Yesterday Earl and I went on a garden walk. For the practical, it’s a way to raise money for some cause by asking people to pay ten dollars to visit various gardens owned by devoted gardeners. For the person who loves digging in the dirt, it’s a way to view what can be done with unlimited resources and an avid passion for all things growing.
Earl and I fall somewhere in between. But the main reason we went on the tour was that our old house was one of the featured gardens. So for us, the garden walk was a way of revisiting the past.
Never having been on such a tour before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But my mind’s eye thought of symmetry, manicured trees, focal points, and unusual plantings because that’s what we strived for in our previous home. I was disappointed, not only with our former residence’s appearance, but also with most of the homes on the tour.
There were eight of them. And if I had to describe the theme for this year’s walk, I would say it was a cross between flowers fighting for space and lawns fighting for space with the flowers. Hostas and black-eyes Susans and daisies all vied for center stage, while the lawns and trees were mostly ignored. They were not dressed with mulch or pruned or even weeded.
I would say the actual event was well organized, down to the refreshments at one of the houses and to the flyers with descriptions of each home. At the same time, I hope next year’s committee finds examples that are truly about quality of landscape design and not just about quantity of blooms.
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