Asian Stroll Garden
The innkeepers purchased the vacant lot downhill from the bed & breakfast and turned it into an Asian stroll garden, much inspired by the Chinese cup garden principles of nearby Innisfree Garden located in Millbrook, NY. Started as a “covid project” (when the innkeepers could go nowhere, but were able to spend time out-of-doors), the three-terrace garden now offers, at street level, a Zen environment of minimalist design covered by white pebbles, a few large white native stones, and in its farthest reaches under an old weeping cherry tree, a traditional bamboo tea fountain. Up another level, at the mid-tier zone, a shrub-encircled Japanese pond predominates with varieties of Japanese maples populating the landscape.
After climbing yet another set of stairs, the top tier features a little gingko forest niche with an understory of green vines on the left and, on the right, a bamboo-enclosed Asian vegetable garden adding seasonal produce to our breakfast table. Holding all these tiers together, a lovely rustic stone stairwell bisects the full length of the Asian stroll garden and provides multiple opportunities to stop or sit to enjoy the wide array of Asian specimen plants that bloom and change colors throughout the four seasons. Logistically, the path also leads directly into the village center where our guests may have dinner, frequent a jazz club, explore a few retail shops, and hike to two nearby village trailheads offering short paths to our local “kills” and a seasonal waterfall.
