And while few of the individuals who create private gardens today in our country have the political clout of a Monet to assist in the development of their landscaping, they do have the considerable backing of the Garden Conservancy behind them. Established in 1989 by Frank Cabot, a leading garden preservationist, the Conservancy is a national organization headquartered in Cold Spring that partners with individual garden-owners as well as public and private organizations, and provides the horticultural, management and financial expertise needed to sustain these environments and ensure long-term stewardship of them.
The Garden Conservancy’s approach is multifaceted. Its mission to preserve and protect gardens includes an emphasis on education and advocacy. It identifies threatened gardens, intervenes to prevent their loss and promotes public policies and funding to encourage garden preservation. It presents programs that inspire audiences about the design, care and sustainability of gardens and champions their aesthetic and historic value within a community.
To that end, the Garden Conservancy has developed an annual program it calls Open Days, which has spread the garden preservation message to a wide range of people since 1995 by providing access to some of America’s finest private gardens. In 2012, more than 300 private gardens in 19 states opened to allow thousands of visitors to explore some beautiful environments not normally open to the public.
