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madsquopper

Ad-hoc Garden Visits

madsquopper
18 years ago

At the swap Henrietta and I were discussing visiting other people's gardens. It's probably too difficult to set up an organized weekend or two, so the idea is to create a list of people who would welcome random (planned) visits to their yards. For now, people can add their name and approximate location to this thread with a short description of their yard, and then if you want to visit send them an email to set it up. If anyone has a better suggestion of how to maintain such a list, feel free to offer one.

OK, I'll go first:

Larry (and Cathy)

Vienna, VA (right next to Wolf Trap)

About 4/10 of an acre with everything from full sun to a shady, wooded area. Lots of various gardens, mostly perennials and small shrubs. We like lots of bright colors and try to be wildlife friendly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden pictures

Comments (17)

  • julia3
    18 years ago

    I love the idea. My garden, unfortunately, will not be available until late summer or early fall because it's a mess that will take a lot of work to get into shape.

    I enjoyed your photos a lot. You have so many different kinds of plants and on only 4/10 ths of an acre? Wow. I like the relaxed, country feel to your garden--overly manicured isn't my style at all.

  • manure_queen
    18 years ago

    Hi
    I am in temple hills,md and have just under 1/3 acre.
    have a large veggies garden, and choose my plants mostly for leaf color rather than flowers. My annual "flowers" are my hot peppers, which I have scaled way back on because I decided to switxch to garlic, HAve about 20 varieties
    MAry

  • lynnt
    18 years ago

    I am willing to be "At Home" to fellow gardeners this Sunday, May 22, from noon to 4 PM, for anyone who wants to see my "work in progress" in Lanham MD, off Rt 450 just outside the Maryland beltway -- I am in the middle of building a series of drystone walls and steps built of slabs of broken concrete to terrace my long narrow 2/3 acre yard. The irises and azaleas are now in full bloom, the peonies and roses are starting, and we'll see what the storms forecast for tomorrow leave me. Even when there isn't much blooming, I have a lot of fun playing with leaf colors and textures. And there are always plenty of crowded things for visitors to leave with a piece of.

    Warning, my interior housekeeping leaves much to be desired, since I'd rather spend my time outside while the weather stays nice.

    Will provide full address and directions to those who RSVP.

    LynnT

  • vladpup
    18 years ago

    G'Day!
    What a terrific idea!

    Y'all are most welcome to come on down to Aquasco for lunch, a "shovel tour," and feeding carrots to the horses most any time, as i am retired and am puttering about in the garden pretty much full time. (With my eyesight, i don't drive, and so only ocasionally go to see the gardens of others.)

    Aquasco is the extreme SE tippy-tip corner of Prince George's County; we are almost in Charles County and almost in the Patuxent river. We are on Aquasco Road (imagine that - we have a paved road! With a stripe down the middle!) which is the same as Maryland 381 (the other end of which is Brandywine Road).

    The gardens are a mess, as i'm trying to effect a few decades worth of regular garden developement in just a few years. It's all one big work in progress. Only a fraction of our acreage is being converted into gardens - but once the area around the house is done, those horses better guard their pasture acreage!

    Take a look at my Exchange Page (via the "my page" link above) for an idea of what i may have extras of; there are likely to be other items available to visitors not on the exchange page.

    See also my flowers-and-stuff page (link below) where my freind Frank has posted galleries of his pictures of my garden; right now, there are banks overflowing with iris blossoms, the clematis are blooming and the rose buds are just funfurling.

    The surplus-plant-of-the-moment are the baby lettuces which need thinning; i wish someone would adopt the extras! (Three different blends plus eight single variety beds.) Get 'em while they last!

    At any time there are gobs of strawberry plants to spare. We've already had the first ripe strawberries of the season!

    The BEST days for visiting me are Monday through Thursday. Friday, Saturday, or Sunday are possible, but will take more arangement, as those are the days Eric is home and needs quiet and we do the heavy chores those days.

    Hope to see some of y'all down this way some time! Be sure to bring containers - even just plastic bags - and a trowel, as i'm sure we can find some plants here for you!

    Happy gardening,
    -vlad

    Here is a link that might be useful: Frank's pictures of my garden

  • AlyG
    18 years ago

    Well, I would welcome visitors and their good ideas and tips, and Puppy Manny always likes guests. Also, somebody please come and take this currant shrub off my hands. Thought I had a trade pending, but I've not heard back. :(

    Aly

  • kimka
    18 years ago

    With a couple days notice to pick up around the place, I'd love to give shovel tours. You can see all the dry stack stonewalls I've built over the years (including my first one, which I am going to have to rebuild this summer, now that I know more about what I am doing).

    I'd welcome people (with notice)to Silver Spring on weekends and alternate Friday's.

    Just send me an email.

  • ididit
    18 years ago

    We have about 70 gardens in our community gardens here in Lusby (Solomons) We would love the opportunity to show them to all visitors!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Our Garden Club website

  • braspadya
    18 years ago

    Jeff & I are always glad to give tours of our garden. The highlights are the garden "bones" (stone walls & paths, and wooden arbors), and my orchid greenhouse. I'm at home with our young son & we can arrange to be at home almost anytime. We live in Kensington, about 3 miles from the intersection of the Beltway & Connecticut Avenue.

    Cheers,

    Dan

  • Goldylocks
    18 years ago

    Well, my yard is too small for "tours" and too messy to "show off," but I welcome tolerant visitors and any and all advice. I fell in love with this very ordinary split-level in an ordinary working-class neighbor just because the former owners had created two levels of patio with a terraced perennial garden and behind that a small circle of grass followed by a wooded area with very old tall trees. Ever since I moved in I have been struggling to catch up having had no idea originally that I had to do anything but look at the flowers out of the window. This year with my planting 100s of bulbs in the fall and then my wintersowing experiment is kind of a cross-over into actually embracing gardening as fun. Suddenly I find I know the names of many of the different green things and have watched them enough to pick up on some of their habits. I have begun to move a few things and pull up a few invasives that were beating up on me (the worst being a wall of thuggish bamboo the former owners mistakenly planted all along the fence beside the perennial garden). I live in Silver Spring but in an area which people always guess is somewhere else (near Garrett Park, Kensington, Rockville) behind connecticut and viers mill. I work at home on Tuesdays and Fridays and can have guests then or on weekends. Maybe we can organize a day for those of us in the immediate vicinity to do a "round" of each other's gardens? KimKa? Who else? Leslie

  • kimka
    18 years ago

    Count me in for a garden web tour of Silver Spring. I'm only a few minutes from you. How about a picking a Saturday in August?

    I'll even offer to be the last stop and make a big pitcher of margaruitas. (I may even have mulched and weeded by then, dusting on the other hand may be optional.)

  • gardengranma
    18 years ago

    Hi All: You have seen mine at the swap. I'd love to go and see gardens of others.

  • madsquopper
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    GardenGranma is coming over to our house this Sunday early afternoon, so if anyone else wants to stop by feel free. The yard is really pretty right now. Address is 9412 Cello Ct, Vienna, VA and you can download a map using the link below.

    Larry

    Here is a link that might be useful: map

  • Goldylocks
    18 years ago

    How about Saturday August 13th for a Silver Spring/kensington garden tour? I think it would be best not to post all our addresses on the public web here, but everyone is invited. How about this -- anyone who might like to join in (even if you aren't opening a garden too that day) e-mail. Those who do want to invite guests, include your address and any other information for visitors. I will figure out a logical sequence of houses -- definitely ending at KimKa's for margueritas! That way we can visit with each other and house hop in a group. I will forward the plan with the addresses, times, etc. to everybody who emailed me.

    If this idea doesn't make sense, I am open to better ideas....

    Leslie

  • Mummichog03
    18 years ago

    my attempts at gardens are a mess (i have no talent for design and don't keep up with the weeds) but there are things blooming ... and much more than there was when we moved in here a few years ago so at least makes me happy even though they don't look like magazine pictures. i'm in the process of trying to clean the yard (and house, even worse!) up enough to be able to put the house on the market (we're moving later this summer). that means i'm also needing to get rid of a lot of the stuff left over from my efforts - especially plastic pots (mostly smallish) and milk jugs left over from wintersowing (they really could be re-used so i hate to just put them in recycling but i don't think i can sneak them onto the moving truck ...). oh yeah i have a couple bags of lime too ... those probably could stay with the house but if someone of you wants them that'd be fine too. so if you want to come feel better about the state of your gardens, and pick up some containers/other junk while you're at it, e-mail me! the rest of this weekend (6/4-5), or monday-weds evening this week, or maybe next saturday (6/11) would be best.

    i'm in the colesville part of silver spring.
    -libby

  • gardengranma
    18 years ago

    DH and I did go to visit Larry and Kathy's garden (and them of course) and we had a wonderful time. I think other than Christine's garden and Vladpup's I haven't seen any where the owner professed to want to be a gardener. I learned a lot from the layout and style of Larry and Cathy and will give it some serious thought.

  • kimka
    18 years ago

    So August 13 was suggested for a garden tour of Silver Spring MAGgies, finishing at my place for margaritas.

    Who's still up for hosting a walk around. Given the mess the contractor made of some of my beds, my place won't be as nice as I had thought back when I agreed to be on display. But as long as everyone is tolerant (and drinks enough), I'm still game.

    Who else is?

  • cfmuehling
    18 years ago

    Wow!
    I didn't see this thread but I'm in! :)

    I just need a bit of notice to try to kill the cat tinkle aroma before people visit.

    I'm out Route 50 towards Annapolis, then down Route 301. I'm always around and even if I'm not home, you're welcome to stop and walk the gardens. As Mary (ManureQueen) can atest, things are pretty well labeled, a chaotic mess, and very much the creation of GardenWeb trades and traders.

    I'd love to do the August 13th thing...

    Christine