Garden Tour

Tour eight wonderful, private gardens in Tigard and Tualatin. Be dazzled by flowers, be tempted by edibles and delight in fragrance. Meander through a foliage-rich, yet pet-friendly garden. Marvel at a diminutive, plant-packed hillside garden. Replenish the spirit in a leafy retreat. Draw inspiration and knowledge from our garden hosts, tour volunteers, and Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener volunteers. Rain or shine. GARDEN TOUR TICKET REQUIRED

Purchase Garden Tour tickets for $20 each.

Enjoy a sneak preview of the 2010 gardens

Elegant Grace

Boxwood borders line the front walk, announcing an elegant grace that permeates this garden. Flagstone paths meander past sweeping expanses of lawn and deep beds packed with more boxwoods (12 varieties in all) and an incredible array of plants. Shade-loving gems, including Japanese forest grass, hellebores, goatsbeard and hostas, reside beneath mature trees. Raspberries, blueberries, herbs and vegetables fill sunny spaces. Roses, lilies and much-loved hydrangeas provide color and fragrance throughout the garden. Annuals spill over the sides of containers planted with more boxwoods. A generously proportioned flagstone patio and plentiful seating creates a wonderful social space. Elsewhere, a wooden swing offers quiet reverie beneath a clematis-draped arbor. A hard-working side yard, complete with compost bins, proclaims “a serious gardener lives here.” Garden art, bird baths and trellises add the finishing touches to this well-tended garden.

Creature Comforts

Can a beautiful garden co-exist with a large dog in a small space? In a word: yes. The secret lies in wise plant choices and a well thought-out design that caters to man and beast. More amazingly, it can be accomplished without a lawn. A flagstone patio knit together by groundcovers supplies ample space for play and relaxation. Ornamental grasses, including ‘Evergold’ Japanese sedge, black mondo grass, and ‘Elijah Blue’ blue fescue, handle tail wags and big paws while providing year-round interest. Hardy fuchsias, hydrangeas, begonias and daisies produce colorful summer blooms. Supporting cast members include weeping blue Atlas cedar, weeping birch, vine and Japanese maples, and a silver vein creeper vine. Japanese forest grass, Scotch moss, glass globes and a bench carry the lime green and lemon color theme throughout the garden. An echo-chamber water feature fills the air with gentle sounds.  Water feature and paver patio installed by Landscape East and West.

Beauty Reinvented

Sometimes all a garden needs to reveal its hidden beauty is the well-planned shuffling of existing plants. That’s exactly what garden designer Paul Taylor suggested to this garden’s owner. Roses were moved to the sunnier side garden. Mature rhododendrons, Fatsia japonica, azaleas and hydrangeas were transplanted into more pleasing arrangements, evoking age in this young garden. River rock-lined gravel paths wind beneath mossy-barked trees that anchor beds filled with choice woodland plants, including hostas, hardy fuchsias, ‘Jack Frost’ Brunnera, ferns, epimediums, Daphne odora, ‘Full Moon’ Japanese maple, and evergreen huckleberry. An inviting flagstone patio furnished with black Adirondack chairs, bright yellow pillows and a cheery red umbrella beckons from one corner. In another, bamboo fencing provides a fitting backdrop to a Japanese pine, Fatsia japonica, camellia and Corokia cotoneaster. Annual color fills containers throughout the garden.

Old-fashioned Charmer

Two arbors, with Japanese maples draping over one and clematis clamoring over the other, bookend a garden overflowing with an incredible variety of lacecap and mophead hydrangeas. Heirloom roses and ‘Summer Snowflake’ virburnums add to the summer-long flower show. Golden barberry, ‘Gold Flame’ spirea’, ‘Baggensen’s Gold’ boxleaf honeysuckle and ‘Evergold’ Japanese sedge contribute shots of chartreuse green and sunshine yellow. Cleverly relocated sections of white picket fence, undulating garden beds and strategically placed ‘Morning Light’ Miscanthus, pink dogwood and a star jasmine-cloaked metal arbor reveal this garden’s beauty one step at a time. Guided by garden designer Paul Taylor, the homeowners tackled a neglected side garden. Out went the struggling lawn; in went a curving gravel path and generous beds filled with hostas, evergreen huckleberries, ferns and more hydrangeas. Garden seating provides for social occasions and private reverie.

Featured in The Oregonian’s Homes & Gardens of the Northwest, August 27, 2009.

 

Joyful Exuberance

A gardener with a playful soul, an adventurous spirit and a collector’s heart is a happy combination, resulting in a garden full of flowers, color and fun. Clean-lined trellises, arbor and gate serve as counterpoints to rustic and found art objects, including a bevy of colorful birdhouses, many of which were made by the owners’ children. Stacked stone walls tame the sloped garden and provide structure to beds that overflow with old favorites and new-found treasures. An amazing variety of daylilies spill from almost every bed. Blueberries and figs provide sweet goodness while ‘Sundance’ Mexican orange, oakleaf hydrangea, roses, rosemary, and hardy fuchsias tease the nose and please the eye. The garden also includes many Pacific Northwest native plants, including Oregon oxalis, Oregon-grape, sword fern and evergreen huckleberry, chosen for their easy-growing nature and wildlife appeal

 

East Meets West

An Eastern aesthetic flavors this veritable feast for body and soul. Ornamental grasses, red-leaved plums, azaleas and a hinoki cypress greet guests. A bountiful edible garden stretches from the front garden through a once-underused, sunny side yard. Flagstones are embedded in the gravel path as it passes under an Asian-styled arbor, emphasizing the transition from a farm to table space to a private backyard retreat. A curving flagstone patio welcomes social gatherings and romantic tete-a-tetes next to a waterfall built by the homeowner. Hops scramble up the support posts for the metal-capped wooden pergola. Colorful flowers spill down the sides of tall containers and out of hanging baskets. Japanese maples, bamboo, dappled Japanese maple, quaking aspens, weeping birch, black mondo grass and Mexican feather grass envelope the garden with leafy texture. Strawberries entwine beneath plants, providing sweet treats through the season.

 

Woodland Whimsy

Beneath towering Douglas firs on a challengingly shaped lot, dwells a garden full of color and whimsy. Flowers, pillows and ornaments in bright reds and pinks enliven a woodland garden of rhododendrons, ferns, hostas, Japanese maples and fancy-leaved coral bells. White-barked birch trees echo white wrought-iron pieces, including an arbor that marks a garden entrance. Garden fairies, gnomes, fountains and concrete cast leaves (crafted by the homeowner) await discovery along brick-lined paths. A dry streambed redirects water that once pooled by the front patio and walkway. The side garden’s sweeping expanse of lawn offers up the perfect spot for a game of croquet, a summertime ritual for these owners. The homeowner recently carved out room for sun-lovers in her parking strip. Don’t miss the well-appointed wine cellar tucked out of view near the deck.

Hillside Beauty

Undaunted by her corner property’s small size and steep slope, this owner transformed a blank slate into a jam-packed garden full of joyous color and found art. Large basalt boulders hold a hillside woven with roses, daylilies, red valerian, lavender, ‘Rose Glow’ barberry, ‘Goshiki’ false holly, ‘Plum Passion’ Nandina, flowering pear and maple trees. A flower-lined, gravel path provides a pleasant journey between close-set homes before it passes under a rusting iron arch draped with evergreen clematis and down several rock-lined stairs, finally widening into a small seating area flanked by an evergreen hedge, roses and lavender. More rock-lined steps lead to beds filled with edibles, including espaliered fruit trees, blueberries, grapes, rosemary, tarragon and sage. Two decks charmingly furnished with a porch swing and rattan chairs provide bird’s-eye views of the garden and neighborhood.

Gardens Wanted for 2011 Tour

If you know of a garden that is too lovely to keep secret, including your own, please tell us about it! Gardens should lie within or close to the 97223, 97224, or 97062 zip code areas. Chosen a year in advance, gardens are selected to ensure representation across the school district, showcase a variety of garden features, and represent gardeners of all ages and skill levels. For more information please contact Paul Taylor at 503-679-3086 or PaulTaylorOCNP@aol.com.