Students create magic garden at Winterthur

Carol Krawczyk (left), assistant professor of plant and soil sciences, confers with student Chris Morrow about the shade garden plan.

5:13 p.m., Sept. 19, 2005--Even Winterthur Museum, famed for the beauty of its extensive gardens, has areas that are more utilitarian than inspired. That is until Carol Krawczyk, assistant professor of plant and soil sciences, and students in her landscape design and landscape construction details classes worked their magic on one such location and created a delightful garden for GardenFair weekend, held Sept. 16-18.

The site was a combination barn/garage with an asphalt driveway, which was transformed in a few days time into a delightful shade garden retreat.

Krawczyk was approached this summer to create “Three Gardens of the Piedmont” for DuPont, using the company’s GreenVista Products--a sunshine garden, a waterside garden and shade garden, which is the demonstration garden.

Krawczyk drew up the plans and then she and her students began implementing the shade garden over a three-day period. “It was a real opportunity for active learning for my students--translating a paper plan into actuality and creating and learning what is involved in creating a garden,” she said.

The asphalt driveway was turned into a flagstone patio using underlying GreenVista landscape fabric, which has strength and permeability and is excellent for this use, Krawczyk said.

Krawczyk located a huge hollow tree stump on the Winterthur grounds, which was moved to the site and became the focal point of the patio, as a fish pond using DuPont’s pond liner. Netting covered the pond to deter birds from fishing expeditions. A large variety of plants and shrubs edged the patio, and a walkway was constructed.

Senior Amanda Earls

The barn/garage was pressed into service as well, with a backdrop inside, rustic furniture in keeping with the informal garden, sculptures and pottery. “People have garages and outbuildings, and we are showing them how they might be incorporated into a garden retreat,” Krawczyk said.

Among the students working on the project were Amanda Earls, Marion Ehrlich and Chris Morrow.

Earls, a senior studying landscaping and horticulture, said she plans to continue her studies in landscape architecture at graduate school. She has spent her summers working for parks and recreation organizations and for nurseries. Most recently, she had an internship with KCI Technologies in its urban planning and park development department.

Ehrlich, a student at UD’s Academy of Lifelong Learning, is auditing the landscaping course. Retired as an investigator in the U.S. Department of Labor in Philadelphia, Erlich said she has a lifelong love of plants and active interest in gardening.

Morrow, a teacher of human anatomy and sports science at Tower Hill School, is a part-time student at UD. She has an urban garden at her home in Wilmington, complete with turtle and lily ponds. Looking down the road to retirement, she said she wanted to become involved in a new field of study.

Article by Sue Moncure
Photos by Greg Drew

E-mail this article

To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here.