Landscape design secrets

tour planned at Grey Towers MILFORD — An outdoor dining table made of water, a meeting room that used to be a child’s playhouse- towering trees with leaves that turn copper in the fall — these are just a few of the unique features that will be explored and explained during a special landscape tour of Grey Towers National Historic Site on Saturday, Oct. 13, at 1 p.m. Grey Towers Horticulturist Elizabeth Hawke will provide an inside look at the “Evolution of the Grey Towers Landscape,” with a special focus on how some of the landscape plants, trees and buildings were incorporated into the design of the 1886-French Chateauesque mansion estate by the Pinchot family. If Mother Nature cooperates, the landscape should be ablaze with fall’s brilliant red, yellow and orange leaves. The European Copper Beeches, planted by Governor Gifford Pinchot in the 1920s, tower over the landscape with their beautiful copper-colored foliage. The landscape tour differs from regular public tours because the entire program is focused on the exterior grounds of the estate. Group size is limited and pre-registration is suggested. Regular tour fees apply. Participants should meet in the Visitor Pavilion in the parking lot to begin the walking tour through the grounds. For more information or to pre-register, call 570-296-9630 or send an e-mail to greytowers@fs.fed.us. Grey Towers, donated to the public in 1963, currently is administered by the USDA Forest Service as a museum, education and conference center.