Beautiful Gardens Jay and Diane Wesley Halifax Story by Shauna Dobbie, photos by Jay Wesley
J
ay and Diane Wesley’s Japanese-style garden in Halifax is a very special place. Situated on a corner lot, the 70-by-130-foot space is green year-round, a mix of bamboos, evergreens and more than 50 varieties of rhododendron. When there’s no snow, you can barely tell that it’s winter from the pictures. In spring and summer, the vibrant shades of green are offset by the rare flower. Jay worked for the parks department for Halifax for 37 years, including 10 years as the supervisor of horticulture, but it was a trip to New Hampshire that inspired his design. “The story of the garden is anything but what I worked with,” he tells me. At Fuller Gardens in New Hampshire, Jay came across a small corner of the acreage dedicated to Japanese-style gardening. “For all the grandeur of the formal gardens, this little corner was so peaceful,” Jay says. “On my visits, I’d just sit there listening to the trickle of water and kind of gazing into all the shades of green.” He thought of his yard and what it would feel like to come home from work and sit in such a place. After researching some Japanese gardens, including the famous one in Portland, Oregon, and some in Japan, he set to work.
localgardener.net
Issue 3
2021 • 53
