A Beautiful Habitat–Gardening in Harmony with Nature

About

Twenty-five years ago, I fell in love with a house tucked into the middle of an acre of Southwestern Pennsylvania woodland, a gardener’s blank slate of woods and lawns. When a butterfly landed on my flowered shirt looking for food as I was digging the first garden bed, I promised it a home where it could thrive.

The garden has evolved into a multi- layered and complex habitat where native plants jostle with traditional ones and birdsong is heard from dawn to dusk. The mostly shaded gardens in front of the house are relaxed and casual and provide an ongoing experiment for discovering what plants will survive and thrive under deer pressure.

A naturalistic garden of pollinator plants and grasses occupies a sunny area in front of the cedar gate entrance. The fenced back gardens feature a woodland walk lined with a fallen tree trunk and are filled with understory trees, native ferns, sedges and heuchera. Nearby, a rose-covered arbor leads to a large sunny flower garden below the house, designed in concentric circles. This garden looks traditional but features a high percentage of native plants in each bed mixed among roses, lilies, and foxglove.

Rustic stone steps take you to a large deck filled with colorful pots of flowers, perfect for surveying the lower garden surrounded by mature woodlands. You

can see photos and videos of my garden at lynnpurse.com

This garden's estimated size is 1 acre.

This Garden Host reports the following Terrain Notes about the garden: There is a gradual sloping lawn leading into the lower garden. From the circle garden, there are rustic stone steps without a handrail leading up to the deck from that garden. Visitors who prefer not to walk up the stone steps from the lower garden can retrace their path to the front of the house and enter through the main gate to reach the deck for viewing the lower garden.

2026 Open Day Date: Saturday, June 13

Open Day Hours: 10am–4pm