Farmington -- Claire and Robert Burnett Garden, The

This 1.68 acre property, established in 1936, offers a display of Connecticut native species styles in a traditional British cottage genre, with various modern additions. The home is surrounded by deciduous and conifers trees that change with the season. The property features three seating areas to admire the various hardscape elements; the slate patio connected to the house, featuring a shallow stone pond with fountain in the center, adjacent to the potting shed surrounded by a flower garden, and in front of a small lily pond. A vast grassy lawn is featured on the property. When the current owners purchased the property in 1994, they considered the existing elements of the property important to save. There were sassafras, maples, magnolia, and cedar trees, shrubs, wildflowers, one perennial bed, and a slope bed containing Japanese Knotweed. The epimedium and rudbeckia are the only perennials to survive. The various gardens associated with the property are the upper and lower garden, as well as the slope, cutting, kitchen herb, pond, and vegetable gardens. The upper garden features a round fountain and is surrounded by three historic sassafras trees and hydrangeas. Featured plants on the property include Japanese willow, golden cypress, azaleas, boxwood, lilac, rhododendron, and several species of hydrangea. A cherry tree stands at the front entrance alongside other ornamental shrubbery and trees that offer visual privacy to passing cars. The eastern cedar to the left of the house was severely damaged by a windstorm and had to be removed. A unique feature of the property is a large boulder situated in the middle of the circular driveway that was discovered after the town laid new utility lines under the roadway by the house.

Persons associated with the garden include: Mr. And Mrs. William Fisher (former owners, 1936–1991); Mr. And Mrs. Robert Hartt (former owners, 1991–1999); Claire and Robert Burnett (1994-present); Mr. Bruce Linger (landscape designer, 1995).