Visions of Paradise: Tour Menlo, North River gardens

Published 10:08 am Tuesday, July 11, 2017

NORTH COUNTY — The Washington State University Master Gardeners in Grays Harbor and Pacific counties are hosting a garden tour entitled, “Visions of Paradise,” on Saturday, July 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Treat yourself to cooling vistas and peaceful gardens in Menlo and the North River area of Pacific County. The organizers say the diverse gardens display the range of beauty of the area while offering participants a chance to learn about gardening adaptations for a maritime climate. Included on the five-garden tour is a cottage garden built on the banks of the Willapa River, once the place of non-native blackberry bushes and an empty house. Another garden offers a grand view of the North River, with extensive vegetable plantings, greenhouses. At the gazebo in this garden, attendees will find a selection of plants for sale that have been donated by Master Gardeners.

Tour-goers will have the opportunity to view a garden that has been designed to evoke memories of the owners’ trip to Paris using old-style pavers, clean lines and stone flower beds. Meander through their garden, and see their tribute to Paris around the vegetables, berry bushes, fruit trees, native plants, ornamentals and water features.

Stroll through a third garden developed inexpensively, using young and donated plants and by propagating from existing plants. In the backyard, vegetables are in raised beds under hoop houses, while aronia berry, currants, and gooseberries are raised in the “hügelkultur” bed, and where you’ll find the gardeners’ colorful chickens.

See a garden oasis that is a work of art formed from acres of raw land. The owner planted over a thousand trees, and created a one-acre lake with artfully placed benches, gazebo and garden sculpture. This garden has an extensive French-drain system, which feeds an unlined one-acre pond with water from the hillside and house gutters. To the right of the entrance is a two-and-one-half acre garden that the owner calls “The Park.”

Tickets are $12 and available in Raymond at Dennis Company and Everyone’s Video & More; and in South Bend at Elixir Café and Floral Design. Tickets will contain a map with directions to each of the sites, and directional signs will lead to the gardens.

Proceeds from the tour go to the WSU Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties Master Gardener Program for community-education projects.

WSU Extension programs and employment are available without discrimination. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local WSU Extension office. Reasonable accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities and special needs who contact Toni Gwin, WSU Extension, P.O. Box 88, South Bend, WA 98586, 360-875-9331; tgwin@wsu.edu at least two weeks prior to the event.