FeedsSeeds of success
Garden Club plans tour of back yard retreats
Debra Green has spent hours pulling, planting and potting plants and flowers in her private garden on Harmony Lane in Belleville.
Now, she—along with other homeowners—will showcase their green thumbs during the Belleville Area Garden Walk.
The first-ever event, sponsored by the Friends of the Fred C. Fischer Library and other area businesses, will take place from 1-5 p.m. on July 30. It will feature five home gardens, as well as the Fred C. Fischer Library Courtyard. Green, the director of the library, said it’s an exciting event, particularly for gardeners.
“Everyone’s excited to do this. Gardeners always like to see other gardens,” she said. “In the spring, gardens look a certain way, but then as summer wears on they change and people don’t go to the nurseries as much. This is a great chance for people to see what’s in bloom at different times. All gardens are different.”
Ticket holders may visit the gardens in any order. The homeowner will be at each site to give the walk.
The first garden, created by Green, is a big, bold and beautiful, she said. The large beds contain bright flowers, along with a combination of semi-formal hardscape with naturalistic plantscapes surrounding the in-ground pool. It also features prairie perennials, flowering shrubs and a variety of grasses in the half-acre garden.
“I try to plant a mixture of shapes and designs,” said Green. “The right plant in the right place is the most important with gardening design, but it’s trial and error. Every day and every week it looks different. My favorite part of the garden is the heleniums.”
The Joanne Howell garden on Quirk Road, which has been growing since 1988, will also be featured on the walk. It’s a labor of love with new plants being added every year, according to the homeowners. It overlooks Belleville Lake and also features a pond.
The next garden off the I-94 Service Drive, also overlooks the lake. It is only five seasons old, but incorporates art sculptures, mingled vegetation, wildlife, walnut trees and other plants, according to homeowners Ken and Sandy Askew.“You can certainly tell it’s an artist’s garden,” said Green.
Another garden located on Madelon Drive is one that continues to evolve, according to homeowner Jackie Deal. The wisteria-covered pergola surrounds the patio, and memorial plantings of white pine, dogwood, redbud and climbing hydrangea have also been added to the garden.
Claudette Serpetti, who lives on Bedell Street, will display her wide assortment of trees shrubs, conifers, vines, perennials, grasses and ground covers, too.“I have a variety and a lot of unusual things,” she said. “I always reuse and recycle a lot of things for my garden, like the border stones, mulch from new subdivisions and plants that are on sale.”
“I’ve been gardening for 20 years and every year is different,” she added.
The last garden—located on the corner of Fourth Street and Charles Street—is the walled courtyard at the library. The ‘secret garden’ contains ferns, hosta, daylilies and flowering shrubs.
Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 the day of the walk. They can be purchased at Antiques on Main, the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce, Flowers by Katherine Rose, Garden Fantasy, Main Street Flowers and the library. All proceeds go to the library.
For more information, call the library at (734) 699-3291 or visit www.belleville.lib.mi.us.
