Open Days Westchester Garden Conservancy 6/29

This garden of many facets includes perennial borders, three water gardens, a formal vegetable garden, wildflower garden, a fern garden, a marsh garden, a tree platform overlooking the marshlands, a woodland walk, a hidden garden, and a formal croquet court. The garden extends over seven acres, the back four acres of which are a study in what deer do not eat.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $5

Directions: From Bedford Village, take Route 22 towards Katonah to intersection at Bedford Cross. Garden is on left. Please park at Rippowam School and walk to #531.

Owned by two artists, one a singer and the other a sculptor, their typical split-level house lies on one-third of an acre, and is backed by a very atypical ravine that is a rock cut of the former New York, Westchester & Boston Railway (1912-1937). Louise claimed the best sunny areas and designed magnificent mixed borders using perennials, small trees, shrubs, annuals, and bulbs to create gardens that are in bloom all season long. Many of her plants are grown from seeds. Eliot mostly got the shady areas, including the bottom of the ravine, an especially challenging wet, shady area. He built numerous dry-stacked stone walls, terracing the slope in the ravine. With rocks from local cemeteries, he created banks on the intermittent stream running down the center of the ravine. Various paths were created from fieldstone, bluestone, slate, or gravel. His focus is on foliage color and texture.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $5

Directions: From Hutchinson River Parkway South, take Exit 20/Weaver Street. Turn left at light at end of ramp onto Weaver Street. Go to third light and turn right onto Quaker Ridge Road. Go to first light and turn right onto Broadfield Road (street sign on left reads Sussex Road). Go to stop sign, bear left onto Rolling Way. Go to #37 on left. (House is 2 miles from Hutchinson exit).

From Hutchinson River Parkway North, take Exit 17/North Avenue. Turn right at light at end of ramp onto North Avenue. Go to second light and turn left onto Quaker Ridge Road. Go to second light and turn left onto Broadfield Road (street sign on right reads Sussex Road). Go to stop sign and bear left onto Rolling Way. Go to #37 on left. (House is 2 miles from Hutchinson exit).

The garden consists of several garden rooms on different elevations. There are a considerable variety of boxwoods and other broadleaf evergreens, most notably mountain laurel. Water elements, stone work and a view of the Pound Ridge reservation are highlights.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: $5

Directions: From west take I-684 to Exit 6/Route 35. Go east to Route 123, south to Mill River Road to Lake Kitchawan Road to Hemlock Road. All are one directional turns.

Starting from scratch, our eleven-year-old gardens have evolved to both ward off and take advantage of the ever-present white tailed deer. All gardens are organically cultivated featuring open flowerscapes, wildflower meadow paths, and woodlands. Only the vegetable and berry gardens are deer fenced and while we try to take advantage of deer-resistant plantings, they are interspersed with flowers that although favored by most herds, make it safely through the summer months. Incorporating seating areas, stone, and even a bit of water, one never knows what they will find on our productive four acres.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $5

Directions: Take Exit 7 off of I-684. Take Route 116 toward Salem Center about 5 miles. Turn right onto June Road. We are between 116 and 121. House is 0.2 mile south of North Salem Post Office.