Field Trip to Sleepy Cat Farm, Greenwich

The 13 acres of Sleepy Cat Farm have evolved over the last 25 years in close collaboration between the present owner, Fred Landman, and Virginia-based landscape architect Charles J. Stick. The landscape bordering Lake Avenue includes an extensive greenhouse and potager. “The Barn,” distinguished by its half-timbered French Normandy vocabulary, is surrounded by thyme- covered terraces, providing an elegant stage set for a fine collection of garden ornament, sculpture, and boxwood topiary. The visitor’s experience of the garden unfolds as pathways lead from garden room to garden room in a carefully orchestrated series of discoveries. The central portion of the garden is distinguished by two parallel garden spaces; the first is dominated by a long reflecting pool, terminated on the north end by a wisteria-covered arbor, and on the south end by a pebble mosaic terrace and fountain basin. One of the great surprises of the tour is the adjacent garden space. Bordered by a precisely clipped hornbeam hedge, the green architecture of this room is meant to frame the view to the Chinese pavilion (or “ting”—a place to stop and take in the view) positioned on a small island in the middle of a pond teeming with koi. The north end of this garden is terminated by an impressively scaled statue of Atlas. The heart of the original 6 acres is most joyfully experienced along the “Golden Path,” a granite dust pathway that leads from the main house and formal terraces on top of the hill, out into the New England landscape. As it winds through the oak and beech woodland, one encounters fountains, statuary, an iris garden traversed by a Japanese spirit bridge and planted with 10,000 Japanese iris, and finally a rustic stone grotto. The woodland stream is bordered by native azaleas and a collection of spring flowering trees and bulbs, all planted for enjoyment throughout the year. The most recent additions to the property include a limonaia used for the winter storage of citrus trees, a new fruit orchard, and a sacred woodland grove that is enjoyed from a series of pathways radiating from a newly planted meadow. Another recent addition to the garden is an English-style perennial border directly across from the koi pond and, directly below, a viewing path framed by a wisteria arbor.

Terrain Notes: This garden features many sets of stairs (some without hand railings) and both wood chip and gravel paths that may be difficult to navigate with walkers, canes, wheelchairs, or strollers. Sturdy walking shoes are strongly recommended for all visitors.