The Monfort Heights/White Oak Community Association presents five local gardens in its 16th annual Summer Garden Tour.
The tour will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 21. This year’s tour is sponsored by Jeff Webeler and the White Oak Garden Center. Tickets are $10 per person in advance at the garden center and, the Monfort Heights branch of Cheviot Savings Bank office, 5550 Cheviot Road.
Your ticket will entitle you to visit all the gardens and receive bottled water, refreshments, and a price-off coupon at the White Oak Garden Center. When you present your pre-sale ticket at any of the gardens, you will receive a pass and a map to all the gardens. Tickets are $13 per person on the day of the tour and are available at every stop on the tour.
Garden tour chairwoman Jackie Golay put her home on the tour. The garden is at 5417 Brigade Drive, which is in LaSalle Place, off Sprucewood Drive, off North Bend Road. Her garden features many annual and perennial plants surrounding the house. Large stone steps usher you through a meandering path, terraced raised beds and beautiful pots, while benches beckon you to sit and enjoy the shade provided by mature trees overlooking a creek bed graced with shade loving plants.
She says this year was an easy year to line up gardens, and it required very little arm twisting to get a varied lineup of gardents to tour.
Nan and Mark Plunkett, both master gardeners, are getting their White Oak garden ready for the tour. The garden at their home at 6009 Eastridge Lane, which is off Clearidge, off Jessup, off Cheviot Road, starts in the front and spreads to the back yard fence.
The front yard is scattered with flower beds of perennials and annuals. You can stroll along the stone paths and mature trees in the backyard garden and find more specimen plants. The Plunketts stress natural species in their garden, and have a Monarch Waystation and a bee hive tucked away in one corner, a haven for pollinators. Mark says gardens are connected with the environment, and what you do with your half-acre can impact the larger world.
“Gardens aren’t just plants. They are part of the food chain, they are habitats, and they impact more than just your backyard,” he said. “That drew me in.”
Nan says she is the daughter of a gardener, and while she found gardening “boring” in her youth, her garden gene kicked in once she had a house of her own. Gardens reflect their individual gardeners. Mark and Nan say their garden is not formal or manicured, but they are well pleased with the fruit of their labors, and they are looking forward to sharing their work with others who enjoy gardening.
The garden at 5215 Oak Hill Drive which is off Boomer Road, off North Bend Road, features a village of gnomes and fairies in miniature homes. The garden features a waterfall rippling down a terraced hillside, and a stone walkway lines with with perennials and surrounded by a variety of tasteful yard art and troughs. The stamped concrete patio hosts large potted plants.
The fourth garden on the tour is at 4696 Farview Lane which is off Farlook, off Jessup, off Cheviot Road. This garden features elegant landscaping, and a wisteria-draped trellis leading to a terrace with groupings of potted plants and a small secret shaded outdoor seating. Metal art works are sprinkled throughout the garden.
The garden at 5797 Farhaven Lane off Farview, off Farlook, off Jessup, off Cheviot Road also features a secret garden. A huge trellis leads to a private paverlock patio with potted plants. Graceful trees adorn a hillside and the back yard is home to a vegetable garden.
Garden tourists can start their tour at any garden. Proceeds from the tour benefit the community association, making it possible to continue the care and upkeep at the interchanges at Interstate 74 and North Bend Road.
Speak Your Mind