Ballard Garden, the long parterre perennial garden at Ballard Park, dates to at least the 1920’s when Elizabeth B. Ballard and her husband Edward L. Ballard, moved to Graeloe, the estate that is now Ballard Park. It is possible that the garden dates even further back in time to the turn of the twentieth century when Elizabeth’s parents, Lucius Horatio Biglow and Anna Graham Biglow lived at Graeloe.
Elizabeth Ballard’s 1941 garden is archived in the J. Horace McFarland Collection at the Smithsonian in the following images.
|
|
After her death in 1964, Elizabeth Ballard’s longtime gardeners continued to care for this garden. In 1976, Ridgefield Garden Club worked with Mrs. Ballard’s gardeners to refurbish the garden as a club project for the United States Bicentennial.
In 1982 the Ridgefield Garden Club began to formally fund, plant and maintain Ballard Garden when the last of Elizabeth Ballard’s gardeners retired.
In 1982 the Ridgefield Garden Club began to formally fund, plant and maintain Ballard Garden when the last of Elizabeth Ballard’s gardeners retired.
|
Since 1982, Ridgefield Garden Club members have volunteered their time each week, April through November, caring for the garden. |
|
RENOVATION AND RESTORATION
In 2018, work began on restoration of the parterre perennial garden. A nearly two-year effort, this project sought to balance and unify the garden while incorporating more pollinator friendly, native plant material and embracing environmentally sound gardening practices. To achieve this aim, the club enlisted the design support of Ilsa Svendsen of Svendsen and Keller, a Ridgefield firm. A key objective of the project was to achieve a garden which would honor the plan of Mrs. Ballard's original design with updated, lower maintenance plantings. Visitors to the garden will find nearly 150 different species of plants, showcasing a graceful transition of cool blues and whites at the south end of the garden to warmer hues at the north. Club members worked countless hours to complete the project. The garden re-opened to the public in November of 2020.
Ridgefield Garden Club hopes visitors find Ballard Garden a place of beauty, joy, and relaxation.
Stroll through Ballard Parterre Garden in the video above, courtesy of Chris Mantz of Photos on the Fly.
