Timothy Tilghman - Untermyer Gardens: Past, Present, Potential

MHG Meetings

Sponsored By: Metro Hort Group

The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy is a non-profit organization which is collaborating with the City of Yonkers to facilitate the restoration of Samuel Untermyer’s gardens. Timothy Tilghman has been the head horticulturists there since June 2011.

History of the Gardens:
In 1899 Samuel Untermyer purchased Greystone, the former estate of Samuel Tilden. In the forty one years Untermyer owned Greystone, he transformed the gardens and greenhouses into some of the most celebrated gardens in America. After expanding the estate through property purchases to the north and east of the original estate, he hired Beaux Arts architect Welles Bosworth to design gardens around 1915. These gardens sprawled over 150 acres overlooking the Hudson River and were maintained by 60 gardeners and supplied by 60 greenhouses. It was open to the public on a weekly basis during the 1920’s and ‘30’s and for special events, including displays of his famous chrysanthemums and tulips. Thirty-thousand people visited it on one day in 1939. The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy is currently working to restore the grandeur of this once world renowned garden.

Timothy Tilghman has worked as gardener, curator and editor for several important gardens including Willowwood Arboretum, Morris County, NJ, Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, Wave Hill, Riverdale, NY and Rocky Hills, Mount Kisco, NY. He was Senior Garden Editor for Martha Stewart Living Magazine.

http://www.untermyergardens.org