Most residents of Ledyard know about the Historic Nathan Lester House and Farm and Tool Museum, built in 1793 and situated on over 100 acres of land now owned by the Town of Ledyard.

While the house and barn are temporarily closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, the property also offers 2.5 miles of wooded trails and the beautiful Great Oak Garden suitable for outdoor events and open to the public every day of the year.

The Great Oak Garden was designed by Mystic native Rudy Favretti, a landscape architect at the University of Connecticut. It was started as a memorial garden in 1969, and was designed to complement the house.

The first funds for the north shrub garden were contributed by the family of Elizabeth Parker Avery. The mill wheel and the many larger pillar rocks were donated by Judge Crandell.

The south section was planned to be an 18th century garden, and was built on the site of a previous owner’s garden, Elizabeth Graves Hill. Originally, it was planted and financed by four different garden clubs, but eventually the clubs mixed to form the Ledyard Garden Club that still maintains the garden up to the present.

Many of the original plants have disappeared due to time and deer, but some continue to flourish and serve as the “bones” of the current garden. The large boxwood specimens, as well as the magnolia, dogwood, larch, crabapple and rhododendron, continue as 50-year survivors.

Some sections of the surrounding stone walls were stabilized and rebuilt. Hardy, deer-resistant, low-maintenance plants must be a significant part of the planting plan in order for the garden to survive.

Come and visit this colorful, lovely garden during any season and take in the beauty of nature as you marvel at the wonder of the trees and plants that recently celebrated their 50th anniversary at home in the Great Oak Garden of the Nathan Lester House.

Debby Caldwell is a member of the Ledyard Garden Club.

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