BELFAST — Two hundred eighty-four years ago, when Hiram Alden built his Greek Revival house at 63 Church Street, he couldn’t have foreseen its present life as a pristine bed and breakfast with an exquisite garden. On Saturday, June 22 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. the public is invited to stroll the grounds of this historic house where past and present co-mingle. The Alden House Garden and Greenhouse will be the first of 14 private gardens open to the public this summer in the Belfast Garden Club’s annual Open Garden Days.
The $5 admission to the inn, garden, and greenhouse helps to support the club’s public service projects throughout the year. The event will be held rain or shine. Season passes will be available for $35 on site.
Innkeepers Lexa and Nat Clifford bought the Alden House in 2017, renovating with a sensitivity to historic detail that blends old and new seamlessly both indoors and out. Where the old privy once stood, the Cliffords built a rock garden. Where the old stable used to be, there’s now a greenhouse, made by Hartley Botanic and shipped from England in pieces. “The greenhouse was my post-retirement gift to myself,” notes Lexa, a Master Gardener volunteer.
Moving to Maine from a warmer climate came with a learning curve. The Cliffords built upon the existing gardens, moving plants as needed as they added hardscape, removed overgrown shrubs, and created shaded enclaves for family and guests to enjoy. And they were willing to experiment. “It’s thrilling to find [a plant] that loves a spot (or finally loves a spot after moving it a few times),” Lexa says. “We try to use native plants and don’t use pesticides, so the lawn is not manicured, and weeds are allowed. We’ve slowly added garden beds as we’ve removed lawn, in part for the environment, in part due to the Japanese beetles,” whose grubs frequently infest lawns in the Eastern and Central United States.
The Cliffords employed a local landscape architect to design and build a slate patio, granite curbs, and a reused granite perching wall. Evergreens went in along the old stone wall and northeast border of the property. Lexa recalls that “in total we planted about two dozen trees, some started as seedlings in the greenhouse: American Elm, Dawn Redwood, English Oak, Redbud, Black Gum, Basswood, and Spruces.”
Open Garden Days will be held each Saturday from June 22 through Aug. 17. For the complete Open Garden Days schedule, visit belfastgardenclub.org. Proceeds support the garden club’s school programs, camp scholarships, library donations, and the 13 public gardens in Belfast that are maintained by club volunteers.
