A Very Special New Hampshire Garden
Several years ago, a few members of “team TMS” were lucky enough to tour an amazing place known as Bedrock Gardens, located in Lee, New Hampshire, 20 miles inland from NH’s coast and halfway between Boston and Portland. We recently received a postcard announcing this year’s series of Open House events at the gardens which prompted this post about the gardens and to urge you to attend one of these marvelous self-directed tours. It is an experience not to be missed!
As Bedrock Garden’s website explains, the garden was started in 1987 by its two owners, Jill Nooney, who calls herself the “the problem maker” and Bob Munger, her counter- point as the “problem solver”. The gardens’ origins were humble in the beginning but it has now become a 20-acre “destination garden” on 37 acres of land.
Designed to be a garden journey, moving through the gardens is a visual feast with an amazing array of plants, hardscape and sculptural pieces to be enjoyed during your excursion.
In Jill’s words, “My goal is to create an environment where the more you look, the more you see. This is what pleases me and it appears to appeal to others who visit as well. “
The majority of the work on the garden was performed by the two owners over time and includes a variety of elements such as paths, an espaliered fence, pergolas and garden art. Among the many noteworthy features to be discovered are a ¾ acre wildlife pond, a parterre formal garden, ¾ acre of ornamental grass “painting”, fountains and water features and two miles of woodland trails.
The Bedrock Gardens Open House 2015 schedule:
• May 16,17
• June 20,21
• July 18,19
• August 15, 16
• September 19, 20
• October 10,11 12
The hours for the tours are Saturdays, 10am-4pm, Sundays, 12pm-4pm. As the photographs attest, because there are so many different things to be seen each season, you will need to make several visits to see all the seasonal splendor. Please visit their impressive website, www.bedrockgardens.org for more photographs, history and garden information.
