The Everchanging Highland Gardens

After the completion of Highland’s renovation in 1979, we started work on our gardens by planting a spruce sapling in the very center of the then-new garden. Over the past 43 years this tree grew to be 65’ tall, then this spring it was brought down by 100 mph winds.

Since then we have had many discussions regarding the function and future of the Highland gardens and how we should integrate this new space into our garden’s everchanging masterplan. These options included planting a new shade tree, permanently installing the Duality sculpture, transferring the bronze flower urn nearby, or designing and building a third fountain at Highland.

Dr. David Tusek, who is a good friend and an active City Club member, recently gave a talk at Highland Institute titled What it Means to be a Healthy Human and Have a Healthy Community. I encourage all members to watch this important talk and consider adopting some of David’s sage advice to maintain peak health.

In addition to David’s advice to skip breakfast, which I have now personally adopted, my main takeaway from this talk was the importance of daily practice to spend time in nature. This reminded me of Fredrick Law Olmstead’s quote referring to Central Park in Manhattan as the lungs of the city. Looking at it from this angle, we can think of Highland gardens as our “health club,” allowing our members to have access to crazy-fast internet while working or dining outdoors in our award-winning gardens while building community.

In light of the above and after much debate, we placed an order with Haddonstone to custom build the English pool and fountain in the picture above. We hope this new space proves to be a great gathering place to read, work, drink coffee, have tea, or just contemplate the meaning of life with the sound of water in the background.

We are striving to complete this fun and important project by late fall, and put it into service next spring, trusting that one never steps in the same garden twice.

— Sina.