Re: help, my garden will be open to public in June

At 08:34 AM 1/7/00 -0800, Julie wrote:
>Yesterday I agreed to put my garden on a local garden tour in June.  I have
>never done this before & am apprehensive about what I'm in for (not to
>mention my neighbors and my poor family).  If you have any suggestions, do's
>or don'ts, I'd be HAPPY to hear them--some of you have probably done this
>sort of thing a lot!  My garden suddenly looks like a collection of giant
>eyesores!  What was I thinking?

Julie -

My worst nightmare is that my own garden would be on a tour - people always 
assume that I have a huge and beautifully landscaped garden.  It is 
actually extremely small and often quite neglected.  Who has 
time?  Certainly not me!  Most of my gardening these days is done 'online', 
what with this group and the web site, etc.  But occasionally I just have 
to steal some time to get my hands in the dirt.

Here are some ideas I've thought about and noted that others' found to work 
under this sort of circumstance:

Mulch - A good, fresh mulch goes a long way towards making a garden look 
better, and it help the garden immensely.  This would especially be true up 
in Redding where it can get so hot and dry early in the year.  Applying it 
thickly now will also help your plants get the most out of our very dry 
winter (what up with that?!).

Objects - A well placed pot, chair, table, or weird piece of junk/art can 
go a long way!  Having a focal point (other than plants) is very 
useful.  It can be multi-use if placed where it can be viewed from a 
variety of places in the garden.  You might also just need to fill in a 
'hole'.  Make sure it blends into your theme, picks up the colors, seems 
appropriate.  Something begged or borrowed night be just the key.

Potted plants - Useful focal points, but also great to fill in otherwise 
bare corners of patios, steps, paths.  They can also be used to help block 
areas that you don't wish people to go/see.  A few nice items from the 
nursery can be placed (plastic pot and all) into attractive terracotta or 
metal containers, or odd pieces of junk that can serve as temporary 
containers.  Be creative.  Humor is a great addition for a garden tour.

Think about how visitors will travel through your garden and make it easy 
and plain to see.  So many plants can be damaged by large groups of people 
who might not realize where they are treading.  Also, if you have something 
really unusual, or near-and-dear, consider wiring it into the ground or to 
something closeby that is stable - unfortunately, and sadly, people have 
been known to steal on rare occasions.

Have some cold water, lemonade, and/or light refreshments on hand - we all 
get tired and a bit grumpy after slogging around, looking for parking, 
etc.  Make sure there is some shade or a sheltered place for people to 
enjoy this repast and chat about the gardens and greet each other.  This 
goes a long way towards making a visit to your garden memorable!

Also, talk with your neighbors, make them aware of the date, invite them to 
join the tour, discuss their concerns and try to respect them.  Discuss 
possible parking/traffic problems with the tour organizers and try to make 
sure they announce any special considerations for your neighborhood.  They 
should also be advocating car-pooling to reduce the number of 
vehicles.  Your visitors will leave, but you'll still be there!  Don't 
expect that problems will take care of themselves - better to ask and 
inquiry than be surprised later.

Don't be overly concerned - it'll come off better than you imagine.
Have fun!
Sean O.

Sean A. O'Hara                       sean.ohara@groupmail.com
h o r t u l u s   a p t u s          710 Jean Street
'a garden suited to its purpose'     Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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