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A Revitalized Estate: Planting Fields Arboretum's Journey to Sustainability

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The 409-acre Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park on Long Island, New York, is a remaining gem of the grand Gold Coast estates, with its original acreage intact. This historic landscape has undergone a multi-million dollar revitalization, shifting its focus from adherence to the original plant palette to a focus on biodiversity and native plantings. The arboretum's storied half-mile-long double allée of European beech trees has been replaced with native oaks, and meadows are now cut back just once or twice a year to allow natural habitats to thrive.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Planting Fields Arboretum has undergone a multi-million dollar revitalization, with a focus on sustainability and biodiversity.
  • The arboretum has replaced its European beech trees with native oaks and now cuts back meadows just once or twice a year to allow natural habitats to thrive.
  • The estate's design was originally drafted by Boston landscape architect Andrew Sargent and his partner Guy Lowell, with further development by the Olmsted Brothers after Sargent's death in 1918.
  • The Coe Hall, a sprawling Tudor Revival mansion, was built in 20th-century fantasy style, with ironwork by Samuel Yellin, murals by Everett Shinn and Robert Winthrop Chanler, and interiors by Elsie de Wolfe.
  • The arboretum's Planting Fields Foundation has invited renowned Dutch garden and landscape designer Piet Oudolf to create a 1-acre garden for the property, using a four-season approach and including perennial gardens and year-round beauty.
  • President and CEO of the Planting Fields Foundation, Gina J. Wouters, hopes the book "Planting Fields: A Place on Long Island" imparts an understanding of the estate's incredibly layered history and stewardship model.
  • The trailblazing W.R. Coe gifted the property to the people of the state of New York, not the state itself, emphasizing the importance of public stewardship.

Statistics:

  • 409 acres: The original acreage of the Planting Fields Arboretum intact, a rare survival of the grand Gold Coast estates.
  • $1 million: The cost of Piet Oudolf's 1-acre garden design for the arboretum.
  • 1: The number of times meadows are now cut back each year to allow natural habitats to thrive.
  • 1913: The year W.R. Coe and his wife, Mai Rogers Coe, bought the land to start building the estate.
  • 20th century fantasy: The style of Coe Hall, built to resemble a centuries-old estate.
  • 1918: The year Andrew Sargent died, after which the Olmsted Brothers took over the estate's design.
  • 1 acre: The size of the garden Piet Oudolf will create for the arboretum.

Sources:

  • "Planting Fields: A Place on Long Island" book by Gina J. Wouters and Jerome E. Singerman
  • The AP (Associated Press) gardening columns by Jessica Damiano
  • Weekly Dirt Newsletter by Jessica Damiano

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