That “Wow” First View
July 20th, 2021
Real-estate agents often harp about how important it is for a house to have “good curb appeal” because that’s the first thing potential buyers see… and what forms their critical first impression.
This is what you see first when entering Karl Mattson’s Gettysburg back yard.
The same holds true for a landscape. What you see in that first view tells you you’re about to behold something special – or will need a machete to get to the back yard.
I mention this because I just saw a textbook example of a yard with a superb first view – the two-acre property of Karl Mattson in Gettysburg.
Mattson’s yard was on the 2021 Dillsburg Garden Tour and was the pre-tour “don’t-miss” favorite despite being a nearly 30-minute drive from the rest of the pack.
That puts some pressure on a garden right off the bat because expectations are high. I’ve found that hyped gardens often disappoint, not necessarily because they’re not good but because you’re expecting “great” and then even “very good” seems somehow ordinary or expected.
When I pulled into the shaded driveway of Mattson’s yard right next to a section of the Gettysburg Battlefield, the front yard featured several large, neat, swooping, and diverse beds.
Obviously, a plant-appreciator lived there.
But that’s not what was the first view in my mind. To me, the real “first view” was when I walked to the end of the driveway and took a look into the back yard.
Instant “wow!”
The view was like a cover shot from Better Homes and Gardens magazine – a pond with waterfall in the foreground, flanking large black urns surrounded by magenta verbena, a tapestry of lush, multi-textured plants, and the coup de grace, a thatched wooden gazebo nestled between a pair of tall shade trees.
It’s a glorious vista that makes you stop and savor.
Mattson, an 80-something retired Gettysburg College chaplain and founding director of the College’s Center for Public Service, does his garden-savoring from a sturdy wooden bench that’s perfectly placed to oversee the vista.
It was hand-made by Liz Chronister, a professional gardener who’s helped him for the past 13 years.
The gazebo also was Chronister’s idea.
A shady mulched path leads past the gazebo.
The space originally was occupied by a Siebold’s magnolia that was planted to mark Mattson’s 50th wedding anniversary. His wife has since passed away, and the magnolia also died after about eight years.
Reluctant to remove such a special tree altogether, Chronister came up with the idea to paint it red. After a few years of that, the tree was removed in favor of a bonfire/firepit area.
A year ago, Chronister suggested a gazebo, and Mattson agreed that would make an ideal focal point.
That it is, quickly becoming the star of the whole back landscape and creating an eye-commanding feature that’s a perfect counterpoint to the diverse mix of woodland plants all around it.
The front-and-center water feature is a serene element that adds the peaceful sound of moving water. It’s natural, too… edged in native stone, surrounded by plants, and filled with just the right amount of aquatic plants. It’s not set out bare and in the open like so many water gardens.
The flower-edged flanking urns make a nice finishing touch on either side of the pond – just enough symmetry without making the design too formal for the overall wooded setting.
If that were the only part of the back yard, it would’ve been enough to send me away happy.
But the rest of the backyard is a network of mulched paths that weave through the many mature trees.
One path takes you past the gazebo.
Another is a grassy, tree-lined allee that runs in a straight line into the midsection of the back yard.
This large perennial border is a highlight of the “inner” gardens.
And a third takes you to a swing, which got flattened a few days before the garden tour when several large trees were blown down in a violent storm with 70 mph gusts. (The storm also destroyed a gorgeous bed of red lilies that had been in peak form for tour time and led to a lot of quick cleanup with chainsaws.)
The best “other” part of the back yard is a rather large perennial border that uses white roses and white euphorbia in pots as focal points and includes a shaded cutout with a bench for sitting.
The whole landscape has such a nice “feel” to it that only good planning and a lot of time can achieve.
And it all starts with that great first view.