Public Programs & Events

Nestled on a Beverly, MA drumlin sits a garden legacy ripe for rejuvenation. Started in 1919 and cultivated by two passionate horticulturists, Long Hill’s wild garden needed a polish. Not the work of a famous landscape architect nor the artifact of a carefully documented writer, this garden sprang from personal passions for the careful blending of the wild and the cultivated. But how to uncover its details? How to understand its creator’s values and vision? How to reveal its very special genius and inspire new gardeners with its stories? Come on the journey of two lifetimes.

Mabel Cabot Sedgwick (1873-1937) was an accomplished gardener and horticulturist who designed the gardens at Long Hill, the 114-acre estate in Beverly, Massachusetts she shared with her husband, Atlantic Monthly editor and publisher Ellery Sedgwick. In 1907, she published The Garden Month by Month, which describes the appearance, color, cultivation, and blooming dates for various plants. The book was edited by Rose Standish Nichols.

Lucinda (Cindy) Brockway is the Program Director for Cultural Resources at The Trustees of Reservations, Massachusetts oldest conservation and preservation organization. Brockway has built a long career on the research, design, and rejuvenation of some of the Northeast’s most well-known gardens. Her tenure at The Trustees has included the rejuvenation of Naumkeag’s famous Blue Steps and the Crane Estate’s Grand Allee. Today she and a team of horticulturists and preservation specialists are focused on bringing new life to Long Hill, The Trustees best kept secret garden in Beverly, MA.