Smedley Park Teaching Gardens

The Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Delaware County have created and maintained seven Gardens at Smedley Park for the education and enjoyment of the community. These gardens have been a multi-year project since the late 1990s. We thank the Delaware County Parks & Recreation Department, owner of the facility and grounds, for providing the land and support for this long-term project. We extend an open invitation for you to visit the gardens and share the gardening joy and inspiration of our Master Gardeners. The gardens are open from dawn to dusk.

Explore and experience the beauty, tranquility and aesthetic pleasures of each teaching garden. Perhaps take away some ideas for your own garden.

Purpose

These gardens are designed to incorporate research-based gardening best practices and environmental stewardship for the education of the general community. Each of these seven diverse Teaching Gardens expresses a unique theme and landscape design featuring trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals well suited to its specific environment.

Description

The Cadeau Garden is an ornamental garden featuring living gifts of flowering shrubs, perennials, and annuals. A tall stand of trees serves as a backdrop keeping most of the garden in partial shade with some afternoon sun. However, these ornamentals seem to flourish in the rich soil of this garden bringing an array of colorful flowers for each season. Each plant holds a special meaning because it is a gift especially selected for this garden.

The enchanting Carolyn DiPaulo Shade Garden is located on a rocky slope in partial to full shade. It features deer-resistant, low-maintenance plants that are well-suited to low moisture and shade. Visitors can enter the garden through the large arch and walk along the stone walkway and down the steps to observe the peaceful beauty of the shade-loving garden.

The rustic Hillside Garden features native plants that preserve biodiversity by providing food and shelter for the wildlife in this woodland ecosystem. These native plants thrive with very little sun and moisture on this steep slope. The wide range of plants in this woodland landscape include large canopy trees, smaller understory trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, ferns, and ground covers.

Old Glory Garden is a patriotic garden dedicated to honoring veterans and those in voluntary services for our country. It features perennials and annuals with red, white, and blue flowers representing the colors of Old Glory. This gently sloping garden with a rocky terrain is located in partial shade. The dazzling flowers flourish throughout the summer months reminding visitors of the resilience of our nation.

The Pollinator Garden has been designated as a "Certified Pennsylvania Pollinator-Friendly Garden" by the Penn State Extension Master Gardeners. It features primarily native plants that attract and provide food, water, and shelter for a wide variety of pollinators including birds, bees, larval and adult forms of butterflies and moths, and other beneficial insects. This sloping garden includes herbaceous plants, vines, and shrubs that thrive in partial to full sun.

The Terrace Garden is a gently sloping display garden that features a variety of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and ferns forming an enticing tapestry of rich color, depth, dimension, form, and texture. The garden provides an inviting welcome to the Penn State Extension Offices (located in the Lewis House). Some of the garden is shady, but most of the garden receives partial to full sun.

The Utility Garden features low-maintenance plants of appealing color, form, and texture to camouflage and accommodate the Lewis house's access points for electric, oil, phone, cable, and water. The garden demonstrates creative ways to address functional challenges, offer aesthetic pleasures, and provide valuable shelter and food for native wildlife. The landscape includes a paperbark maple tree, several shrubs, and a variety of perennials well-suited to partial or heavy shade.

Located in a semi-shaded area with high deer pressure, the Winter Interest Garden strives to provide ornamentation and interest throughout the usually barren winter months. The planting includes garden sculpture as well as evergreens and other plants with interesting shapes, textures, twig colors, or late winter flowers. This garden also acts as a living laboratory to test and display techniques to minimize damage from deer browsing.

For additional information regarding these gardens, general brochures are located at the Smedley Park Teaching Garden sign near the Penn State Extension Offices in the Lewis House. Each garden's detailed brochure is located on its corresponding garden sign.

Refer to above the map for a general lay-out of the gardens.