History of The Garden
History of Bedrock Gardens
The original farmhouse dates to before 1800, with an unconfirmed date of 1740. It has all the difficulties of colonial construction including being too close to the road, and having a rock foundation, horsehair, hand cut lath, no insulation, etc. The po
st and beam barn was built about 1874, from money obtained after some of the farm land was appropriated by the Eminent Domain Act of 1852 for the creation of a railroad bed, now Route 125. The property was cleared, and then run as a dairy farm by the Piper family from 1845 to 1957. It was sold by Annie Piper to the present owner in 1980 on a handshake. The sixth generation of the Piper family live across the road.
Work on the farm as a landscaped project started about 1987. Virtually all of the work has been done by the two owners. The scrub growth and grown-in fields were cleared, access roads were established, and the woods thinned, trimmed, and managed under forester and arborist advice. Bed by bed, gardens were eeked out. In 1991, a wildlife pond was added. In 1999, a family room was added to the original house, but the original house itself and the outbuildings, including the three-hole outhouse, remain.
The garden includes many structural elements such as paths, an espaliered fence, an arborvitae hedge, architecturally interesting rocks, pergolas, and garden art. The beds have exceptional plant varieties, often started as seedlings, including many unusual specimens of perennials, trees and shrubs.
Noteworthy features include:
• two 900 foot cross axis
• a 3/4 acre wildlife pond with bridge
• a parterre formal garden with pool
• a 400 foot allée
• a spiral garden
• a pinetum (‘Conetown’)
• a rock garden
• 1/2 acre ornamental grass 'painting' ('GrassAcre')
• various fountains and water features (including the 200 foot' Wiggle Waggle')
• several pergolas and shelters
• many sculptures and
• two miles of woodland trails.