Alicia Fahrner - Hilltop House Gardens: Reimagined

In 2022, Visiting Landscape Designer Alicia Fahrner reimagined the gardens flanking the south-facing side of the Hilltop House. Fahrner’s design includes both the removal of fast-spreading plants dominating the beds in recent years and implementing a medley of native plants, not only dazzling in form but also wonderfully evocative in words-- fine-leaved sneezeweed, coral bells, blazing stars, and foam flowers—to name a few.

Sneezeweed in various growth stages! Excerpt from Fahrner’s design plan, including planting schedules and maintenance.

Drawing from Stone Quarry’s founder Dorothy Riester’s sculptural and luscious garden aesthetic, Fahrner curated plants that bloom and enter dormancy in different seasons, creating year-round visual splendor, a consistent food source for wildlife, and a planting layout that highlights the juxtaposition of diverse plants to create a dynamic gestalt.

Fahrner's design

Fahrner spent the summer identifying and cataloging existing plants. She relocated thriving plants and removed those that create monocultures, such as bindweed. To rid the beds of remaining dormant seeds, Fahrner covered the beds in black plastic, which will remain in place for the 2023 summer season.

Drawing through designs in the Hilltop House.

Plastic covering installed by Fahrner to rid the beds of dormant seeds.

When asked what her hopes are for these newly imagined gardens, Fahrner shared, “Gardens should provide habitat and food for wildlife year-round, and capture people's senses. A garden invites us to slow down, see an insect or hummingbird interact with a flower, and exclaim ‘Oh, wow!’”

Stone Quarry is working to secure funding to realize Fahrner’s design. Until we are amidst a medley of plants, let us dream of blazing stars.

About the Visiting Landscape Designer:

Alicia Fahrner cultivates passion for plants, ecology, and equity. She believes that well-designed gardens/capes can induce environmental, physical, psychological, and social healing. In May 2023 Alicia will receive a Master of Landscape Architecture and continue her efforts to spread seeds of joy, understanding, and powerful design.