Architecture and
Landscape
Patrick Hauck - Master Gardener Class Presentation
I’m Patrick Hauck, and like all gardeners, I like to dig in
and get my hands dirty. I’ve spent
nearly forty years working in the world of historic preservation, promoting the
revitalization of historic buildings and landscapes, so I’m really in my zone when
these two passions intersect.
This is a brief overview about our home and garden on Rural
Lane in West Mt. Airy, an ongoing effort for the last 14 plus years. The house is one of four identical Victorian
cottages built in the late 1880s along the Chestnut Hill West rail line.
This is an image of the Allen Lane station showing the four
newly built houses in the distance on the far left.
Here is another image of the rear of the houses, circa 1920,
as seen from a neighboring farm. Our
house is the second from the right on the ridge.
Here is the front of the property when we purchased it in
2004. As you can see the house is more than a little tired and the landscape
features one dying tree and one planted way too close to house. A project after
my own heart.
Fast forward to a few years ago and you can see what a
nearly a decade of sweat equity, a good paint job and the introduction of a mix
of plant materials including trees, perennials and annuals has done to breathe
life into the situation.
Here’s another view of the front of the property at the
start of the project, including a peek down to the back yard, showing a little
more of the side of the house and the lack of plant materials.
And here we see that same view with the now more established
perennial bed coming unto its own, helping to anchor the architecture to the
land through the introduction of color and texture.
And you thought the front was tired, check out the
back. It was time to roll up my sleeves
(and get out the checkbook) in order to restore this crumbling porch and establish
a new garden.
Sleuthing out the clues as to what the original porch looked
like and creating a really close match was a long process, but the results
still blow me away. In this image the establishment of the perennial garden
beds at the base of the porch area is beginning.
Here is a view of the same perennial bed in the spring a few
years later when it has become more established and serves as a stronger visual
anchor to the house.
This is the rear viewshed in the backyard before any work
began. Even in its ragged condition, it offered a gentle slope with southern exposure--a
blank slate and a gardener’s dream.
Here is the same view in early summer a few years back with
established perennial beds. Although the entire property is less than a quarter
acre, the borrowed view of the woods of the Cresheim Valley
provides the illusion of a much larger space.
Looking toward the lower part of the garden is another great
borrowed view – this time of the neighbors’ beautiful copper beech tree.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This little metal
1920’s garage was rough, but full of potential and function.
Here is it, all buttoned up and painted. It serves as both a
storage shed and garden folly and is anchored into the landscape with bushes,
perennials, flower boxes and a raised bed.
Porch/Patio/Dining Room:
I love to create rooms in a garden--separate areas each
offering a different feel, such as the back porch area pictured here The views
from that room include the amazing mimosa tree in July and surrounding
plantings. It is a great gathering
place.
Water Garden:
Tucked away in the side yard is another room- the water
garden - featuring a koi pond on one side, and on the other side, my favorite
luxury, an outdoor shower.
Lower Garden/Outdoor Library: The lower garden holds what I
call the library. It is wonder shady retreat for reading on a hot summer day. A
gated opening provides a view of the woods behind the house, and the room
provides a vantage point to see the entire garden and rear of the house.
Putting this overview together, I mused on what gardening
has taught me both through failure and success. No matter how much experience
we have under our belts, we are always learning. And our gardens reward us for
our hard work with a bounty of beauty and color.
I’m primarily pollinator gardener and keep expanding each
year, doing the botanical math of addition, division multiplication and subtraction
of plants. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it is to just keep plugging
away. If you build it, they will come.
Thanks for letting me share this brief overview of my
project with you, and happy gardening!
"Times change, and so must we."
When POP received a donation to plant a new orchard to benefit neighborhoods in Philadelphia, the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood and Woodford Mansion was the logical choice.
All members of the community are welcome to visit the orchard. Children from the Mander Recreation Center visit the site during all four seasons. During the winter season, children from the Mander Playground make ornaments for Woodford’s tree and pay a visit to hang them and get a special tour of the orchard.
Of course, you will also find herbs, lettuces, eggplant,
peppers, and kale. The Green Elephant
Table promises to provide some great gardening treasures. You can be sure to find something wonderful
at the Garden Day and Plant Sale in beautiful Fairmount Park on April 28th. Hope to see you there. It’s so worth the drive! 
The Penn State Extension Philadelphia Master Gardeners will hold their 6th annual Garden Day and Plant Sale on Sunday, April 28 2019 from 10am - 2pm at the Horticulture Center in Fairmount Park! 
We will be selling a wide variety of affordable seedlings and house plants, as well as herbs, vegetables and more than 25 varieties of tomatoes. 
