On Path and Bed Naming

Our naming conventions in the garden can be very confusing, sometimes, even for ourselves. Path names are the main reference we use when talking about the garden. Some have functional names, while others have historical connotations. Bed names are our second choice of reference. Beds often derive their name either from the path that is associated with it, or the area of the garden that they serve. To further complicate things Ben includes the area north of the Blaine stairs, but south of the house in most of the "public" garden data, even through we associate it with the private garden.

Path naming

North of stairs

Beech Hedge Path: — While only accessible from the private garden, this path runs around the outside of the beech hedge and is mostly in what Ben considers land inventoried as "public"
Brick Walkway: — The main entry to the house
Old Compost Path: — This path is named after the original compost pile in the garden, which is still used
Rock Path: — Named for the many smaller rocks (all found in the garden) which used to make up the paving of this path

South of stairs

Ben's Path: — Named partly for the area where Ben used to have a rope swing and tree-house, but also because it is one of the few paths that Ben built
Berry Path: — This broken concrete path can get so overgrown with berries in the summer that it is impossible to walk down
Bowl Path: — Named for the slight hollow formed by the slight ridge to the east and north of this path
Compost Path: — Not a very unique name, but the original purpose of this path is to access the compost pile that has migrated across this slope over the years
Connector Path: — Connecting up from the Woodland path to the Rust Garden this seemed like a natural fit
Cynthia's Path: — Named for neighbor Cynthia who was first person to build a path in this section of the garden
Dahlia Path: — Named for the bed in which we often grow dahlia's just to the west of this path
Ephemeral Path: — Named for all the tender spring plants along this path
Hellebore Path: — Named for Dan's collection of hellebores growing on either side of the path
High Path: — For a long time this was the highest path in the garden
Highest Path: — This path has gone through many names over the years as nothing felt right. We eventually settled on this name because it just seemed to fit. Sadly it is our least well maintained and thus least used path
Iris Path: — On the lower slope of this path is Dan's collection of bearded iris
Jake's Path: — Jake was likely our first volunteer; he is responsible for starting our forest restoration, and also for building this path
Keith's Path: — Named for one of the early gardeners who build this path and helped create one of the early expansions in the garden
Loropetalum Path: — Named for the loropetalums that used to be abundant on this path. There are still two which are struggling along
Lower Bowl Path: — No other name seemed to fit this path
Lower Dell Path: — Running along the west side of the Dell this path remained unnamed for a long time
Nursery Path: — Named for Ben's nursery of ground covers that are here. However we rarely draw from it at the moment
Pink Castle Path: — One of the early developers who was looking to build condos in this section of the garden lived in a large pink house up on 10th. Over the years this name as sort of stuck. This path follows the old skid road used for soil sampling
Precipice Path: — Named for the steep drop off on the west side of this bed
Raccoon Path: — Named for the Raccoon pool at the north end of this path
Rock Wall Path: — Named for the midden of rocks found in the garden that eventually became a retaining wall above one of our major composts
Rust Garden Path: — Named for the many pieces of rusty garbage found while clearing out the area, including an old radiator. This path follows the old skid road used for soil sampling
S Steps: — Named for the shape of the steps
Slide Path: — This has been our most slide prone area of the garden and this path has gone through a number of changes over the years
Upper Rust Path: — Running on the uphill side of the rust garden
Upper Slide Path: — This path runs above to gabions that hold up the hillside after our last slide
Veggie Garden Steps: — These steps are so short they hardly show on a map, but connect the vegetable garden to the Raccoon pool
West Rust Path: — Running along the western most edge of the rust garden, this path's upper segment uses the old skid road used for soil sampling
Woodland Path: — Our oldest and also longest path

Bed naming

North of stairs

Brick Circle: — Named for the semi-formal brick circle which is partly surrounded by a beech hedge. This is only accessible from the Private Garden
Entry Pool: — This natural seep has been carved into a lovely pool at the entrance to the Streissguth house
North Slope: — This basically unused bed is now overrun with arborescent ivy
Old Compost: — Named for the area where Dan first started composting
Quince Bed: — Named for the 4 flowering quince bushes. While this may not be the most spectacular area in the garden, it's got a lot of future potential
Rock Path Bed: — Another bed that is named for the path that runs through it

South of stairs

Azalea Triangle: — Named for the roughly triangular space this bed of Exbury azaleas makes
Ben's Dell: — This area was originally an experiment with sheet mulching, and as now turned into what Ben hopes will be a very low maintenance bed
Berry Trellis: — In these planters we grow marion berries, loganberries and black raspberries
Cynthia's Bed: — This section of the garden has long been designed and cared for by neighbors Phil and Cynthia
Dahlia Bed: — This bed is traditionally where we've grown dahlias for summer and fall color
Winter Dell (Dell): — This is our warmest and most protected spot in the garden during the winter, and where we feature many winter blooming flowers
Ephemeral Bed: — This is where we grow a number of spring blooming ephemeral plants
Fragrant Rhododendrons: — This was where we started planting our Loder hybrid fragrant rhododendrons
High Bed: — The highest bed in the garden, but relatively unused over the years
Jake's hillside: — Volunteer Jake's original forest restoration project
Leaf Pile: — Named for compost pile where we used to pile all the fall leaves when we had London plain street trees
Lower Dell: — This grotto at the street level holds a collection of fern, among other things
Lower Woodland Path: — Sometimes beds get named just because they feel like leftover space otherwise
Phlox Bed: — Housing of collection of phlox, most of which are starts from Dan's mother, Lucile
PJM Bed: — Named for the fragrant leaved hybrid rhododendrons that are prolific in this bed
Precipice Bed: — Named for steep slope in this area, we are grateful to the Parks crew who planted the steepest section in 2013
Raccoon Pool: — Nestled above the Raccoon pool, this bed has had a number of planting schemes over the years
Rockwall Bed: — Named for the pile of found rocks from planting areas in the garden. We have since given up collecting and moving smaller rocks
Rust Garden: — Named for huge amount of rusty objects found in this section of the garden, its a good reminder of how people used to not value open space
S Steps Bed: — Named for concrete block steps that run through the middle of this bed
Slide Bed: — Actually named for the path which has taken on several forms after several small slides in this area
South Rust: — See the above entry for Rust Garden
Stewartia Grove: — Named for our collection of 6 species of stewartia
Triangle Bed: — Named for it's roughly triangle shape
Upper Rust Garden: — Because the Rust garden has been developed in segments over the years it has tended to be broken into smaller sections
Upper Woodland Bed: — Another bed named to fill leftover space
Veggie Garden: — Yep, you guess it, this is where the vegetable garden is
West Rust: — Forming the western end of the Rust garden, this was the last section of the Rust Garden to be cleared
The Woods: — This is our main forest restoration site