The beautiful Allium – I have so many in bloom along the clematis pergola and right here inside, and outside, my flower cutting garden. Allium species are herbaceous perennials with flowers produced on scapes. They grow from solitary or clustered bulbs.
As the tour exited the flower garden, they gathered at this juncture. On the right is my long and winding pergola. And on the left is a row of bald cypress, or Taxodium distichum, a deciduous conifer. It is a large tree with gray-brown to red-brown bark. It is popular as an ornamental tree grown for its light, feathery foliage.
Throughout the walking tour, Ryan provides some history on the development of the gardens and answers questions about the care and maintenance of all the plantings. Here, Ryan talks about the expansive soccer lawn, where my grandson loves to play whenever he is here at the farm.
My operations manager, Stephanie Lofaro, and my gardener, Brian O’Kelly, helped organize all the logistics of the tour.
From this vantage point, one sees the back of the the clematis pergola on the left, and on the right, the weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus Pendula.
Elvira and Enma always set up beautiful table scapes. Here they decorated my new yew table under the pavilion with silver vases of roses just picked the previous day. They served citrus infused ice water to all the guests.
The group took a brief look at my pool – now open for the season.
The group walked through the Pin Oak Allee, which is looking fuller every week. A recognizable trait of the pin oak is that its lower branches hang down. It also has horizontal middle branches and upright upper branches forming a most interesting growth habit.
As the tour neared the Boxwood Allee they stopped at this beautiful weeping copper beech, Fagus sylvatica ‘Purpurea Pendular’, an irregular spreading tree with long, weeping branches that reach the ground.
The Boxwood Allee on the way to the stable always grabs everyone’s attention. During this part of the walk, Ryan explains how we care for the boxwood and cover all the shrubs with burlap every winter to protect them from the elements.
During the warmer months, I love to display tropical plants around the farm. These potted plants are on the cobblestone courtyard in front of my stable.
The garden behind my Summer House is always a favorite stop on the tour. Ryan pointed out the tall, old Ginkgo tree at the back – the focal point of this garden. He also talked about the boxwood, including the small Tide Hill boxwood hedge – a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a ground-hugging habit.
On the sides, growing Itoh peonies. The Itoh peony, also known as the intersectional peony, is a hybrid that combines the best qualities of its parent plants: tree peonies and common herbaceous peonies. As a result, Itohs have enormous, long-lasting blooms and strong stems, as well as dark green, lush, deeply lobed foliage that lasts until autumn. With flowers that can spread up to eight inches across, Itoh peonies are available in a variety of vibrant colors including yellow, coral, pink, red, and white.
The group gathered on the steps of my Summer House for a photo.
Before ending the tour, the group gathered on my terrace parterre for more refreshments. These delicious pastries are from LMNOP Bakery in nearby Katonah. LMNOP Bakery uses milled flour and other wholesome ingredients from local sources and bakes fresh items every day.
My dear friend, Memrie Lewis helped to host the garden tour in my absence. Here she is enjoying a pastry and a glass of iced coffee.
Here’s another look at the bald cypress trees that shed their needle-like leaves in the fall. In fact, they got their name “bald” cypress because they lose their leaves so early in the winter season.
The tour concluded back at the foot of the flower cutting garden. It was an excellent morning and a great walk around the farm. And in good time – this group has another four gardens to visit before the day is done. Thanks for coming to Cantitoe Corners, Garden Conservancy Society of Fellows.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm this morning, I am welcoming a group of more than 30 guests to view my late spring gardens.
With so much to do, everyone pitched in yesterday to get everything ready for the first tour of the season. Among the many tasks on our list - polish the silver, wash the glasses, weed the garden beds, edge the carriage roads, pick flowers, clean the fountains, and tend to the many outdoor potted plants. Fortunately, Mother Nature cooperated - it was a beautiful day and the farm looks gorgeous.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
After more than two years, I am finally able to open my farm for a select number of private walking tours to view the gardens. Most of them are conducted in late spring and early summer. It takes a lot of work to get the farm ready for these events – there are so many details to cover. Look closely and one can see Phurba weed whacking the newly mowed allée between my horse paddocks.
All the garden beds and tree pits are weeded and mulched. This Japanese maple is planted next to what I call my Stewartia Garden outside my Tenant House – aptly named because I have several Stewartia trees in this large bed. And, do you know why I love Stewartia trees? My last name is “Stewart” after all.
All the lawns are mowed and raked. This is my party lawn soccer field. My grandson, Truman, loves to play soccer here when he visits. Located between my long pergola and my pool, it is a beautiful, flat, and expansive space for lots of summertime games.
Up on my terrace parterre, Phurba cleans out the fountains.
This is one of two hand-casted antique fountains I purchased many year ago and finally installed in 2018. They look so nice on this terrace and all the visiting birds love to bathe in them.
Here, Pete uses a hoe to carefully hand edge the carriage road and create straight lines.
Look how nice the carriage road is after a little edging.
After Pete edged, Fernando follows behind to rake the debris.
Meanwhile, inside my Winter House, Carlos “dos” is busy at the sink cleaning and polishing the silver.
Look how these trays shine once they are done.
Linen napkins are pulled, ironed, and placed nicely on silver trays so they are ready to distribute.
Glasses are washed, wiped dry, and also placed on a tray – any chores that can be completed ahead of time are done the day before, so there is as little rushing around as possible the day of the event.
Potted plants are brought out of the greenhouse and displayed on my plant stand in the kitchen courtyard. Arranging potted plants is a great and inexpensive way to decorate both indoors and out.
More plants are placed on this plant stand – everything is also watered ahead, so pots are not dripping when guests arrive.
My new lead peacock gifted to me by my friend, antiques expert Vincent Manzo, is positioned and ready to greet visitors.
Enma cuts buckets of fresh roses for flower arrangements.
I adore roses and have grown them for more than 25-years. Right now, my roses are blooming all over the farm – all with their colorful petal formations and beautiful fragrances.
And look at these beautiful rose blooms. It is one of my favorite climbing varieties – Rosa ‘Veilchenblau’ – a mauve hybrid multiflora rose cultivar and the best known violet rambler. Other names are ‘Bleu-Violet’, ‘Blue Rambler’, ‘Blue Rosalie’ and ‘Violet Blue’. The cultivar was bred by Hermann Kiese in Germany in 1909. These Veilchenblau roses are stunning on my long and winding pergola.
My orchard surrounding the pool has more than 200 fruit trees. All the square tree pits are also weeded and the lawns mowed. Earlier this season, we expanded these tree pits to keep the mowers at a safe distance, so branches are not disturbed.
My new yew table in the pavilion outside my pool is wiped down and the chairs are all dusted clean.
And here’s Fernando doing what we call “dragging” the roads. We created this special device to rake the gravel, so it is even and picks up any debris along the way. This is done every couple of weeks to keep the roads looking neat and tidy. The bag on the rakes is used to keep them weighted and touching the surface.
It is made from four soft garden rakes attached to a wooden frame. It is crucial to maintain gravel roads, so water can flow properly during storms.
Fernando drives the four miles of carriage road around the property several times at the end of the day.
Look at the carriage road after it is raked. This section is right in front of my Winter House. When maintaining a road it is important to ensure it has a crowned driving surface and a shoulder area that slopes directly away from the edge for water drainage. Everything is looking ready for the morning tour.
There goes Fernando again. I will be sure to share photos from the garden tour in my next blog. Stay tuned.
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