Arts & Leisure
Old York Garden Club presents "16 Sundays in the Garden"
Visit private gardens located throughout York Village, York Beach, York Harbor and Cape Neddick as the Old York Garden Club presents its very first "16 Sundays in the Garden" beginning at the end of May and continuing through early September. Pictured here are just a few of the examples of the gardens you will see throughout town.
Courtesy photos
Over the course of three months, different club members will open their private gardens for viewing. The tours will be held on Sunday afternoons from noon to 4 p.m. beginning May 27 and running through Sept. 9.
Most gardens are in constant flux depending on nature, the challenges of the site and the whim of the gardener, according to Old York Garden Club, which is organizing the special event.
This garden tour is intended to show gardeners' works in progress, not necessarily pristine finished projects.
Each Sunday of the tour, the respective homeowners will be on site to answer questions, discuss plant material and give tours of their personal creations.
The special event begins on Sunday, May 27, with the garden of Eleanor Todd at 105 River Road in Cape Neddick.
"A magnificent rock garden is the central focus of this landscape featuring early spring blooms with a nice mix of annuals and perennials," according to Old York Garden Club.
On June 3, it will be Carol Coles' garden at 13 Rumsey Road in York. Here, "a border of spring bulbs and perennials leads you to the front porch of this gambrel-style farmhouse. A large perennial garden sits on a slope in the front yard, leading your eye to a meadow," according to the club's description of this special garden. The vegetable garden and various other perennial gardens surround the house, including a shade garden featuring hosta and astilbe on the north side. An attempt at a white garden proves an annual challenge due to serious flooding each spring. Rhododendrons and other spring-flowering shrubs and trees complete the landscape.
On June 10, visit the garden of Cheryl Farley at 53 Lindsay Road in York Village and see how to pack a whole lot of garden on a small lot - in this case, less than a quarter of an acre. This "pocket garden" features fruit trees, shrubs, a rock garden, perennials and herb beds. The property has been built up on a stone foundation. Stone steps, which are under construction, lead to a pond - a natural 'water garden.' There is also a stone retaining wall, pergola and stone patios all designed and built by the homeowners. Perennial beds include old-fashioned varieties such as climbing roses, clematis, foxglove, peonies and hollyhocks.
It will be the garden of Rosemarie Glynn at 4 Yorkholme Way in York on June 17, featuring a number of deciduous trees and shrubs, many of which serve as a "buffer" garden for privacy screening. Trees include magnolia, plum, apple, crabapple, birch, Japanese maple and dogwood. Spirea, weigela, viburnum, cotoneaster, forsythia, three varieties of lilac, potentilla, four varieties of blueberry, and faceated willow are among the shrubs planted here during the past seven to eight years. A shade garden with hosta, ferns and bleeding hearts approach a charming "frog" pond surrounded by roses and many perennials including five varieties of tree peonies.
On June 24, visit the garden of Bob Scherer at 96 Greenleaf Parsons Road in Cape Neddick. In the words of the Old York Garden Club, "A river runs through it - the Josiah Norton River." Highlights of this property include woodland gardens as well as rock gardens consisting of moss and lichen-encrusted natural granite removed from the ledges within this 16-acre, heavily wooded parcel. There are mature oak, pine, hemlock, beech and birch trees throughout. Additional vegetation consists of ornamental small trees, various shrubs, perennials, bulbs, ferns and mosses.
Bobbie McGann's 1 Rivermouth Road property in York will be the focus on July 1. The landscape and gardens are relatively new to this home, built in 2004. The gardens consist of small islands built in the lawn. Boulders, which were blasted out for the basement, are placed in each island as if left behind by a glacier many years ago. Plantings are mostly native, deer-resistant shrubs, perennials and annuals. In another area, a wildflower meadow is being attempted to replace lawn.
On July 8, visit Pam Trafton's home at 20 Hutchins Lane in Cape Neddick where the gardening is tuned to the cycle of the seasons and everything old is new again. About 800 annual plants are started from seed each year in a little greenhouse. The garden changes every year with a mix of annuals and perennials against a lovely backdrop of ledges.
Visit 2 Tide Meadow Land in York on July 15 to see the backyard garden of Charlotte Hefford. The focus is a gradual, raised, round rock garden planted in four divisions with perennials, annuals and herbs, with young flowering shrubs around the deck.
On July 22, Dinah Anderson's garden at 20 Bayhaven Road in York Beach will be the site of the tour. The garden features 50 named varieties of daylilies and dozens of varieties of both small and large dahlias.
Barbara Boschert's garden at 50 Spruce St. in York Beach is described as "a piece of Heaven on Earth." The long, narrow yard features a garden path beginning in full sun gradually moving to part sun, part shade and finally, reaching the quiet, cool, full shade area. Enjoy perennial beds dotted with annuals; hear the waterfall where you can watch the fish peacefully swimming and the birds dining at the feeding stations. Meander to discover perennial garden areas, including a collection of hosta, and the bright color of annuals found in hanging pots and a variety of containers. And at the end you will arrive at the Reflection Garden.
It's back to Tide Meadow Lane on Aug. 5 to visit Beth Furlong's garden at 7 Tide Meadow in a neighborhood situated along the York River. The property includes many garden beds in different areas of the landscape, featuring vegetables, perennials and annuals, which will be in full bloom at this time. The yard also holds an orchard on the hillside with several varieties of fruit bearing trees.
On Aug. 12, visit the home of Carol Donnelly at 6 Clarks Lane in York Harbor where several spaces connect to complete this garden area adjacent to the York River called Lane's End Garden. Of primary interest is the south-facing garden designed in the Beatrix Farrand manner by Patrick Chasse in 1994 and 1995. The garden is sunken to provide intrigue as well as an uninterrupted view of the river and to afford protection from an often-windy exposure. Local stonemason, John McKenna, built the walls of smooth indigenous rock capped with bluestone, an image consistent with the period of the house. The cordon of dwarf pear and apple trees forms neat "X" shapes against the wall, providing both summer and winter interest. Oversized flowering forms are planted to be in keeping with turn-of-the-century plant material and intentional tight placement of plants eliminates the need for watering throughout the summer.
The Aug. 19 installment in this special event will feature the 200-year-old home of Faith Webster at 70 Clark Road in Cape Neddick. Webster has spent 16 years developing fruit, vegetable and perennial beds here at the old Talpey Farm, and part of the house is a rental with wonderful annuals and hanging plants. In August, several varieties of phlox will be in bloom with lots to see. Webster's current challenge is trying to save a 100-year-old McIntosh apple tree. The club promises that by the time the garden is open, those who visit will know whether the tree has survived or "given up the ghost."
Visit 19 Surf Avenue in York Beach on Aug. 26 to see Nancy Salka's landscape, featuring pool deck plants and background gardens. For Salka, the challenge is to find durable plants that will survive in a hot environment while not being intrusive to swimmers - and deep pink phlox in the area are quite showy in August.
Return to Cape Neddick on Sept. 2 to visit Louise Poisson's gardens at 615 Shore Road. This one-and-a-quarter-acre, do-it-yourself landscaping project is half finished, according to the club. Over the summer, work will continue to address ongoing drainage problems while creating a transition area from the established perennial beds to the property boundaries. The goal is to create a natural environment for birds and small animals and provide privacy and noise screening from the busy summer traffic on Shore Road.
The final installment in the Old York Garden Club's "16 Sundays in the Garden" will be a visit to the home of Sarah Finigan at 444 Ridge Road in York Beach on Sept. 9. Visitors are invited to "come to a garden which is always a work in progress." The yard includes a few small gardens using herbs as accents and a larger garden with both evergreens and perennials. The unique use of summer blooms in containers creates a lavish colorful effect throughout the yard and large farmer's porch.
For this year's special event, each site will be marked with a sign on the day it is open. Directions and parking instructions are included in a brochure available at the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce, Old York Historical Society Museum Shop and many local businesses, hotels, motels, restaurants and retail establishments. The Old York Garden Club members have asked that visitors be courteous and respectful of neighbors, parking only in designated areas and to only visit the homes on the indicated date and time.
The fee is $3 per garden, payable at the door of the individual garden on the day of the tour. All proceeds benefit the civic development projects sponsored by the club, including the care and planting of all the traffic islands throughout York, York Beach, York Harbor and Cape Neddick.
