When seen from a distance, it seems to be a well planned decorative garden that cascades down the side of a New Hampshire hill. Mounds of color bounce off one another, foxglove spires protrude up, towering bushes provide vertical highlights, lush green hedges partition space, and chalky blue leaves give a leitmotif. But hold on. As you go farther into the garden that Jenny Lee Hughes and her husband Edward Yoxen have designed, you’ll see that Asian greens, collards, cabbages, kale, leeks, and Swiss chard are all dotted over the terrain. Much of the beauty of this lavish garden in Stoddard, New Hampshire, comes from the veggies Jenny tosses in from her backyard to her plate.
Jenny has succeeded in her design plan if walking through her garden makes you feel hungry. Growing up on a backyard pick-your-own smorgasbord, Jenny was surrounded by a long line of organic vegetable growers. But flowers and vegetables were kept apart back then. After Jenny moved into her first apartment in Boston and saw her Italian and Puerto Rican neighbors fill their little city yards with the food and flowers they could not live without, that strategy was altered. “They taught me how to make raised beds in places where you wouldn’t imagine anything could grow,” Jenny elaborates. Many years later, in 2004, Jenny and Edward purchased a 50-acre plot in New Hampshire, where Jenny studied landscape design at Radcliffe College and had the chance to use the knowledge from her city neighbors on a much bigger scale.
Enhancement of Soil
The property was purchased by Jenny and Edward for the view. When they started to deal with their 1770 “complete wreck” of a home that came with the land, practicality finally set in. A herd of sheep altered their plans, since they had intended to focus all of their efforts on fixing up the home, taking in the view, and planting a few veggies just around the house’s foundation. After decades of breeding Romney sheep, Jenny’s mother concluded she could no longer maintain the lineage. To make room for a sunny pasture, 12 acres of land had to be cleared in order to adopt the flock. With sheep grazing in a nearby fenced pasture, Jenny’s image of her food-filled environment started to take form after they cleared the ground.
With skills ranging from stonewall design to jazz vocals and fiber arts, Jenny was able to draw inspiration from a wide range of sources to enhance her natural sense of design in landscape architecture. She also consulted her impressive private library. “I have about a thousand garden books—especially the kind with lots of pictures.” However, a lot of what she discovered came from her land’s experiments. The soil has excellent drainage, which is a plus; nonetheless, fertility is a problem. However, Jenny adds compost and even layers leftover, worthless wool to help retain moisture. Her land now has the strength to sustain all of the duties that are expected of it thanks to the soil’s increased density.
Create a Layout
Jenny planted a number of Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’ early in the garden’s development to act as sturdy vertical sentinels and give the garden height against the hills in the distance. She planted boxwood hedges and many of other conifers, cutting them into squares. Her thoughts are also informed by her collaborative efforts with the garden. “I find that turning a corner forces you to stop and pivot—what you see comes as a surprise,” she continues. The surprises in Jenny’s garden are often the meaty, green vegetables that grow in rows next to the flowers.
The designer indulges her passion for vivid hues and eye-catching combinations in Jenny’s garden. You can view her collection of her favorite poppies, “Danish Flag,” “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” “Lauren’s Grape,” and others from a distance. When you examine more closely, you’ll see that the blooms are really emphasizing the family’s food source. Blooms cooperate with other crops that Jenny and Edward gather, such as potatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, leeks, onions, beans, and peas. Not only are there vegetables but also fruits and berries, and on the sunny terrace next to the home, herbs grow in beds enclosed by stone.
Ideal Plant Combinations
In their little town, organic vegetables was hard to come by when Jenny and Edward initially began their garden. It’s still difficult to find the time to go grocery shopping. Their preference is to grow, gather, and can their own organic food. “I like knowing what we’re going to eat at the end of the day,” adds Jenny. The garden provides them with nourishment and is more than just a nice face. However, plenty really is beautiful in this instance.
The garden seems to be a tasty wild west, but it’s really thoughtfully laid out. To meet culinary demands, vegetables have their own beds and rows. Flowers nearby dance and sometimes trample on one other’s territory, to beautiful effect. The fruit trees are espaliered and poppies are positioned underneath them to prevent weeds from taking root. The chalk gray poppy seed heads mirror the color of the collards and cabbage heads long after their petals fall.
Not every flower is welcome to join them at the meal. Jenny has a soft spot for annuals that can weave throughout without taking up too much room, such red salvias, Nicotianas, Amaranthus, red orach, and double cosmos. Perennials that have small footprints and are well-mannered include Rudbeckia, Sanguisorba, Nepeta, Helenium, and drumstick allium (Allium sphaerocephalon). Additionally, she has a preference for certain pairings, like cosmos with leeks and nasturtiums with cucumbers. Convenient mishaps are welcomed. As an example, the self-sown foxgloves (Digitalis ferruginea) mimic the exclamation points of Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spires’ by growing long, wand-like flower stalks.
Accentuating Decorative Greens
Vegetables are not only tasty but also aesthetically pleasing. A boxwood parterre has rows of cauliflower, collards, and leeks. A row of Swiss chard named ‘Bright Lights’ tops a wall.
Combining Flowers and Trees
Spreading its branches over ‘Danish Flag’ poppies (Papaver somniferum) is an espaliered ‘Gravenstein’ apple. Jenny planted an ocean of Papaver somniferum ‘Lauren’s Grape’ at the base of the slope, complemented with a variety of whisper pink Echinacea purpurea petals.
Garden Walkways with Curves
Jenny’s favorite perennials, including a phlox she clipped to a rounded shape in June, are scattered around the curving walk that leads from the home into the garden. The top route winds up along a lush berry garden covered by boxwood, although for the most part it passes through more ornamentals than vegetables. In the yard, the Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’ nearly seem like exclamation points.
Include Animals
The dark ram, Bill Bailey, makes sure the flock will always have wool in a variety of colors. Numerous Claras are descended from the ewe Clara Schumann. In November, Jenny chops her flock because the local fiber artisans really value their exquisitely colored wool.
Make a Way
The large garden is navigated with the aid of stone pathways and staircases. Digitalis ferruginea mimics the spires of the arborvitae, while Clematis ‘Betty Corning’ softens the wall as you descend the stairs from the top terrace. Beside the berry bushes and beyond Acer dissectum ‘Inaba-shidare’, there’s an uneven stone walk that leads to a beautiful parterre garden.