Page 32 - The Hunt - Spring 2020

“I’m a keeper of nature. I’ll be damned if I’m going to kill anything.”
Ididn’t like it the first time I saw it,” says
Wayne Guymon.
The year was 1998, and Guymon and his wife, Doris, had already fallen in love with the 1960s contemporary set on nine-and-a-half acres tucked in a quiet residential cul-de- sac in Chadds Ford, Pa. The Guymons bought the property, and Wayne immediately started visualizing a redesign of the open land sloping away from the house.
They named their new home “WynEden,” combining
a family name with the Bible’s most famous garden. “But, really, the name boils down to “Wayne’s Garden,’” the owner sheepishly admits.
During the couple’s first year in Chadds Ford, Guymon studied his “blank canvas” to see what plants were already there and what he wanted to add.
Before he could bring in anything new, however, he had to remove the weeds that surrounded a large pond filled with blue gills and bass in the center of the yard. He replaced the rotting bridge over one of the smaller ponds, and he expanded an isolated “postage-stamp-size” bed of hostas to integrate them into the landscape.
Removing paths that made no sense to him, Guymon replaced them with ones that allowed for meandering among the plantings. He transformed two patches of daffodils and
an abandoned square of thistles into the backbone of the magnificent daffodil display visitors see today. The “big sweeps” of foliage on either side of the house are also his creation. “Everything I’ve done seems obvious to me,” says Guymon, who periodically climbs on the roof of his home to rethink the shape of his beds and make sure they flow as they should.
Today, WynEden is recognized as one of the premier private gardens in the Mid-Atlantic, offering an astounding array of plant material carefully managed to emphasize order and serenity. From an island in the central pond reachable by a Giverney-inspired bridge painted bright blue, one can sit on a bench and contemplate a majestic solitary willow tree. A breathtaking palette of foliage plants, trees and water features extends from one section of the garden to the next.
There are over 4,000 different plants and cultivars. The notable 15,000-hosta collection boasts more than 400 named varieties. There are 7,000 rhododendrons and azaleas, along with a trumpet pitcher collection. Four thousand specimen plants contribute to the landscape design. Plants range
from small to large in an array of colors and forms. Mature dogwood trees shade a wide selection of plants, from golden bleeding hearts, candelabra primroses, hellebores and jack-in-the-pulpits to exotic terrestrial orchids.
WynEden is open to the public by appointment. It’s also a popular spot with garden groups and fundraising tours like Wilmington Garden Day.
Though Guymon designed WynEden primarily as a foliage garden, there are blooms on display every season.
30 THE HUNT MAGAZINE
SPRING 2020