The Gardens

On our property, stone was truly the litter of the bluestone quarry industry, and the gardens have evolved mostly in relation to stone structures: first the landscaping walls by the original ranch house and quarry pond, then the Spiral House and the walls surrounding it, and often around Tom's sculpture. A need to fix something (the fountains in the pond) or solve an architectural challenge (the different elevations on the north and south sides of the Spiral House), resulted in stonework that created space for gardens that then suggested the possibility of paths . . . and so walls and gardens have been a constantly evolving theme in the landscape. The walls are designed to make the gardens and stream-fed quarry pond more accessible, providing a way not just to get to them but also to be in them. Walls morph into stairs which morph into seats . . . and back to walls again, an expression of unity rather than of the division that is the typical purpose of walls. Seats at different levels create intimate relationships with the sights and sounds, the colors and textures of the constantly changing life in the garden. On a metaphysical level, the stone and the gardens represent the Absolute and the Manifest — the unchanging reality of the eternal stone providing structure for the beautiful impermanence of the plants. As with all art, one needn't be consciously aware of the symbolic meaning to feel its effect. — Patty Livingston