From Our Gardens to Yours
The beauty and the magic of the Longue Vue gardens are such that Edith Stern was not content to keep them to herself, her family, and her personal guests: In 1968, Edith opened the gardens to the public so the entire community could experience them. Our job today is simple: Continue sharing Edith’s gardens with new audiences, from expert horticulturists to neighborhood families. Below we offer seasonal advice, details about our design and resources, and images of what you will find in bloom when you visit Longue Vue.
Ask a Gardener
Ask Director of Gardens Amy Graham about the Longue Vue Gardens, or for seasonal tips about your own garden: agraham@longuevue.com.
Ask About Pest Control
Ask Integrated Pest Management Gardener and Longue Vue newsletter columnist Simeon Benjamin about all of your natural pest control needs: sbenjamin@longuevue.com.
Celebrating Earth Day, Every Day
Eliminating leaf blowers and single-use plastics, practicing chemical-free lawn care, and processing 95% of garden waste on-site are some of the practices we have adopted in the last two years, as part of a site-wide commitment to land stewardship and a safer visitor experience, called EcoVue. Some elements of this site-wide effort are not visible – think UV sterilizers for fountain cleaning, LED light bulbs, and a smarter HVAC system. Some are in plain sight, as in our hügelkultur gardens found in the Wild Garden and along the greenhouse drive.
Hügelkultur is a German raised-bed building technique made popular within the growing permaculture movement, a blending of gardening and philosophy that integrates land, resources, people, and the environment by thoughtfully designing mutually beneficial relationships.
A hügelkultur garden is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, save money, grow food, and create a beautiful garden from debris. You build one by artfully stacking logs and incorporating your yard waste: wood chips, grass clippings, sticks, and compost. Top it with soil and mulch, and you create a very low-maintenance, raised bed. This system holds moisture while allowing for ample drainage; all the while, green matter is breaking down to create a prime habitat for soil organisms to take hold and providing plants with free available nutrients.
Please visit us on Earth Day to check out the hügelkultur beds!
Click HERE to read past From the Gardens columns from our newsletter.
Jakilah Mason, Gardener-in-Residence
Artist Statement: Jakilah Mason is a child of Africa who is learning to find their way back home. A lifelong learner and researcher, the Afro Garden is part of their continuing study of gardening, plant medicine, culinary arts, and African diasporic cultural practices. They received their MLIS degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014, and their Bachelor’s degree from New College of Florida in 2012. In addition to the residency at Longue Vue, they also work as a groundskeeper for the NOCCA Institute Press Street Gardens. Jakilah would like to thank their mother, Jacquelyn Mason, who fortunately for them was kind enough to share her gardening and cooking talents with her progeny. To connect with Jakilah over gardening or their other interests (including writing, music making, and genealogy) email them at jakilah.mason@gmail.com.
The Afro Garden’s goals are: to educate the public about African Diaspora culinary and medicinal knowledge, to demonstrate applications of this knowledge through cooking and medicine making, and to emphasize both the wide variety influences on African Diasporic cooking and its prominent influence globally.
