Kingsmont

Our garden is located on a 12-acre site in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts near the border with New York state. The land, once part of a summer camp, is terraced down the eastern side of Harvey Mountain, which is immediately west of the site. We began to develop the gardens in 2010 after converting the former camp gymnasium into our home. Gardens now surround the house on all sides. We started by planting a front border made up of evergreen and deciduous trees, then moved on to other areas of the garden. The circular drive in front of the house is surrounded by borders of flowering trees, shrubs, grasses and perennials. Since the house is stained a strong color, the plantings closer to the house (mainly mixed borders) emphasize different shades of green with varying foliage shapes and textures. Between the house and barn is a bank with a mixed planting of trees, shrubs, perennials and floral carpet roses (Tesselaar, Amber). Adjacent to the barn is a trellised garden with raised vegetable beds and apple trees. On the north side of the barn are cutting beds of mostly annuals started from seeds. They are bordered on the north by a stone retaining wall, and a bank of hydrangeas, Cornus mas, and fastigate oaks. Behind the house and barn, a grassy bank punctuated by London plane trees runs down to a large pond flanked by mature maple, pine, oak, and spruce trees The pond, designed by Anthony Archer Wills, was built in 2017 and has provided us with a new and interesting set of gardening challenges. Continuing to the south of the pond, the banks feature beds of tall grasses and flowering shrubs. One bed surrounds an array of solar collectors. To the east the solar array is an experimental xeriscape garden (in very gravelly soil) adjacent to one naturalized meadow and overlooking another. Coming back up the stone step path to the house level leads to a lawn that extends southward from the house between stone walls and flanking beds into the remains of an old sugar maple allée.

This garden's estimated size is 5 acres.

Open Days 2024:  Sunday, July 28
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.