The Lyman Hillside Garden

The Lyman Hillside Garden is also hosting a Digging Deeper on this date: Hillside Gardening Solutions

Nestled in a hillside next to a ravine, this garden is landscaped in a naturalistic manner among large weathered limestone and sandstone rocks added to the heavily sloped terrain. It features forsythia borders, dramatic ornamental grasses, and perennials (daylilies, yucca, black eyed Susans, irises) strategically placed around a waterfall cascading down the hill to a recirculating, reflecting pond. Started in combination with the 2008 long-term renovation of a 1920s Tudor home, the gardens were expanded when a new hillside garage was added in 2011. In 2021, a major renovation of hardscape was undertaken in order to integrate bank stabilization in the ravine, ground water management around the house and the shade garden borders. Material from the phases of site work have been integrated into the gardens, such as numerous large stones that became the foundation for the waterfall. With an emphasis on sustainability and reduced maintenance, groundcovers (periwinkle, pachysandra, lamb's ear, artemisia, and sedum) accent the gardens year-round. The ravine and creek run alongside the house, patio, and garden, providing a dramatic backdrop to the garden with many mature evergreen and deciduous shade trees. The sunny hillside gardens were designed to provide a continual flow of blooming perennials from April through October. In mid-July visitors will find a prolific display of over 25 varieties of daylilies throughout the hillside and border gardens. This lush habitat makes a home for frogs, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, cardinals, robins, and the occasional deer, offering a hidden sanctuary for wildlife in this six-acre city lot.

Open Days 2023: Saturday, July 15
Hours: 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.