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THE POND
The pond, excavated in 1985, is roughly 21 x 39 meters (70' by 130'). It varies in depth from 1.8 meters (for deep water plants such as water lilies) to several centimeters (for shore and bog plants). The pond area also features an island and a peninsula , home to several species of lady's slippers.
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THE MEADOW AND PRAIRIES
Bordering the north shore of the pond, there is a meadow which remains damp for much of the summer. Though the soil in this area is a heavy clay loam, its permanent dampness makes it a good host to many herbaceous and woody plants. The
Canada lily and the closed gentian, for example, grow at the borders of a mixed stand of willow, dogwood, and spirea.
There are several prairie or field habitats in the garden, all typified by being dryer than the meadow:
One, immediately adjacent to the meadow, has the same type of soil but is subject to drying out during the summer. Here many species of plants are the same as those in the meadow, but do not grow as rampantly or achieve the same size.
At the upper end of the field just mentioned is the slightly elevated plateau of the septic field required by the house's plumbing system. It has been the object of various attempts to coordinate the habits of prairie plants with the needs of human beings. For the moment, the gardening techniques being used here are experimental.
Higher up on the property there is a third open area which is very sandy. A supplement of horse manure has been dug into one end of this field to see if it would improve growing conditions enough to initiate a relatively self-regulated habitat. For the moment, purple cone flowers and wild lupines are doing well on the amended soil. Surprisingly enough, Sylphium terebinthinaceum is doing well on relatively pure "blow sand."
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Septic Field
Septic fields are designed to dispose of
biologically purified water through perforated tiles set about a half
meter below the surface; after escaping the tiles, the water evaporates.
Planting on a septic field is restricted by this system, because long-
rooted plants penetrate and block the holes from which the water exits.
As lawns, the most frequent solution to the problem, are impoverished
habitats, our approach has been to experiment mainly with prairie
wildflowers and varieties of thyme. With this approach, all "volunteer"
woody and long-rooted plants must be weeded out.
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Old Field
The term "old field" is used by ecologists to designate
areas that have beeen disturbed by cultivation then abandoned. They are
excellent places to study the process of succession by which plants of
various species replace each other as a field changes from an open space
to a forest. In this sense, our whole Garden is an "old field," although
this is best seen in the meadow and field areas.
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THE LOWER DECIDUOUS WOOD
To the east of the pond and the meadow, there is a low-lying wood which was originally fraught with drainage problems. The level of the soil has been gradually built up, drainage channels have been dug, and saplings of deciduous tree species - mainly sugar and red maple - have been planted under a canopy of poplar and white birch. Over ten thousand woodland plants - including white and red trilliums, hepatica, bellwort, rosy twisted stalk, wild ginger, foam flower, and maiden's hair fern - have been introduced to this micro-habitat. The ice storm of 1998 did a great deal of damage to this area in particular, and we are monitoring changes in growth patterns as carefully as possible.
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PINE BARRENS
On top of a bare dune of "blow-sand," white, red, and jack pine saplings have been introduced. This has encouraged the growth of white and pink spirea, and seems to have provided adequate conditions to sustain the introduction of the Philadelphia lily. The border between the Pine Barrens and the Dark Cedar Forest are rich in mosses and shade- loving plants. The crowns of the pines suffered a great deal of damage during the ice storm of 1998.
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THE DARK CEDAR FOREST
A product of natural regeneration since the abandonment of the pasture, the Dark Cedar Forest covers more than a third of the Garden. The thick canopy of eastern white cedar lets very little light reach the forest floor, and passage through these woods is impeded by countless dead saplings and withered branches. Nevertheless, even a slight opening in the canopy permits the growth of violets, mosses, and ferns. And the ghostly, translucid Indian pipe blooms on the shaded forest floor.
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THE NURSERY
In 1989 a portion of the Garden with very poor soil was
set aside to work on the germination and cultivation of wildflowers in
a systematic manner. The ground is laid out in cribs about a meter and a
half wide and three to five meters long; these are deep enough to hold
pots low enough to get good mulch and snow cover during the winter. The
trees which shaded part of the nursery were severely damaged during the
recent ice storm, requiring some modifications in the over-all
design.
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