United States of America -- Maryland -- Baltimore County
Scope and Contents:
35 digital images (2019).
General:
Hidehaven is set in 1/3 (8049 sq. ft.) of an acre on a leafy, winding side street in the Homeland section of northern Baltimore City in the Greater Homeland Historic District. Homeland was established in 1925 and laid out by the Olmsted Brothers design firm. The garden surrounds a two-bedroom, yellow, two-story brick, and clapboard house (built in 1942), set in a long, narrow, rectangular lot. The current owner purchased the property in 1999.
A small, front garden, with a flagstone path leading from the street into the garden, features a grassy area bordered on three sides with a curved shade garden planted with Japanese maples, Japanese white pines, a western Limber pine, a Himalayan pine, perennials, ground covers, grasses, and small and mid-size boulders.
Stone paths wind around either side of the house into the larger back garden. Alongside the right of the house are garden beds on either side of a path, planted with dry-loving plants (herbs, annuals, and perennials). The path leads to the main garden through an arbor covered with chocolate vine.
The focus of the main garden is a grass oval surrounded by a boxwood hedge, providing a place for tranquil observation and contemplation of the surrounding plants, butterflies, and birds. The garden's many highlights include a lily pond and fountain with a stone surround created in 1999, four lampposts original to the garden, a dry stone wall, Baltimore cobble street pavers acquired to line both the front and back lawn area, wood trellis panels attached along the picket fences on either side of the garden for climbing roses, a small blue-stone patio with numerous pots and containers planted with succulents and annuals, Amish birdhouses, and small stone animal sculptures scattered throughout. In the winter, the owner maintains a greenhouse with LED gro-lights in her garage for wintering begonias, agaves, hanging baskets, and other fragile plants she wants to preserve.
From the outset, the owner wanted no straight lines in her garden. Curved garden beds around the grass oval create a flow to the eclectic plant-driven design she adapted from Scott Ogden (Plant-Driven Design: Creating Gardens That Honor Plants, Place, and Spirit), with layers of trees, shrubbery, vines, perennials, bulbs, native plants, and annual
The most prominent aspect of the overall planting scheme is what the owner describes as her "mini-arboretum:" numerous (17) evergreens (including dwarf conifers, a weeping white pine, an Atlas cedar, two weeping blue spruce), and small deciduous trees (including a Chinese elm shading the patio, a metasequoia, a weeping bald cypress, crape myrtles, a smoke tree, a weeping purple beech, two styrax, three redbuds, a katsura, American pink dogwood, a chamaecyparis, a gingko, a tri-color beach) were added to an existing sycamore and a crabapple, with the aim of providing year-round interest.
A major challenge for the owner is keeping order and harmony with what she describes as
"excessive" planting (she never met a plant she didn't like). She artfully controls color and meticulously prunes and shapes throughout the year. Another hurdle has been adapting the garden to more sun, from 75% shade to 15%, as the original tree canopy was lost to wind and age.
Persons associated with the garden's design: Diana Jacquot (1999-), and Mike Shertzer (landscape designer of Harvest Moon Landscapes, 1999-).
Provenance:
The Green Spring Valley Garden Club facilitated the 2022 garden documentation.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Arizona -- Maricopa -- Scottsdale
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of articles, garden plans, and other information.
General:
Located on 2.14 acres, this garden, located in the Sonoran Desert, was started in 1984. At that time an enclosed entry courtyard and multiple garden rooms surrounded a massive pool and area for entertaining. Plantings included native and non-native plants including shrubbery, peripheral trees, and a small patch of grass with orange, lemon, lime, and grapefruit trees. After the current owners acquired the property in 2005, the garden had been neglected for a number of years. They added a multi-level water feature connecting to the swimming pool as well as many new plantings. A cactus garden was added, providing color, shape, and texture. Vegetables and herbs planted in a raised boat-shaped bed was located a few feet from the house. At the back of the house the citrus trees planted by the original owners remained on the grassy area by a shaded patio. A stucco wall with metal gates protect the trees from desert wildlife. The garden also features sculptures of a horn blower and buffalo, colored pebbles, and a mural.
Vertical plants including candelilla, desert milkweed, giant red and yellow hesperaloe parviflora, lady slipper, and ponytail palm were included to draw the eye upwards. Beloperone, octopus agave, sugar bush, globe mallow, native brittlebush, chocolate flower, and desert marigold helped added shape, texture, and color. A native velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina) replaced a weeping fig (Ficus benjamina) by the front door. Plants were chosen for their low maintenance and low water qualities and carefully considered to ensure they would survive the harsh desert climate. As such, the garden did take some trial and error in determining which plants fared best. In addition, steps were taken to provide safety and ease of maintenance. Handrails were installed near steps while plants with dangerous spines were moved away from the pool area. In total it took the current owners about six years to complete their desert garden.
Douglas and Ann Simonson (former owners, 1984-1987); Wayne and Pencie Culiver (former owners, 1987-2005); Gerald A. Doyle & Associates, (architects, 1984).
Related Materials:
Riggs Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (17 digital images)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
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