Testimonials

Peckerwood is a total living environment, a garden for the senses and the mind and the health of the planet. It is a consummate plant collector’s garden, with an extraordinary diversity of plants all arranged with a designer’s eye. John Fairey has created an oasis drawing upon a rapidly vanishing matrix of Mexican plants and has orchestrated a variety of sensory experiences of light and shade, foliage and water. It is one man’s tribute to the botanical and horticultural treasures of Texas and Mexico: a garden for everyone to learn from and take delight in.

John Fairey’s contribution to American horticulture can be measured on many levels. As a superb plantsman he has used his wide knowledge of plants in creating a garden of outstanding beauty. The eye of an artist is in evidence throughout Peckerwood. He has spent many years passing on his understanding of plants; their cultural requirements and the aesthetics of gardening to both university students and lay gardeners. As a plant explorer he has introduced a great many plants new to cultivation and stretched the range of hardiness for several genera. All this is available to the visitor to Peckerwood Garden.

Peckerwood Garden showcases a treasure trove of rare and unusual plants set in a dynamic landscape that beckons visitors with wonderful discoveries around every corner. Even more remarkable is that everything is growing beautifully with minimal care in a very harsh climate, offering a tremendous educational resource for gardeners and the horticulture industry.

While John is the consummate plantsman, what makes Peckerwood special is John’s eye. Given his acute design sensibility and aim to create  an artful total living environment, I find myself stopping every few feet to photograph the view, the spaces, the composition of plant textures, and the complementary juxtaposition of plants with artwork and architecture. On one level, Peckerwood is a living collection to delight plant lovers, but it is also a place to mindfully walk through on your own, quietly observing, to experience and discover the unique beauty that awaits. Given that Peckerwood has been created as a personal home and private garden, it is also inspirational and a testimony to how to create an edifying environment to cultivate our own souls.

Peckerwood Garden is one of the most spectacular gardens anywhere in the U.S. John Fairey’s divine sense of place and space, combined with a remarkable knowledge of the plants of the area, make this garden a unique contribution to the way in which we think of gardens generally. The innovation expressed in this garden goes beyond the mundane into the exceptional. The garden’s use of Mexican plants, including cacti and agave as “headliners” in the mix, add up to a presentation that is incredibly interesting to behold. Peckerwood Garden is widely respected for the originality of its design and its commitment to education and to fostering conservation.