Wild at heart

Birds, butterflies, and bees are among the primary joys an ambitious couple derive from the garden at their vacation home in Ogunquit, Maine. In fact, it was recently certified as a Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, thanks to its abundance of plants that attract animals and insects, its protective hedges, and its birdbaths and birdhouses. Located on the Marginal Way, a paved path along the town’s rocky coast, the yard is the carefully planned result of gardener Joan Griswold’s long-lived relationship with her surroundings. Though she’d never created a garden from scratch, Griswold knew just what she wanted: a landscape with a natural, wind-swept feel that looked as if it had sprung up on its own.

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  Photograph by James R. Salomon

  Birds, butterflies, and bees are among the primary joys that Joan and her husband, Peter, derive from their garden. in Ogunquit, Maine.
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  Photograph by James R. Salomon

  It was recently certified as a Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, thanks to its abundance of plants that attract animals and insects, its protective hedges, and its birdbaths and birdhouses.
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  Photograph by James R. Salomon

  Located on the Marginal Way, a 1¼-mile paved path along the rocky coast of Ogunquit, Maine, the Griswolds’ garden is the carefully planned result of a gardener’s long-lived relationship with her surroundings.
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  The plants must be salt-tolerant and hardy enough to withstand nor’easter winds. “There are no fussy babies here!” says Joan. “It’s survival of the fittest.”
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  Photograph by James R. Salomon

  Though she’d never created a garden from scratch, she knew just what she wanted: a landscape with a natural, wind-swept feel that looked as though it had sprung up on its own. “The Maine coast is not the English countryside,” she says. “It shouldn’t have a carefully cultivated look. It’s wild, intermingled, and rough.”