Art in the garden grows lusher every year

Aiming to be bigger and better than ever, this year’s Guild Hall “Garden as Art” benefit will include 10 private and public gardens in and around the East Hampton area.

According to Guild Hall Executive Director Ruth Appelhof, this year’s event is a must-see. “We have the most creative, fabulous balance of oceanfront, spectacular and beautiful settings ever,” she said. “And many of these private gardens have never been open to the public, so that’s a real thrill.”

The annual “Garden as Art” tour, now in it’s fifth year, serves as a major fund-raising event for Guild Hall, according to Ms. Appelhof. The center, which is undergoing renovation, includes a museum, the Boots Lamb Education Center and the John Drew Theater. Even so, she noted in a recent interview, the tour serves as more than just a fund-raiser.

“It’s a great way to get the community involved and it’s also an educational opportunity for those that are interested in gardens,” she said. “Of course, there are also just spectacular things to see.”

Nina Gillman, the chairman of the “Garden as Art” committee, said that though she is only an amateur gardener, she enjoys the range of styles included the tour. “There are personal gardens to expansive, lavish gardens that are professionally designed ... it’s very varied,” she said.

Ms. Gillman added that there is another component to the tour that draws her back every year: “It’s a great way to form ties and make connections with other people in the community; there are so many different pieces to it that you feel like you’re at a big house party.”

Gardens featured on this year’s tour, on Saturday, August 23, include seven private gardens in East Hampton and Sagaponack, Rachel’s Garden at Mulford Farm in East Hampton, the Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack and Longhouse Reserve in East Hampton.

Dr. Richard Axel’s Georgica garden, which was originally owned by art dealer Ben Heller, contains numerous large specimen trees, including conifers, Japanese maples and beeches. The plantings are reminiscent of Alfonso Ossorio’s conifer collection at The Creeks.

A 1920s era Italianate stone grotto garden filled with pots and contemporary sculpture will be seen at the old “Spencecliff” estate in East Hampton. That garden includes a pebble-filled courtyard, cutting garden and orchard.

A “gardener’s garden” 35 years in the making by Calista and Ira Washburn will also be on the tour. A three-story-high espaliered pear tree and perennial and mixed borders add a modern complement to the 1737 residential architecture.

Alpine plants and rock gardens define the dramatic vision created by propagator Lalitte Scott Smith and her late husband, Howell Scott. Perennial borders and specimen trees complete the East Hampton garden.

An original 1810 Hayground windmill sits on the oceanfront property of Stefanie and Fred Schuman. Plantings in this seaside garden are low so as not to compete with the water view.

Another dramatic oceanfront residence in Sagaponack is the home of Sandy and Steve Perlbinder, a classic modernist residence overlooking a beach grass dune, two-acre pond, grassy meadows and high limbed trees.

A European-feeling courtyard is surrounded by tall tree and shrub plantings at the garden of Ian Gazes and Serge Krawiecki in East Hampton. A twig-style children’s playhouse is a key feature.

Tour ticket holders will also have access to three public gardens on Saturday.

Rachel’s Garden at Mulford Farm in East Hampton, created and tended by the Garden Club of East Hampton, consists of four quadrants including vegetables, herbs and other useful plants.

The Madoo Conservancy in Sagaponack is the creation of artist Robert Dash, who began developing the garden in 1967. The whimsical garden is an ever-changing composition characterized by dramatic and colorful outdoor furnishings and unusual pruning.

Longhouse Reserve’s 16 acres of landscape, sculpture, woodlands, water features and many gardens has also been added to this year’s tour. The East Hampton property reflects the vision of weaver and textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen.

The “Garden as Art” tour on Saturday, August 23, runs from noon to 5 p.m. The cost of the tour is $100.

Other events scheduled in addition to the actual tour include a Friday, August 22, cocktail party from 6 to 8 p.m.; a continental breakfast at the Maidstone club on Saturday, August 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., followed by an “Everything Under the Sun” historical lecture by Mac Griswold from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.; and a private luncheon for benefactors from noon to 2 p.m. For ticket prices and availability, call 324-0806 or visit www.guildhall.org.