Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, on days like this, people should be out and about enjoying the budding gardens of Litchfield. And what better way to do that than an organized tour that helps out a good cause?
The Meeker County Garden Tour will focus on five special gardens, each with their own bounty and techniques to showcase.
The five featured gardens are:
- Mimi and Gary Davis. 663 Cottonwood Ave., Litchfield;
- Bev and Eric Mathwig. 931 Cottonwood Ave., Litchfield;
- Deby Chapin and Lee Proudfoot. 721 Ames Ave., Litchfield;
- Liz Vanliere and Joni Book. 709 S Chandler, Litchfield;
- Master Gardener Community Garden, Gilman Ave. N., Litchfield.
The gardens hold a variety of plants ranging from practical to ornamental. Visitors can expect to see traditional in-the-ground gardens, potted plants and even recycled tires being used as raised beds.
Besides there being different formats, the gardens will each be showing off their experiments and maintenance equipment. The Master Gardener Community Garden, for example, is experimenting with a few space-saving techniques using everyday materials from around the community, such as plastic totes and gallon water jugs.
According to one of the master gardeners, Dave Schwartz, they try to have “good management practices” because not everyone has the space to grow a traditional garden.
“These methods are for people that live in an apartment or something like a townhouse where you don’t have a lot of space for a garden,” Schwartz said.
The goal with a lot of these methods was to create something that was more efficient for gardeners. The experimental techniques presented by the master gardeners could save other gardeners some weeding and watering time.
The master gardeners will be at the community garden during the tour, answering questions about gardening and their experiments.
Questions & Answers with the Gardeners
How’d you get into gardening?
Bev Mathwig: My mom had quite the farm and I had to help take care of the garden. I remember just sitting around and shelling bucket after bucket of peas. I've kept up with it ever since.
Mimi Davis: My grandparents and parents had a garden and I just followed in their footsteps. My husband and I do it together as he also grew up working in a garden.
Do you have a favorite plant or flower?
Mathwig: I love to grow peppers. There’s this one red pepper that I plant that is gorgeous, it’s just the best.
Davis: I don’t necessarily pick out specific or exotic plants, I just like color. So I do a lot of color. I grow a lot of petunias because they are easy to grow and there is a large variety of them.
Deb Chapin: My favorite is the bleeding heart plants from my great-grandmother. Or the Japanese lantern plants from Lee’s mama.
Do you try to go for a theme?
Mathwig: I don’t have a theme. I like to keep it simple, and I think people just need to see that you can have a garden without spending too much.
Chapin: Our garden is a fall garden. We have a centerpiece growing sunflowers that we put hay bales and pumpkins around when everything is blooming.
For people trying to get into gardening, what do you recommend?
Mathwig: Keep it simple and when you have a drought like now you need to water more like 45 minutes rather than 15.
Davis: Remember to deadhead your flowers to promote more blooms. If you plant anything in a small pot you’ll need to water it more often because it will dry out quickly. And observe people around you. I learned pretty much just from observing.
Chapin: Do what you can. My goal is to plant lots of perennial plants because they are simpler to take care of.
