sizes; lingering paint chips suggested an ochre color.
Reconstruction of the fence and replanting of the hedge
took place in 2009 and with it, a revival of Edward
Dickinson’s story.
Why is this story important? Why is his landscape worth
preserving? Dickinson saw himself as a prominent
member of the Amherst community, and situated his
house and farm appropriately near the center of town.
At the same time he cloistered his family and his reclusive
daughter from the public by erecting an imposing fence
and hedge. He was a hugely public figure determined to
protect his intensely private daughter from a harsh and
frightening world. His property speaks to a man’s need to
both put his ambitions on display, yet obscure his private
life. While it lacks the mark of a trained designer, it is not
without meaning. Like the thousands of gardens, yards,
farms, burying grounds and commons throughout this
country, Edward Dickinson’s vernacular landscape tells a story
that helps us better understand who we are as Americans.
Martha H. Lyon, ASLA is a registered landscape architect, adjunct professor of landscape architecture at the University of Massachusetts, and managing principal of
Martha Lyon Landscape Architecture, LLC, a Northampton, Massachusetts-based firm specializing in design, historic preservation and planning. She is currently restoring
several historic landscapes, some vernacular, in New York and New England, including the Emily Dickinson Museum.
2013 Boston Society of Landscape Architects Fieldbook
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