It looks almost like an ornamental garden that has been carefully designed, rolling down the slope of New Hampshire. The hedges are dotted with tall shrubs that create vertical accents. Foxglove spires rise. Mounds of colour mix well, and the chalky blue leaves act as a leitmotif. But don’t wait. You will soon discover that Jenny Lee Hughes and Edward Yoxen’s garden has been created and filled with Asian greens. The garden in Stoddard, New Hampshire, is a beautiful place to be. Jenny adds many backyard vegetables.
Jenny’s design strategy is successful if you feel hungry while walking through Jenny’s garden. Jenny is the product of a long lineage of organic vegetable gardeners. Back then, vegetables were kept separate from flowers. Jenny moved to Boston in her first apartment and saw her Puerto Rican and Italian neighbours fill their tiny city lots with the freshest flowers and food they could find. Jenny says, “They taught me how you can make raised beds in places that you wouldn’t think anything could grow.” Jenny could take the wisdom of her city neighbours and integrate it on a larger scale when she studied landscape design at Radcliffe College in 2004.
Soil Improvement
Edward and Jenny bought the land to enjoy the view. The practicality came later when they started to address the 1770 “completely wrecked” house included with the acreage. When a flock of sheep arrived, they would spend all their energy on the house. Jenny’s mother realized she couldn’t keep the Romney sheep her family had bred for many decades. The flock required clearing 12 acres to make room for a sunny pasture. Jenny began to see her vision for a food-rich landscape. Sheep were grazing in a nearby fenced pasture.
Jenny has many talents, including jazz vocals, fibre arts and stonewall design. She used all these inspirations to enhance her abilities as a landscape designer. Jenny also had access to her extensive personal library. “I have over a thousand gardening books, especially the ones with many pictures.” She learned a lot by experimenting on her land. The soil is very well drained. However, fertility is a problem. Jenny adds compost to the soil and layers new wool to improve water retention. Her land has the muscle it needs to carry out the many tasks she’s given.
Layout Design
Jenny planted several Thuja occidentalis “Degroot’s Spire” to provide strong vertical sentinels that give the garden height against the background of distant hills. She also adopted many other conifers and boxwood to create squares. Her work with the garden also informs her ideas. She says that turning around forces you to stop at a turn and pivot. What you see is a surprise. Jenny’s garden often has surprises, such as rows of beefy and leafy vegetables.
Jenny loves rich colours and bold combinations in her garden. You can see her collection of ‘Danish Flag’ and ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ as well as other poppies that she loves. You’ll see that the flowers enhance the family’s food supply. The blooms can be used with other crops like garlic, leeks and onions, beans and peas, zucchini, potatoes and pumpkins. It’s not only vegetables that are included; fruits and berries are also included.
