In and Around the Garden
by Robin Colburn

Vicarious Gardening

Have you ever driven by a house with a planting that makes you slam on the brakes and risk your life in traffic to get a slower, more careful look? I have. I confess that I do it more often than I should. I drive pretty slowly but I should have a bumper sticker on my car that says “Warning! I brake for good landscapes!” There is a hawthorn tree on Falls Road in Shelburne that had me park and trespass to get a better look, only to find a sign posted on the tree: “This tree is a hawthorn.” Obviously, I wasn’t the first to be dumbfounded by the spectacle. And when Nate Carr’s and Stacy Fraser’s saucer magnolia was in bloom several weeks ago on Church Hill Road, I was nearly run over gawking at the splendor of the purple blooms against the pale yellow house. I was positively giddy during the weeks of crabapple and lilac bloom. The monument at the corner of Ferry and Greenbush Road has a great garden for seven months of the year. It really helps to slow the traffic, but may make it hard to concentrate on the four-way stop.
This self-diagnosed garden addict wants to encourage other people to pay attention. Even if you don’t like to garden, or you don’t have time to garden, enjoyment of other people’s gardening efforts is something I think most people would enjoy. I do recommend that you do it on foot, not in the car. Gardeners are already familiar with the benefits of looking at other people’s gardens. Not only does one get a break from gardening, it is probable that there will be new inspiration and new design and plant ideas. For those who don’t consider themselves gardeners, those who can’t discern a daisy from a marigold, or those who never even noticed a garden before, visiting someone else’s garden could open up a whole new world to you. Don’t let your aching back or your earthworm phobia keep you from reaping the rewards of someone else’s hard work.
Vegetable gardens are great places to visit, and offer a wide range of visual interests. They can be straight rows of healthy plants, nicely mulched or freshly cultivated. Beautifully designed potagers take the exactitude of the geometry to new levels with beds in a more formal design. Here beauty and utility merge to make the vegetable garden something of an art form. Fancy walkways and sculptures might be included. Some people plant edible flowers that add color and variety to the mix of textures. But the vegetable plants themselves are wonderful too; who could resist the sparkling rows of beet greens or rainbow chard after a summer shower? Magnifique!
If you are trying to eat locally or save on your grocery bill, consider the economics of growing vegetables at home. There are no transportation costs. It is a veritable free lunch. Those who aren’t interested in growing vegetables can’t help but be interested in being on the receiving end of a vegetable garden. A visit to a neighbor’s vegetable garden is sure to result in a gift cucumber, zucchini or cherry tomato.
You can just walk past and enjoy a garden from the sidelines but you might want to take a closer look. Maybe you have a neighbor or you know someone who is out in the yard doing things all the time. Do yourself a favor and ask to see the garden. Chances are you will be rewarded. In my experience, gardeners love to show off their hard work. After all the planning, planting and weeding, the spectacle seems too special to hoard. Sharing is part of what makes all the work worthwhile. Visiting a garden along with the maker can help you understand what all the horticultural busywork is about and see where the passion originates. You will begin to understand the gardener’s vision: the thought process, the history, the list of failures, the problems presented and solved, and then most gardeners will try your patience telling you what is wrong with this beautiful garden and what they plan to do next year. Like any growing thing, a garden is never finished. You can come back in a week or two, or in a year and it will be different.
It is not likely in Charlotte, but maybe you have no friends or neighbors who garden. Fortunately, people of the Champlain Valley can attend numerous garden tours in summer. The best known and widely attended is the Flynn Garden Tour, now in its 12th year. Since 1997, the Flynn has been featuring gardens in surrounding communities and then providing a lovely tea at which one can take a breather, refresh and reflect. This year the tour is on July 13 in South Burlington. As in years past, the tour features several private gardens of varying sizes that have unique features. The gardens range from a woodland garden with lots of stonewalls to a cozy neighborhood of 1950s houses with Zen-like water gardens and potagers with picket fences. Also included on the tour is a house, which packs lots of magic into a small space. Box lunches and raffles sales along with the price of the ticket have helped the Flynn provide matinees for school children in their educational theatre programs. Make a day of it with a group of friends, and reap all the benefits of garden visits and support the education program at the Flynn. Tickets are available at the Flynn at 863-5966 or on the web at flynncenter.org. or at Horsford Gardens and Nursery, Shelburne Supermarket, Lang Farm Nursery and Gardener’s Supply.
In the interest of paying more attention to your surroundings, drive more slowly, visit your neighbors’ gardens or enjoy an outing with a friend at a garden tour. Be inspired and become informed. Maybe you will get a tip for staking peonies or warding off squirrels. You may find that the mature version of the plant you just bought is going to be enormous and you might want to reconsider the location. Maybe you will come home with a garden offering. You won’t regret it.