By definition, a “bower” is “a pleasant, shady place; a retreat or sanctuary.”
It’s the perfect word to describe a new native plant garden and sculpture park, nestled between the Tuscarora and Kittatinny ridges of the scenic Appalachians in Perry County.
“The Bower,” a bucolic landscape and fine art venue, opens May 1, spread across the 36-acre residential homestead of Bill and Jane Allis. The Allises initiated the project two years ago, recruiting a multi-faceted team of designers, developers, landscapers and artists to bring their vision to life.
The couple said that they were inspired to create The Bower after traveling to New Zealand and Utah in 2018, which, in turn, “gave us increased recognition for the need for conservation.” Bill and Jane decided to sell their downtown Harrisburg home and return permanently to their property in Shermans Dale, where they had lived for many years while raising their family.
“We did a lot of traveling over the years, which inspired us,” Bill said. “After we returned home, though, we realized that central Pennsylvania is the most beautiful place we’ve ever been to.”
Lofty Goals
The Allises began their ambitious project by recruiting the help of a Penn State landscape architecture student. Their shared vision was to “create an accessible, intimate and diverse landscape that joins nature and art in harmony and provides many serene and intriguing places to enhance the visitors’ experience,” according to the couple.
“We considered ourselves very capable of doing this, but we had some pretty lofty goals,” recalled Bill, a retired environmental engineer.
Jane was no slouch in environmental design, either. A retired early childhood educator, she oversaw the environmental design and construction of the Londonderry School in Susquehanna Township.
“I had my hands in project management (before The Bower),” she said. “I wanted to make this a place that can be enjoyed by all ages of the public.”
The Allises created a master plan under the “guidance and insight” of Oehme von Sweden, or OvS, a Washington, D.C.-based landscape architecture firm. The firm created a concept that celebrated the “Pennsylvania Salient,” or the characteristic folding of the Appalachian Mountain range in the state’s central region.
Philadelphia-based Larry Weaner Landscape Associates (LWLA), which specializes in native plant horticulture, was also commissioned. Landscape designer Ethan Dropkin took the existing master plan and “changed around to a new plan” that involved trail systems, gardens and meadows to collect storm water onsite, all based on Bill and Jane’s feedback.
The resulting design was cultivated through mid-2020 and planted in late fall. The work is expected to culminate in continuing growth over the next several years as “a resilient, low-maintenance landscape demonstrating the value, benefits and subtle beauty of diverse native plant communities for visitors, as well as pollinators and wildlife,” the Allises described.
“Our clients wanted a completely organic landscape,” Dropkin said.
To achieve just that, his firm dotted the landscape with more than 100 native species using seed mixes, live plants and shrubs, grasses and ferns.
“Working organic has its challenges,” he said. “It takes more applications of natural treatments than chemical for treating weeds.”
He noted, though, that the property has a great deal of diversity.
“It’s on the side of a mountain with everything from a full canopy to a full sun meadow,” he said. “There are a lot of interesting plants like orchids, meadows and a variety of native grasses.”
Bold, Harmonious
The Allises also enlisted Brigette Mayer, a Philadelphia-based gallerist and art consultant, to the project. She guided The Bower’s advertising, selection, commissioning and design of site-specific sculpture. Initially, 130 sculptors from the United States, Europe and South America submitted proposals. Ultimately, final selections were narrowed to 10 artists to create sculptures.
Stonemason, designer and artist Thea Alvin and her partner, Michael Clookey, created The Bower’s entrance piece, “The Kiss.”
“I was very excited to be a part of the process,” Alvin said.
She and Clookey spent two weeks in Shermans Dale with the Allises to finish the massive work that comprises 100 tons of stone recycled from an old barn foundation.
“It’s held together using gravity and physics and has no mortar or glue,” Alvin explained. “It’s an old, proven technique thousands and thousands of years old that I taught myself.”
The Bowers’ remaining sculptures were created offsite in 2020 and installed in late summer.
Philadelphia-based artist Rebecca Rutstein created “Ridge & Valley,” a monumental, 67-foot-long work of plasma-cut steel depicting Pennsylvania’s eco-regions. The three-panel piece weighs a mighty 17 tons.
The sculpture sits in an inclined meadow surrounded by trails and wooded areas, its cut lines illuminated at night by solar lighting. Onsite installation required a 70-foot crane and “drilling lots of holes” in metal supports anchored by subgrade concrete, Rutstein said.
“It surprises with the way it transitions through the seasons,” she said. “It was challenging to do something that was bold but harmonious with the surroundings.”
Rutstein also created “Interstices,” a path using cutouts from her “Ridge & Valley” sculpture, as well as another commissioned work, “Sanctuary,” a 5-by-10 foot painting for The Bower.
“To see it all come to life was very exciting,” she said.
The Bower: A Native Garden and Sculpture Park is located at 1190 Bower Rd., Shermans Dale. Free public visits to The Bower are by appointment only. For information, visit www.thegardenbower.com or follow @gardenbower on Instagram.
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