Garden of Marshall Watson

About

Set on a bluff overlooking Gardiner's Bay, this home maintains two gardens. One is a thoroughfare for a large herd of hungry deer and faces punishing ocean winds and salt, and one is partially fenced and partially walled. The entire property is transitioning to fully organic. The Charlestonian gates welcome you to the interior designer's garden. A gravel forecourt bordered by a holly stilt hedge, rhododendron bed, and gated potager features a wisteria-draped carriage house/ potting shed and a neoclassic gazebo which overlooks the walled garden. Note the log-rounds walkway built from cherry and oak trees felled by Hurricane Sandy. A gentle fountain greets you as you circle around the organic vegetable garden and ascend the Italian-inspired circular stairs. The gazebo is surrounded by cascading maples and a unique euonymus groundcover where variegated irises and allium pop through. As you proceed along the formal gravel entrance, flanked by boxwood and agapanthus, the first of many pear and apple espaliers appears. A Chionanthus virginicus bush and a golden climbing rose are set amongst topiary lilacs. The reflecting pool is flanked by two Hakuro-nishiki willow standards which frame the federal doorway of the Greek revival-style house. Versailles boxes are filled with David Austin tree roses and fig topiaries. A shade garden beneath a magnolia draws your eye up the hydrangea allée interspersed with pink, white, and blue hydrangea (almost patriotic) . Beyond the Chippendale gates lies the sea garden, where boxwood, sarcococca, Sargenti cherries, and osmanthus shelter peonies, asters, irises, tamarix, lambsear, and other deer-resistant varieties. A sea pebble-walk leads to a large marble table around which comfortable chairs are placed to enjoy the expansive water views. Though Italian influenced in the clipped evergreens and statuary, French influenced in the potager and espaliered trees, English influenced in the blowsy borders and variety of plants, and colonial influenced by its symmetry and formality, it is essentially a new American garden in its eclectic unity. And with many places to sit, lounge, rest, eat, and relax, it is ultimately a comfortable garden.

2025 Open Day:  Saturday, May 10 

Hours:10-5