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.
This was probably the most exciting plant to see on the whole tour...artichokes! The owner said they are not supposed to grow here, but she wanted to try anyway. And it has been a struggle because they do not over winter. She starts seeds in February in order to have chokes by fall! Seeds are from Park Seed Company. Plants are heavily mulched with chopped leaves, then in winter are completely covered with unchopped leaves, she said, but even then she usually loses about three-fourths of the plants each year. These certainly looked lush though. ( If you click on the photo it will open larger so you can see the detail better.)
Outside her fence, she was growing really xeric plants, like wooly thyme and creeping thyme, yarrow and salvias, etc. I liked the way this looked alongside the road.
And this seemed like such a good idea...putting weed barrier fabric down under a bird feeder so the discarded bird seed does not germinate!
This is what the tour guide says about this garden:
"The principle of hydro-zoning is practiced throughout this garden starting with the "oasis" near the front door and rippling out towards the street where the most water wise plantings are. Color, texture, light, shade and sound are all equally important in this garden and plants were chosen with this in mind. The garden was started about 20 years ago and is filled with lovely shade trees, gurgling ponds, fountains and drifts of color. The large vegetable garden supplies a plethora of edibles while the shaded backyard provides a peaceful seating area. This garden is home to many domestic critters and is a sanctuary for many wild birds and butterflies."
The 'oasis' near the front door had a sandy floor that had been raked and the rake marks created a zen feeling. I have seen projects for making zen gardens with tiny rakes for one to put on a desk and I always wondered, why? But, after seeing this I can see how peaceful it is. We might all need a small, sandy area to rake when we are stressed...
There were two fountains in ponds, one in front and one in back. A lap pool in back. Two rescued emus, two geese and a duck. Mature trees created a cool shady area in front and back. The back yard was so cool and inviting, it would be hard to stay out working in the sun... She uses a "leaf chopper" by Toro to create her mulch from yard waste. Everywhere you walk is covered with wood mulch. (I should have taken more pictures here...)
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