Medford Leas
Community Website
medfordleas.org

Gardens

Medford Campus

Surrounding the residential and community buildings are extensive grounds: landscaped areas, recreational facilities and lawns. Recreational areas include a putting green, chip and putt course, croquet, shuffleboard, tennis courts and an area called “the farm” consisting of small plots on which some residents raise vegetables and fruits.

Lumberton Campus

As on the main campus, trees in the landscaped areas are included in the Geographic Information System and identified with signs.

The Atrium Garden. In the reception area, the waterfall, beautiful trees, a pond with carp, and resident box turtles make this garden a favorite. The Atrium garden, each of the two gardens on either side of the entrance walkway, and every courtyard garden has a map, drawn by a resident volunteer, showing the location and the names, common and scientific, of each plant.

Courtyard Gardens. In the residential area, ground-level, garden-style apartments are clustered around central courtyard gardens planted with shrubs and small trees, herbaceous perennials and annuals, both familiar and exotic, selected in part for disease resistance and drought tolerance.

Represented are 29 little-known and under-used woody plants of exceptional merit promoted by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in their “Gold Medal” award program.

There are 33 courtyard gardens, each unique, designed by outstanding landscape architects or horticulturists from the staff of the Morris Arboretum. All courtyards are connected to the Community Building by glass-enclosed covered walkways, and thus are accessible in inclement weather and by wheelchair.

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Private Gardens (and Birds). On both campuses, every residential unit is at ground level and everyone in residential living has the opportunity to create a garden. Many gardens bring butterflies, birds (and bunnies). It was 33° on January 9, the day of the 2013 bird census on the Medford Campus; 26 species and 275 birds were seen. It was 60° on January 14 for the Lumberton Campus bird census; 28 species and 710 birds were seen — many of them Canada Geese flying overhead. There's lots more information on the Birders website.

Back Porch Garden. In 2000, a landscape architect was invited to design a special “healing garden” in the terrace space between the buildings for assisted living and long-term care. Now known as the Back Porch Garden, the area is a popular setting for cookouts, concerts, bird and butterfly watching, and residents’ plantings of flowers and occasional vegetables.

Community Gardens. On the Medford Campus it’s called “The Farm” and at Lumberton it’s the “Community Garden.” The 2011 photo essay “Down on the Farm” provides text and photos about Spring Planting and Harvest Time. The Master Gardeners of Burlington County have a large plot at Medford Leas, one of ten they maintain throughout the county. Last year, they produced 1,165 pounds of vegetables for an array of food banks, 85 percent of which came from their Medford Leas plot.

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Katzell Grove provides an accessible off-road walkway through a grove with 48 trees of 14 different species, almost all of them native to this area. Named after the benefactors, Ray and Kitty Katzell, the grove was first planted in November, 2002, and then made over in 2013 with more trees, the walkway, and benches.

Meditation Garden is a special location where residents may choose to have their ashes placed. It is a living memorial to former residents and a quiet spot for meditation and inspiration for current residents. There is a book in the Library that lists the names of former residents whose ashes have been placed in the Meditation Garden.

Special Collections. The Pinetum is a collection of conifers, many from regions of Europe and Asia. The Arboretum visitors’ packet includes the brochure “A Self-Guided Tour of the Medford Leas Pinetum.” The Rhododendron Garden is quite large; look for it on the trail map behind Courts #1 and #8. Additional collections include holly, viburnum, daffodil, rose, and crabapple.

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Photo credits: Banner – Ralph Berglund; Atrium, Courts – Steve Denham; Private Gardens – Jane Bourquin; Community Garden – Dave Bartram; Katzell Grove – Beth Bogie; Meditation Garden, Back Porch Garden, Pinetum – unknown