This garden was a Capability Brown style arboretum created over decades by a professional landscaper who loved trees. Tour guests were provided with an impressive plant list, and tour organiser Terri Small (Terri of Markham Farm!) had come up with a clever idea of labelling plants with letters that corresponded to the plant list. I might try that for my Memorial Day weekend garden open next year.
The lawn was easy to walk on and the entire garden was entrancingly fragrant with the smell of pines and cedars.
The human figures give a sense of the scale of this magnificent landscape.
In this garden, we met up with Terri who was one of the hosts.
I had to sit in my portable chair, tired from pushing it around in some of the more gravelly gardens.
In talking with Terri, I learned the sad news that Don Glud, creator of this garden, had suddenly died in his sleep just days before the tour. His family opened the garden anyway and I hope it was a comfort to see the many tour guests strolling around enjoying his creation.
I so wish he had been there to bask in the appreciation of his work.
A look back shows how the berms cradle the house with trees. The area around the house was redolent with the scent of incense cedar.
I felt so bereft about this man I never met that I couldn’t think of how to end this post. My friend Kilyn wrote the perfect words…
“And [the trees] cradle the memory of one who so loved them, that he planted them.”
This was my favourite garden. I loved everything about the paradise created by gardeners Mary and Timothy and their family. And it was easy to get around because most of the paths were either paved surfaces or smooth lawn.
A big workshop was backed with a big greenhouse.
Inside the greenhouse was an enormous plant which a tour host said was a sunflower from a bird seed mix. I asked on the PNW Plant Geeks Facebook group and the leaves don’t look right for a sunflower. Maybe a Pawlonia or empress tree? That is what I was thinking, too.
I was happy with all I saw and with the ease of getting around.
The garden abounded with interesting objects.
Allan liked the easy mowing promised by the lawn edges. (I think that in our garden of horsetail, the river rock and the spaces between the pavers would require endless weeding.)
Through a gate by the house, we entered a patio area.
For me, the tree pruning to make room underneath was pleasing and amusing.
I left the patio for a slightly lower level.
Papa’s Corner: “Look forward in peace”
I’d thought I might find the “family” signs annoying (as someone from a tiny, now gone-but-for-me, not much-of-a-family), but instead they were all personable and interesting and sometimes very funny and wise.
The huge garden was able to absorb all of the sculptures and mementos. Where the river rock began there were stairs and overlooks down to a stream that would be a child’s dream for playing and exploring.
Allan made a friend.
After dreamily imagining myself as a child …or younger adult..playing in the stream, I returned to the garden.
Pruning the many barberries must be a painful task.
Exploring down a long grassy path, I was rewarded by seeing fruit cages along the way..
…and a compost bin array twice the size of mine at the end.
Back across the shrub-bordered lawn toward the house…
Back to the patio…
Inside the patio entrance, noticed as we went back out…
As we were preparing to depart, we notices this cute trailer at the back of the driveway…
…and Allan found out that the family takes it to fairs to sell things from it.
Although it was hard to leave such an enjoyable garden, we had one more garden to see and it was a bit of a drive away.
The grand entrance to Matthew and Kerry’s country garden…
the grand pavilionsteps to the playground field
Here is a closer view of the garden on the left at the top of those steps.
Looking over the fence behind a narrow garden at the edge of the gravel expanse, we could see a kitchen garden far below.
The gravel turned to a wide path or road that led us along the foundation garden by the house to the left…
and to the top of a waterfall on the right.
The lawn wrapped around the other side of the big island bed.
The grassy route had been easier to go down with a rollator, which sticks in unpacked gravel.
At the bottom of the hill was the kitchen garden and the chickens and greenhouse that we had seen from above.
Past the kitchen garden was a new orchard…
…and off to the side were chickens.
We were pleased to see Wendy, just arriving to help out with the tour, whose lovely garden was on the first Master Gardeners of Grays Harbour garden tours that we attended (and we haven’t missed one since).
We went back up the gravel road beside the enormous raised island bed…
…and had another view of the waterfall.
Then on we went to garden five, another large country garden.
There are several garden beds in the fairgrounds, maintained by volunteers, on the way to the demonstration gardens.
approaching the demonstration garden:
The impressive fruit and veg area provides food for the local community.
We admired the informative and easy to read signs.
Flowers are mixed in with the veg to attract pollinators.
Off to one side of the demonstration garden is an ornamental area.
Most of their fuchsias were not blooming yet.
The ornamental beds were at the end of a native plant walk which was not rollator friendly.
Allan took the native plant route….
…and I can enjoy it through his photos.
Phacelia tanacetifolia
We were now halfway through the tour with three more gardens to see. The fairground garden was my second favourite of the six. I think it is open to the public throughout the year.
Between gardens one and two, we passed some interesting homes.
a small home with a beloved tiny gardensidewalk unkempt and kempt
Garden two: A Rain Garden Reigns
One of the purposes of Master Gardener tours is to educate on ideas for your garden, in this case, a rain garden. This was a new garden which I would love to see again in a couple of years. We will stop by to at least look into the front garden if we are ever passing through Elma.
Through the gate into the side yard is the new rain garden. I would love to see a plant list of what gardener Valorie chose to plant here. My rollator and I would block the sidewalk if we stood there for very long, so we didn’t linger.
The purpose of the garden is to absorb water from the roof. It will be interesting to see in the winter when full of rain and will suggest on the Facebook post about the tour that photos of the garden could be shared there as it grows.
interlude
On the way to the next garden, we saw a spectacular old house.
Next: a beautiful and educational volunteer garden at the county fairgrounds.
The first garden was also the site of the Master Gardeners’ plant sale.
A good legal sign, which I keep meaning to copy for any day that I might open my garden to guests:
The street-facing garden beds were all shrubs that had proven to be deer resistant, we learned, with the exception of Euonymous alatus (burning bush), which the deer find delectable. The trees and shrubs were well spaced and pleasing to walk among on the paths by the house.
Down the side garden, to and from the plant sale…
…and around to the front of the garden.
The lawn in the front and side garden had some experiments in progress.
We entered the enclosed back garden of many seating areas. I heard several tour guests saying how much they liked it.
Garden owner and creator Ann’s chosen bark mulch was aged enough to not have that new bark smell that one often runs across on garden tours and was mostly a dark brown colour of which I heartily approve.
A stumpery corner would be good for critters.
This fenced garden, mostly off to one side of the house, offered privacy without being overlooked.
I regret that we somehow missed the outdoor room described in the progam as containing compost bins and greenhouse! A bad oversight for a compost lover like me.
I returned to peruse the rest of the front garden.
The katsura tree inspired many identification questions.
The other side of the garden was bordered by an alley rather than sidewalk and street.
How very much I love and miss alleys. I used to so enjoy taking alley exploration walks in Seattle, and had an alley at the back of my garden there.
I returned along the sidewalk. As you can see, the lot is wide, giving much room for a beautiful front garden.
And then we were off to the second of six gardens.
Master Gardeners of Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties present:
On every garden tour I attend, I have a favorite. I don’t think there has ever even been a tie. This does not make the other gardens lesser, as it’s a matter of personal idiosyncratic taste. This garden was our favorite for this year. This means there are about a million photos, so I will arrange them in galleries which you can enlarge by clicking through them, if you like this sort of thing as much as we do. We did our best to get every item in the correct spot.
We arrived at a handsome house with an interesting array of signs and containers on the front porch. One of the docents checking us in was Wendy, whose garden we loved the first time we attended this tour.
We then walked down the side driveway and came upon a huge parking area between house a long garage and shed. Against the wall were appealing arrangements of automotive relics and plants. I said to Allan, “Wow, these people really know how to display their stuff.”
I noticed people up on the large porch and went up a convenient ramp to see what was to be seen. I love the way all the plants and objects were displayed. It is a talent to put vignettes together so well.
Through an arbor is a secluded back porch room with transparent ceiling. I said to Allan how very much I want a room like that.
A lower level one step down had more delightful displays.
I peeked inside the open shed to see the well set up potting area.
The L shaped garden was off to the side (and front) of the house, and in the middle of it was an outbuilding which houses more vintage items.
I wanted to but did not go inside because of my Covid protocols; it was small with other tour guests coming and going. However, Terri of Markham Farm sent me her photos of the interior, so you and I can peruse them together. Garden owner Glenna, whose husband Mike gives her full credit for all the great arranging of stuff, sat on the porch and regaled us with a story of how one day while working on restoring the house, which had been full of rats, cats, bats, and blackberry vines when they bought it, she found a piece of wood with a man’s name written on it and wondered what the story was about it. Within a few hours, a truck had pulled up in front of the house with a man driving, who turned out to be that man, and out of the back seat emerged a tiny 99 year old woman who had been an original homesteader in the neighborhood. “We were all in tears by the time the visit ended,” said Glenna. The man then mailed her a packet of photos of the house as it once was.
Photo by Terri SmallPhoto by Terri SmallPhoto by Terri Small
Glenna and Mike restored the house and added the dormer and porches.
I explored the back corner of the garden…
…and the long side garden past the vintage display shed…
I love the dark mulch!
…and discovered that the large side porch had even more impeccably curated displays.
Around to the front of the house, I admired the porch closer up but did not go out the gate. I liked the whole place so much that I walked around the whole thing in the other direction before we departed.
Master Gardeners of Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties present:
In a neighborhood near Aberdeen, we toured a garden with the spectacular feature of ancient tree stumps overgrown with native plants and shrubs. Fascinating. The huge landscape is surrounded on two or three sides by woodland.
This was another garden that was easy to navigate with a rollator, maybe something all gardeners should think about, as we all get old if we’re lucky, and most of us know or will know someone with walking disabilities. As always with a very large garden, and with two people taking photos, we are not completely sure that the progression of our walk is entirely in the right sequence. We have included some of the text of a handout that was given to tour guests.
The entryway had some bright annuals added.
As we entered the former home of giant trees, the look became more woodsy and naturalistic. We applaud the garden owners for preserving the giant tree stumps.
Allan noticed this clever signage that shows what the garden looks like in its autumn finery.
We came upon a vertical strawberry patch and kitchen garden along the back fence.
Allan found this clever usage of a tire to protect the faucet from damage.
On the back patio
We walked through the behind the house garden to another large area surrounded by woods.
Rhododendron foliage
The signs told us that we could not wander off into the woods, tempting though those paths were.
Back to the start
The garden most definitely had lived up to its tranquil name.
Master Gardeners of Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties present:
Our first garden was in Montesano, a town just east of Aberdeen. The home is next to Vessey and Sons contractors and its work yard full of big trucks. How enviable to have such a great source of wonderful rocks (which we assumed, perhaps correctly, were sourced by the Vesseys). As Allan and I tour together, we notice similar and different things.
As always, the tour program is a keepsake booklet with each garden getting two pages. Each garden got this nice sign as a memento.
This was my first foray into rollator touring. I’ve been in many gardens where it would have been a struggle to get through with such a device. This one was a dream to start out in, very easy to navigate.
A place to show painted rocks
The front garden is a parklike setting with shrubs and trees and beautiful rocks with pools of bright annuals.
The front entry garden with annual accents segues into a flawless lawn with massive boulders in the center.
Spectacular and enviable boulders!
At the front of the house, annual color brightens up the weedless beds.
Walk through to back yard
The back garden is set up for entertaining in sun or shade.
A shed with a garage door like this would be ever so useful to us!
The business work yard also has landscaping.
This was the only Montesano garden on the tour. We were now off to Aberdeen, a city that I love. We saw some wonderful old houses as we drove west through Montesano, and I wish we had stopped to photograph them, but the lure of garden touring was too strong to allow for getting sidetracked.
Tangly Cottage Gardening 