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Published on GoldenTimes.com on April 04, 2007
Let Gardens Invigorate Your Walk!
By Lynette Loomis

In our last issue we talked about gardening as great exercise. But if you aren’t a dirt digger, taking a walk through someone else’s garden counts! Varying your route and experiencing different terrain can prevent boredom and increase the aerobic benefits of walking. So what could make walking more fun? Pleasing your eyes and stimulating your imagination by walking through some of the area’s most beautiful gardens.

I consulted with Gerald Doell of DOELL & DOELL, GARDEN HISTORIANS in Cazenovia, for his favorite gardens on our area (some of which he designed.)

Close to home is the George Eastman House. If you enjoy the aerobic benefits of gentle hills, Highland Park has a lot to offer throughout the growing season (yes even after the Lilac Festival). To add some mileage to your walk take the tour of East Avenue gardens the beauty of which will put a lift in your step.

Sonnenberg Gardens in Canandaigua includes specialty gardens – rose, rock, old fashioned, moonlight, pansy, Italian, blue and white, sub rosa, Japanese as well as a greenhouse complex. You can walk for miles at Sonnenberg without even noticing it because of its beauty.

Doell suggested: “Heading to Ohio, your readers might enjoy an estate called ‘Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens’ (‘stan hywet’ is Welsh for stone quarry…a feature of the site before the house was built) in Akron, Ohio. In Massachusetts, I enjoy the gardens at “Naumkeag” which is located just over the New York State line in Stockbridge (they were designed by a prominent Rochester landscape architect, Fletcher Steele).

“In the Philadelphia area, I worked on two historic properties with very charming gardens…‘Wyck’ is in the Germantown section of Philadelphia (the property dates from 1690, and the garden from about 1820) and ‘The Highlands’ in Fort Washington with remnants of historic gardens from the 1790s through the 1930s.”

In Virginia, Doell did some work at a beautiful Victorian estate called “Maymont” in Richmond (there are several other nice gardens in Richmond as well, just not “historic’). Doell continues, “In Tennessee, they might want to visit “Carnton Plantation” (Franklin, TN) which was featured in the recent best-selling novel “Window of the South”.

Others noteworthy gardens that Doell has visited, but hasn’t worked on, include the William Paca House (Annapolis, MD), Mount Vernon (George Washington’s estate just south of Alexandria, VA), and Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, DC).

What makes good gardening footwear?
There is no one “right shoe” but there is a shoe that’s right for you. A good walking shoe should be flexible so that when you take a step your shoe doesn’t fight you. Low or flat heels are the most sensible.

A good walking shoe needs to be larger than your dress shoes to accommodate for normal foot swelling. It helps to try on shoes later in the day when your feet have already swollen. Don’t be tempted to buy a poorly fitting shoe and “break it in.” It needs to be comfortable from the beginning. Walk around the store for a few minutes and check for any spot that is rubbing against your foot. While a minute or two of discomfort is bearable, blisters can turn a beautiful green walk into an agonizing field trip.

The Good Feet Store has some recommendations:

Water is good for you and the flowers
A few hours before your walk, drink water and avoid caffeine. For short walks, plain water can be your best bet. But if you’re walking for longer, consider a drink that will help you absorb the water into your body. Add a pretzel or a sports drink to your back pack.

You can become dehydrated without realizing it so watch your walking partners for signs of dehydration – confusion, lethargy, flushed skin and rapid and weak pulse. Even if she says “I’m not thirsty” insist on some water and seek professional help.

Have a wondrous walk!

“If you would have a lovely garden, you should live a lovely life.”
Shaker Saying
(The Gardener’s Manual, 1843)