Westminster West -- Hayward Garden

Object Details

GUID

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/kb6348782db-b9b4-4f9c-bd8d-72b7affb6963

General

The owners describe their one and one-half acre ornamental garden as a new garden in an old place, with its 200 year-old colonial farmhouse and attached barn, low stone walls, and old farm building foundations that have been repurposed as distinctive garden rooms within surrounding meadows and woods. They purchased the property in 1983 and spent about one year clearing the land of scrap metal and other debris, brambles and weed trees, a rotting barn, dead trees, and an old Nash Metropolitan automobile. The garden style is English, with a rectilinear format from south to north softened by lush growth in season and more evident in the long Vermont winter. The design began by drawing a straight line from the front door of the house to a 75-year-old apple tree. There is a crab apple orchard along that main axis that can be seen from the house. Brick and pea stone gravel walks, 90-foot long mixed borders, and an herb garden laid out in formal parterres are either parallel or perpendicular to the central axis of the garden. The 14 garden rooms are delineated by clipped hedges of varying heights, many of yew but also other plant materials for variation. There are four places to sit within the garden: a gazebo at the far end reached through a tunnel of pleached copper beech, an outdoor dining room on pavers under tall trees, a bench slightly above and overlooking their spring garden, and another bench next to a shed near the herb garden.

Creating a garden in harmony with the rural location was important to the owners, who subsequently purchased 19 adjacent acres and preserved the meadows and woods with the Vermont Land Trust. To instill harmony in the diverse garden rooms the owners adhere to three themes: hedges for structure, black locust posts and terra cotta containers for materials, and burgundy and other reds for the color that recurs throughout the garden rooms. Since the entire garden is unified it is possible to add variations without muddling the design. Honoring the long gone dairy farms they have turned the foundations of a milking parlor into a garden room that has low, drought tolerant plants growing among the stone flooring and three rusted milk cans. The cracked cement foundation of a former silo was turned into a pond with a fountain built into a stone wellhead and a statue of Buddha on the shore.

Gordon Hayward has written many articles for Horticulture, Taunton's Fine Gardening, and regional magazines using his own garden to teach design aesthetics and their practical application. Topics include the effective placement of planted and unplanted containers and other garden ornaments, how to build a small fountain, the importance of proportions to design, how to set vertical posts, and tips on outdoor seating and dining rooms. Good design is illustrated by reshaping lawns to complement planted borders or trees, through consistent choices of decorative materials, through applying the principles of theme and variation when choosing what to put in the garden, and through planning for the winter garden with berries and crab apples for birds and good "bones" that become evident in winter.

Persons associated with the garden include: Gordon Hayward (owner, garden designer, and gardener, 1983- ), Mary Hayward (owner, garden designer, and gardener, 1983- ), Ephraim and Lydia Johnson Ranney, and their descendants in the Buxton and Reed families (former owners, circa 1790-1983); Helen O'Donnell (gardener, 2008-2015).

Gardener

O'Donnell, Helen

Owner

Hayward, Mary

Hayward, Gordon

Provenance

Garden Club of Dublin (New Hampshire)

Collection Creator

Garden Club of America

Place

Hayward Garden (Westminster West, Vermont)

United States of America -- Vermont -- Windham -- Westminster West

Topic

Gardens -- Vermont -- Westminster West

Gardener

O'Donnell, Helen

Owner

Hayward, Mary

Hayward, Gordon

Provenance

Garden Club of Dublin (New Hampshire)

See more items in

The Garden Club of America collection

The Garden Club of America collection / Series 1: United States Gardens / Vermont

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.

Custodial History

The Garden Club of Dublin facilitated the submission of this garden's documentation.

Archival Repository

Archives of American Gardens

Identifier

AAG.GCA, File VT019

Type

Archival materials

Collection Citation

Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.

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.

Bibliography

This property is featured in "The Gardener's House" by Ian Aldrich, published in Yankee, March/April 2014, pp. 115-119; "Chapter & Verse" by Tovah Martin, published in Design New England, May/June 2014, pp. 130-134; "The Haywards: A Garden Love Story" by Desha Peacock, published in at Home, Summer 2016, pp. 16-19; "A Garden Where Old England Meets New England" by Robin Sweetser, published in New Hampshire Home, May/June 2017, pp. 48-57 and in "Roots Run Deep," Martha Stewart Living, September 2018.

Scope and Contents

Hayward Garden includes 63 digital images and a folder that includes worksheets, photocopies of articles and additional images including a pamphlet about a musical program created for and perfomed in the garden in 2014 as a the Yellow Barn summer program.

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.

Record ID

ebl-1643208220039-1643210187685-1