Books & Blooms 2022

Garden 3 – A Landscape Garden in a Bucolic Setting

A landscape garden that is very much an extension of the house and sits tucked into a southern-facing hillside. Formerly the weekend house of Senator Abraham Ribicoff, the current owners’ renovations were not finished until late in 2020 and although they had never envisioned a plan for a designed garden, it proved irresistible to create beds around a steep terraced stairway, designed by Michael Trapp to give access from the house to the pool.  

Viburnum, dogwood,  and witch hazel maximize the spring, fall, and winter impact. The owners’ daughter’s wedding last year was the impetus to plant more perennials and annuals, with many of the larger plants being dug up and transported from their former garden in Darien. White birches are a big feature of the woods surrounding the house and have been repeated copiously in order to visually connect the garden to the greater landscape. “Winter Sowing” is a new obsession – motivated by a desire to bring the meadow into the garden.

This garden involves considerable walking and a steep climb so is not suitable for anyone uncomfortable walking long distances.