Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Pueblo Xeric Garden Tour

On June 6, 2009 I went on the Xeriscape Garden Tour hosted by master gardners in Pueblo. The tour was a two day affair, with gardens in Pueblo on Saturday, and gardens in Pueblo West on Sunday. There were four personal gardens and one demonstration garden scheduled each day. I visited the personal ones, because I knew I could visit the demo gardens at any other time. Here are photos of each garden visited, and comments: This was the first home and this is the view as you walk up the driveway, showing the grapevines. I liked their arrangement of gourds in the window box on their back patio area. Raised beds for vegetable gardens. They looked so neat. The area between beds was covered with a material that seemed to be a combination of crushed rocks, some still pebble size, most looking like sand. It was neatly raked, showing rake marks, very zen like. This is a plant several of us have, and since I did not know the name, I was glad to find out it is called a "French" hollyhock. This just shows one of the ways gardners create walking areas in their gardens...crushed rock paths, lined with river rock. A different view of the house. They still have a lot of grass but the gardens are xeric and wonderful. This is what the guide says about this garden: "This cheerful home was built 16 years ago and the garden was designed around it. The garden's elements have evolved by both design and by plant migration and continue to expand with the homeowner's knowledge and requirements. The lot is located on an old corn/alfalfa fiesl and the owners are grateful for the native soil that they have continued to amend and mulch. This garden is planted with happy abandonment as to color and is sturdy enough to withstand the wear and tear of pets and children. It includes an automatic irrigation and a manual drip system." I'm going to post each garden separately because placing the pictures becomes more of a pain and the length of the post lengthens.

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