Monday, June 18, 2012

Bedrock Gardens

We recently discovered Bedrock Gardens, a 30-acre gem in Lee, not far from our home. The gardens are the work of the couple that owns this private property, Jill Nooney and Bob Munger. In 1987 they began transforming an old dairy farm into a landscaped oasis, creating walking paths, access roads, terraced gardens and streams, vistas, sitting areas, and much more. Jill is a sculptor and her dramatic pieces are placed throughout the property; many are for sale on site or through her website, Fine Garden Art.

I'm not sure when they started opening their place to the public, but we just learned about the open houses recently. We visited the gardens last Saturday, one of the five open houses held from May to September. A local band was playing near the entrance, while a small flock of guinea hens scratched among the gardens and occasionally made a ruckus if too disturbed from their scratchings.

The gardens are now maintained with the help of volunteers and Jill and Bob are hoping to transfer Bedrock Gardens into a non-profit as a way to maintain this lovely space. It is a lot of work. You can read more about their lives and the history of Bedrock Gardens at their website here.

Here are some scenes from our Saturday wandering through Bedrock Garden. You will notice that many of the sculptures are made from old farm or industrial equipment  such as tractor seats, pitchforks, saw blades, wheels, axils; their barn is overflowing with piles of such raw material for future sculptures.

A pair of horse heads guard the entrance to the Perterre Garden.

Gardens decorated with sculptures slopes down from the barn.

The shade garden is filled with hostas and adorned with Gem Stems,
made from glass deck prisms.

A view from the shade garden.

One of my favorites: the Gymnasts mark the entrance to the Tea Garden.

The Tea House, provides a quiet get-away for guests or family.

Two rotating tractor seats provide a wide view of the Wiggle Waggle,
a 200-foot stream with spring house at the top.

A wind fence

A gathering of storks

Ballerinas and Guinea Hens

We plan to return to Bedrock Gardens during the other open houses, to see the gardens in different seasons. With so many gardens and paths and sculptures there is still so much to see.

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