Antonia's Garden

By Antonia Hieronymus

When looking for a property suitable for raising a family and building a garden in 1994, my main criterion was to live by water. A property overlooking an old reservoir seemed perfect, so we jumped at it. Perhaps it should have been a clue that the house had been on the market for seven years?!  It was our first rookie mistake. While we do have mosquitoes in my native England, they are innocuous compared with the blood-sucking behemoths which teem in their thousands around us. The entire property is on a slope with a swamp and stream, presenting many design, wetlands and erosion challenges. The land had been completely abandoned, and the forest had long ago claimed back any garden there had been. And then I found out that Massachusetts doesn't really have soil, it's more like rocks with bigger rocks.

Undeterred, we set about building our dream garden. My husband (from Iowa, zone 4) was a conifer expert. I love flowers, so we figured that we would meet half-way in shrubland. Rather than fight the conditions we embraced them, using the rocks and local stone to build retaining walls, giving us much-needed flat beds to work in. The streams became features to build around, and we installed two ponds. We gradually cleared and reclaimed the garden, using the cuttings and weeds to make compost, which was then used to augment the soil. 

My beloved husband  passed away eight years ago but his garden legacy lives on. I hear his voice in his conifers and trees, which are now mature, reminiscent of the slow march of time.

photo By Antonia Hieronymus

I think of the garden as my canvas, on which to play with color, shape, texture. The garden is a reflection of me—some parts formal, some relaxed, traditional and modern, serious and whimsical. Two stone spheres stand like strong sentinels. The stone spiral draws you in. If a tree falls, I will put its stump in the stump garden, hollow out the trunk and use it as a planter, make a sculpture from the branches, all trying to use what nature has given me.

photo By Antonia Hieronymus

photo By Antonia Hieronymus

I have 43 Japanese maples (my kids make me promise not to buy any more!) It has taken me 30 years to understand how to prune them, to reveal each specimen’s individual beauty. I'll ignore the kids' imprecations and get just one more!

Interestingly, the mosquitoes seem to have gotten used to me over the years and largely leave me alone.

What joy every year to see what nature will bring, to see how things have grown, to plan and re-plan new beds and combinations. Every time I think it's complete, it changes and I am intrigued to see where we both go next. 

Antonia gardens in Wayland, Massachusetts.