New Pond Farm, Redding, CT

Gardens

Around the House and Barn

An avid gardener, Carmen inspired the creation of extensive perennial beds. Near and around the main house, there is quite a variety of gardens. Towering rhododendrons surround the back yard and provide the backdrop for the lawn's peripheral gardens that include yarrow, goldenrod, asters, lilies, peonies, and jack in the pulpit. There is a lily garden that reaches its peak in the middle of July and on the other end of the lawn there is a shady spot under the false cypress where hostas and astilbe grow.

A few steps down is the sunken garden bordered by a beautiful display of rhododendrons and soaring stone walls. These gardens house many shade loving plants such as bleeding heart, columbine, campanula, and ferns. This enchanted place has been the setting for many different farm events.

Next to the main house inside the privet hedges lies the Colonial herb garden. One side is Colonial medicinal herbs and the other is Colonial culinary herbs. Designed by local nurseryman Sal Gilberte, these gardens can be found abounding with herbs at all times during the growing season. A comprehensive guide written by local Connecticut Master Gardeners is available in the office. Carmen’s cutting garden of lily, iris, heliopsis, coriopsis, delphinium, astilbe, lady's mantle and peonies runs the length of the old stonewall. Toward the barnyard, concord grapevines wind their way across the trellis.

Along the Stream to the Pond

On the farm road along the stream stands Carmen's original vegetable garden, initially created in the mid-80s. This garden is a large area where a variety of summer vegetables are grown, a blueberry patch, and a children's garden that also houses some raspberries. A wide variety of annuals featured in our Weekly Bouquet program brighten the gardens’ perimeters. This well fortified area keeps out our hungry woodchucks and deer so that the summer campers, young gardeners, and Shared Harvest members can enjoy its bounty.

Closer to the pond, two other gardens are situated along the stream. One is a garden planted to attract passing butterflies adorned with buddleia, butterfly weed, asters, and bee balm. Next, across from the old oak, is a composite garden filled with a variety of plants in the composite family including rhudbeckia, echinacea, beebalm, tansy, and yarrow.

Around the bend, along the stream grow peonies, iris, and milk weed. Just over the land bridge at the south end of the pond sits a glorious peony and iris garden. At the end of June each year, this beautiful display is a must-see for many members. The pond is surrounded by many native plantings such as joe pye, milkweed, clethra as well as ornamentals such as flowering quince and ornamental grasses.

Bog Garden

On the southwest corner of the pond, by the woodland trail entrance, you will find our newly created bog garden. As you walk along the surrounding walkway you will discover wonderful examples of our native carnivorous plants--identifying markers are in place during the growing season. The thread leafed and round leafed sundews have sweet, sticky leaves that attract and entrap small insects. The leaves of the pitcher plants are modified into a shape that belies their name. When an insect enters the pitchers in search of water, they soon discover the inner surface is covered with downward-pointing hairs, which make it difficult for them to crawl out. Each of these plants use the insects as a source of nutrients. Our pitcher plants will have red flowers between May-July while the sundews have white to light pink flowers between June and August.

Shakespeare Garden

Across from the pond is a small island of trees which acts as the stage of our Summer Shakespeare Program. Close by, just beyond the winterberry stand, northeast of the pond the elliptical shaped Shakespeare Garden grows. During the growing season, you will find identification stakes by the plantings that include quotes from the Bard’s plays and sonnets Plants in this garden include parsley, chives, rosemary, artemisia, foxglove, yarrow, mint, and rose.

Through the Pastures

Not far from the Shakespeare garden as the pastures begin to form, the grasses are mowed just to the edge of the woods. Under the branches next to an old cistern, a watercress garden thrives in the stream.