Fans of North Fork’s Landcraft Garden can get an early look at the season’s new plantings at a spring preview on Saturday, March 22. The event will showcase a variety of plants tied to the garden’s mission to inspire, educate, and promote horticultural diversity ahead of the garden’s official seasonal reopening.
Exploring both outdoor and interior designs at the botanical garden and conservatory, the preview will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Landcraft Garden, 4342 Grand Ave., Mattituck. Registration is required, and the entry cost is $75 for members and $85 for non-members.
The program will be led by two garden experts: Dennis Schrader, president of Landcraft Garden Foundation, and Vincent Simeone, director of Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay. Simeone will lead a walk around the garden starting at 10 a.m., focusing on early bulbs and evergreens.
“We talk about the different highlights of what’s about to bloom, what is blooming. This time of year we have witch hazels going on and then some early spring bulbs,” Schrader told South Shore Press. “He (Simeone) also talks about some of the more unusual plants in the garden, like the camellia that will be blooming soon, and there’s a whole lot of interesting evergreens.”
Although the garden’s official opening on May 2 promises a burst of blossoms, winter still offers its own appeal.
“Even though there's no leaves on the trees, it's a good time to see the structure of the garden,” said Schrader. “There's a lot of hedges that are trimmed and the outdoor rooms are all enclosed by hornbeam, and there are some great bark interests with different birches and ginkgo. So, there's all kinds of interesting things to see outside.”
Schrader and Bill Smith established the garden in 1992 on the 17-acre grounds of an 1840s farmhouse in North Fork’s wine region. Schrader is also co-owner of Landcraft Environments, a thriving greenhouse business.
The tour will move next to the conservatory for a preview of a current project. “The conservatory is a project we’re working on now, and we’re kind of in the middle of it… it’s filled with tropical plants, orchids, cactus, and succulents,” Schrader said, explaining plans to retrofit a greenhouse into a conservatory.
The guides for the spring preview bring extensive experience. Simeone, with 25 years in public horticulture, is the author of books and articles on gardening and was named Man of the Year in 2010 by the Long Island Nursery and Landscape Association.
Schrader, according to the Landcraft website, is co-owner of Landcraft Environments, a wholesale greenhouse in Mattituck, and has designed tropical gardens in Florida, Hawaii, California, and Costa Rica. He has also appeared on lecture tours and TV programs like Better Homes & Gardens TV, sharing his gardening knowledge.
For those interested in touring the garden in season, tours are available starting May 2 through Oct. 25, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A guided tour takes place at 10:30 a.m., and private tours are available during the week, Schrader said.
For many, one visit isn’t enough, as the more than 300 container plantings change with the seasons. With visitors from horticulture schools and as far as Australia, Schrader is confident in his decision to share this private garden with the world.
“It’s great, and we enjoy showing the garden and educating people,” he said.
Sharing the garden has become such a joy that its owners have plans for it to one day be fully dedicated to the public. Until then, the nonprofit Landcraft Garden Foundation works to preserve the garden, with Schrader as its president.
For more information, visit https://www.landcraftgardenfoundation.org.